Tottenham Hotspur supporters are used to getting bullied on the transfer market by the other Big Six club for elite targets. This past summer window, Arsenal beat them to both Eberechi Eze and even the unheralded Brentford defensive midfielder Christian Norgaard, while Manchester United pipped them to the real Brentford prize in right winger Bryan Mbeumo.
Now this coming winter transfer window, Tottenham have seemingly already lost out on the Antoine Semenyo sweepstakes before the January market even officially opened. Semenyo has already rejected Spurs with Liverpool, Manchester City, and Manchester United all interested in one of the best players of the 2025/26 Premier League season thus far.
So that means Man United have beaten Tottenham to Mbeumo and potentially Semenyo this year, and in 2026, they could take another winger off the table for Spurs, which is actually a bigger threat to Tottenham if Man United don't get their hands on Semenyo.
Tottenham can't lose out on him, too
According to veteran Spurs journalist Paul O Keefe, while Manchester United do appreciate Antoine Semenyo "a lot", he warns fans to "watch them" in the sweepstakes for RB Leipzig sensation Yan Diomande, who looks to have even more upside than Tottenham Hotspur summer signing Xavi Simons from the same club. O Keefe added in a later tweet that Man United "like him a lot", in reference to Diomande.
The 19 year old Ivory Coast winger is becoming a mainstay in the Leipzig lineup this season, and he has already lit up the Bundesliga with 6 goals in 10 starts, including a recent hat trick in a 6-0 blowout of Eintracht Frankfurt that got the whole footballing world buzzing.
It is still very early to anoint Diomande as anything, but his eye for goal and insane acceleration already have top Premier League clubs placing him near the top of their wishlist of prospects. Since Spurs are having a tough time signing established Premier League stars like Mbeumo and Semenyo, the less heralded folks like Mohammed Kudus, Simons, and now Diomande could be more up their alley.
Spurs have had great success going after prospects. Luka Vuskovic, Archie Gray, and Lucas Bergvall are all very young players on their books who already look like future world class superstars. Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel have shown promise, too. Diomande could be next on this list, but Tottenham now have to be wary of Manchester United yet again. Losing out on Diomande to them on top of the others would be a real travesty.