26 summary: Top scorer, best moment, new signings and full verdict on Spurs' campaign

Submitted by daniel on Mon, 25/05/2026 - 10:18

Ange Postecoglou promised to win a trophy in his second year at Tottenham Hotspur. Ange Postecoglou delivered.

Ange Postecoglou promised that season three would be better than season two at Tottenham Hotspur. Tottenham Hotspur did not deliver.

The Europa League-winning manager's appearance on The Overlap the same day as Thomas Frank's sacking comically summed up Spurs' 2025-26 campaign, albeit one that still had a happy ending.

Well, the weirdest happy ending imaginable from a Lilywhite point of view.

Here, Sports Mole delivers its in-depth verdict on Tottenham's 2025-26 campaign after the North London club escaped Premier League relegation by the skin of their teeth.

Tottenham 2025-26 season summary

After a continental crowning and domestic disaster in 2024-25, Tottenham's hierarchy had to decide which number 17 was the deciding factor in Postecoglou's performance review - ending 17 trophyless years or a 17th-placed finish in the Premier League.

Sadly for the Australian, the latter statistic mattered more to Daniel Levy and co, who booted out Postecoglou in favour of the much-coveted Thomas Frank, handed Big Six reins for the first time after turning Brentford into an established Premier League outfit.

The well-spoken Dane made a strong early impression, only overseeing a penalty-shootout loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup and taking 14 points from his first seven Premier League matches, propelling Spurs into the top three of the table in the process.

However, long-term injuries to chief creators Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison - part of a perpetual fitness crisis across the park - soon caught up to a Son Heung-min-less Spurs side, who plummeted into the bottom half after winning just three of their last 11 Premier League matches of 2025.

An eight-game winless run in the Premier League at the start of 2026 gave Spurs reason to sack Frank and hire a 'firefighter' replacement in Igor Tudor, but the Croatian did nothing to put out the flames as he did add more kindling to the out-of-control blaze.

Seven matches, 43 days and one family tragedy later, Tudor swiftly followed Frank out of the door, becoming just the fifth Premier League manager - and second at Tottenham after Cristian Stellini - to last fewer than 50 days in charge.

Refusing to repeat their failed short-term experiment, Tottenham snubbed survival saviours such as Sam Allardyce and Harry Redknapp in favour of De Zerbi's long-term project, convincing the Italian to potentially manage them in the Championship with a lucrative, long-term contract.

Concerns over Tottenham needing time to adapt to De Zerbi's unique style of play were quickly laid to rest, as emotional wins away to Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa put survival back in Spurs' hands approaching the final knockings.

Despite failing to secure 17th away to Chelsea in the penultimate gameweek, and West Ham United beating Leeds United on matchday 38 to do their bit, Tottenham nervously edged out Everton to avoid the most catastrophic of relegations.

While Tottenham's Premier League status came under increasing threat, the Lilywhites temporarily found safe haven in the Champions League, finishing with the fourth-best league-phase record behind Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Liverpool to stroll into the last 16 with a 17-point total.

However, catastrophe soon struck in Europe, and particularly for backup Antonin Kinsky, whose 17-minute horror show against Atletico Madrid cost Tottenham their chances of winning continental honours in back-to-back seasons.

Tudor's only Spurs win came in the second leg of that last-16 clash - a gutsy 3-2 success - but the damage had been done in the 5-2 first-leg hammering, albeit one that did not spell the end of Kinsky's Spurs career as many feared.

The less said about Tottenham's domestic knockout fortunes the better too - across the 2025-26 FA Cup and EFL Cup competitions, the only team to lose to Spurs were Doncaster Rovers.

Tottenham followed up that opening EFL Cup success with a comprehensive fourth-round defeat at Newcastle United, before their FA Cup journey came to an end at the opening hurdle against Aston Villa, marking their first third-round exit since the 2013-14 campaign.

Tottenham top scorer 2025-26: Richarlison (12)

Neither Dominic Solanke nor Richarlison have been consistent on the fitness or form front during their time at Tottenham, but the former comfortably took home the club's Golden Boot, netting 12 goals in all tournaments and 11 in the Premier League.

A brace on the opening day against Burnley did not exactly set the tone for the South American, who then netted just once in his next nine Premier League matches before back-to-back strikes against Arsenal and Manchester United.

Crucial strikes against Liverpool and Aston Villa then arrived for Richarlison following the New Year, as the 29-year-old became just the second Brazilian to score 10+ goals in five different Premier League seasons, after Roberto Firmino.

