Tottenham look likely to be one of the busier clubs in the summer transfer window and rightly so after a desperately poor 2025/26 Premier League season.
Spurs fought off relegation to the Championship on the final day of the season with a 1-0 win over Everton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It was just their third home win of the campaign and ensured new head coach Roberto De Zerbi ended with 11 points from his seven games in charge, doing what was asked of him and keeping the club in the Premier League.
Now attention has turned to the summer transfer window, with De Zerbi requiring investment from the owners, the Lewis Family, to strengthen a squad that he says has "10, 11, 12 players good enough to stay".
De Zerbi will expect financial backing this summer
In a statement this week, the Lewis Family pledged to support the Italian to ensure he can turn things around. It read: "We take responsibility for rebuilding Spurs. Our ambition is to recapture the spirit of the club and bring back the excitement, the fearlessness and the bold football we have always felt defined us. That means football comes first. The board and executive team have laid out their plans to meet this ambition.
"This will require investment – in our teams, the academy, our backroom functions and more - and we are fully committed to this. We are not selling the club. We are all in. We are investing in it. You will see more of this in the coming months."
The problem Spurs - and other Premier League clubs - will run into this summer is that it is a big international tournament year, with the 2026 FIFA World Cup taking place across the USA, Canada and Mexico.
That will call a halt to negotiations for big-name players who are at the tournament, with any deals not done before the big kick-off potentially needing to wait until it ends in mid-July.
Players heading out to North America will be joining up with their international teammates in the next week, with many nations involved in friendlies to get up to speed before the tournament kicks off. That leaves a very small window between now and the meet date to get transfers over the line.
Tottenham have been linked with a number of players already this summer, but which ones can they get over the line before and even while the World Cup is on?
Two free transfers Spurs are working on
Spurs have lined up deals to sign both Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi on free transfers from Liverpool and Bournemouth respectively. Robertson is understood to be close to signing on the dotted line at Tottenham, but confirming a deal for the Scotland captain now before the World Cup could prove troublesome, with the player likely to be on holiday until the tournament starts.
Senesi, however, is a deal they could complete. It is agreed in principle, but not done yet, and with the Cherries defender missing out on Lionel Scaloni's final squad, a deal could be done when the centre-back returns from holiday.
Spurs can make signings from Man City
Tottenham have been linked with three players from Manchester City, with one of them available on a free transfer. However, they can really only complete a deal for one of them before or during the World Cup.
James Trafford and John Stones have both been linked with a move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer, but both are in Thomas Tuchel's England World Cup squad. Their full focus will be on the Three Lions, so even though Stones is out of contract, it looks unlikely that a quick deal can be agreed for a move to north London.
Savinho is the other player Spurs are reportedly interested in and after a difficult season with the Citizens he is not part of Carlo Ancelotti's Brazil squad for the World Cup, meaning Spurs can open talks and get a deal over the line for the 22-year-old.
One Brighton deal out of three could be completed
De Zerbi has been linked with a raid on his former club Brighton & Hove Albion this summer. Dutchmen Bart Verbruggen and Jan Paul van Hecke are understood to be high on his wishlist, but they are both in the Netherlands squad for the World Cup and with negotiations expected to take some time with Brighton, those signings, should they be sought, will have to wait.
One player they can discuss, however, is Carlos Baleba, whom the Independent have claimed de Zerbi also wants to sign.
Cameroon did not qualify for the tournament in North America, so Spurs can discuss terms over a move for the midfielder, who would cost big money.
GMS senior football correspondent Ben Jacobs said: "Brighton sources have told me anything that begins with a five, a six, and very possibly a seven or an eight is not going to be engaged with. So Baleba is still going to fall into an expensive category."
Other names in the frame for Tottenham
Another goalkeeper has been linked with Spurs in recent days and it is another one with previous links to De Zerbi in Anatoliy Trubin. The Benfica shotstopper could be part of De Zerbi's plans, depending on what happens with Verbruggen and with the Ukraine not qualifying for the World Cup, the 24-year-old is one Spurs can speak to and try to get over the line quickly.
Lucas Chevalier is another goalkeeper who has been linked with N17 and he is not part of the France squad for the World Cup.
Marcus Rashford is a new name emerging with regard to Tottenham, now that it looks like Barcelona are signing Anthony Gordon instead of him. The frontman has no future at Manchester United, but is with England at the World Cup, so again, any deal will have to wait.