Tottenham player of the season 2025-26: Archie Gray

Joao Palhinha was a contender thanks to his pivotal goals against Wolves and Everton alone, but the Portuguese has not had all fans onside this season; the same cannot be said for the young man in the picture above.

Had Spurs lost their ever-present Premier League status, not a single Lilywhite soul would have blamed the adaptable Archie Gray, who chipped in with two goals and three assists while functioning as a right-back, centre-back, left-back and midfielder.

Gray's first league goal of the season was also an especially vital one - the winner at Crystal Palace in December - although De Zerbi seemingly did not have full faith in the 20-year-old, who played just eight minutes across the final five games of the campaign.

Tottenham's best moment of the 2025-26 season: Upsetting Man City

Many a Tottenham fan would probably say the best moment of the season was the final whistle against Everton - both for confirming their survival and literally blowing the final whistle on a turgid campaign.

However, before things went awry, Tottenham rose to second in the Premier League table thanks to a familiar triumph over Manchester City at the Etihad, where Brennan Johnson and Palhinha put Pep Guardiola to the sword.

A unique record was set by Spurs that day, as they became the first visiting team to open the scoring in five successive Premier League matches at the Etihad. Not the most audibly-appealing award, but a small positive in a season full of huge negatives.

Tottenham's biggest disappointment of the 2025-26 season: Igor Tudor

Isolating one match as Tottenham's biggest disappointment is a fool's errand - there were just so many - but the appointment of Tudor will go down as one of the most apocalyptic of the Premier League era.

The Croatian started his reign with four successive defeats, including a 4-1 derby drubbing at the hands of Arsenal and Antonin Kinsky's nightmare evening at Atletico Madrid, as the Czech shot-stopper was hooked by his manager after 17 minutes following two fatal mistakes.

A draw at Liverpool and inconsequential second-leg win over Atletico offered fleeting hope, which was swiftly eradicated when a 3-0 home loss to Nottingham Forest brought Tudor's shoddy spell to an end.

Thomas Frank/Igor Tudor/Roberto De Zerbi verdict - 2025-26 season

After masterminding Brentford's meteoric rise from the Championship to the top half of the Premier League table, Frank was ostensibly ready for the step-up to a club of Spurs' stature, and five wins from his opening seven matches in charge suggested as such.

However, as results took a downward turn, the Dane's authority was quickly called into question after Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence snubbed him at full time in the 1-0 loss to Chelsea in November, heading straight down the tunnel while their manager stood bewildered.

Praiseworthy performances in the Champions League did little to lift spirits amid Spurs' Premier League plight, and Frank eventually bid farewell following an eight-game winless run in the division, which left Tottenham 16th in the table.

Hailed for his adaptability at Brentford, Frank failed to bring the same dynamism and tactical genius to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where he won just seven of his 26 top-flight matches and 13 of his 38 games in total.

Little more needs to be said about Tudor's torrid spell, but Tottenham's long-term De Zerbi gamble ended up bearing fruit - even if the fruit was only a second straight 17th-placed finish.

The Italian brought out the best in Xavi Simons before the Dutchman's devastating ACL blow, settled on a consistent midfield of Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur, and reignited Kinsky's Tottenham career to the point where the Czech pulled off multiple world-class saves in the final weeks of the season.

Tottenham new signings 2025-26

Tottenham confirmed transfers in: Summer 2025

Kevin Danso (£21m, Lens)

Luka Vuskovic (£9.3m, Westerlo)

Mathys Tel (£29.8m, Bayern Munich)

Kota Takai (£5m, Kawasaki Frontale)

Mohammed Kudus (£55m from West Ham United)

Joao Palhinha (loan from Bayern Munich)

Xavi Simons (£51.8m from RB Leipzig)

Randal Kolo Muani (loan from Paris Saint-Germain)

Tottenham confirmed transfers in: January 2026

Yang Min-hyeok (loan return from Portsmouth)

Alfie Dorrington (loan return from Aberdeen)

Conor Gallagher (CM | £35m from Atletico Madrid)

Souza (£13m, Santos)

James Wilson (CF | Loan from Hearts)

Tottenham 2025-26 season rating

Tottenham could afford to celebrate for a couple of hours on May 24, but after the cheers died down and heartbeats returned to normal, the overriding feeling was one of resentment.

What happened in the 2024-25 Premier League was unacceptable and could not have been repeated. What happened in the 2025-26 was even more unacceptable and could have seismic consequences if repeated again.

Spurs were at least spared the embarrassment of a season in the Championship and deserve credit for reaching the Champions League knockouts, but we are certainly in clutching-at-straws territory.

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