Tottenham Hotspur have had a full schedule as they have prepared for the 2025/26 season. With multiple friendlies at home, a tour of Asia, and then the UEFA Super Cup to contest, Spurs have had their hands full.
An additional layer of intrigue has been generated by both Spurs’ management shake-up and changes in the front office, and new tactical setups have shown us new sides of players previously unseen. These matches don’t mean much, Super Cup and North London Derby (how weird was that?) aside, but we get a chance to see players we wouldn’t usually see, new combinations and tactical tinkering. Preseason is fun! Mostly.
In this series of three, I’m going to break down who I think were the shining lights, the disappointments, and the enigmas amongst Spurs’ squad as we head into the season, starting today with the winners. Here’s the Tottenham footballers who I think really impressed through Spurs’ preseason campaign.
Pape Matar Sarr
Pape Matar Sarr has had a new lease of life under Thomas Frank. Without the on-ball requirements expected in Ange Postecoglou’s system, he has looked like a man possessed in preseason. Sure, I wish his technical ability and passing were better; but he is so damn good off the ball and has a monstrous engine. He pretty much single-handedly shut down PSG’s build-up in the first half of the Super Cup, in a repeat of his performance in the Europa League final, and he was also Spurs’ top scorer through preseason.
I think there’s a chance (depending on new signings, of course) he could end up being a near lock for the starting XI coming into the end of the season.
Mohamed Kudus
The new signing has hit the ground running at Spurs, and the Super Cup final showed just how dependent Spurs currently are on his skills. Tricky and technical, but unbelievably strong as well, he’s been the perfect outlet for Thomas Frank’s side, with his teammates often pinging all sorts of lost-cause passes at him that somehow the Ghanaian winger does something with. His passing has actually been more impressive than I expected as well, though I hope some of his skill can turn into more output around the penalty area.
I think his versatility and skill will be key at times to unlocking opposition teams this season.
Kevin Danso
The Austrian center back had his loan made permanent this summer, and he’s celebrated that with some impressive performances through preseason. Though Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven are arguably locked-in starters most matches, there will be a lot of fixtures to get through and both Romero and Van de Ven do not have the greatest injury records (understatement of the year, right here).
Having somebody who can come in a do a job as rotation or in their stead is important, and Danso looked solid in all his preseason appearances, arguably the best player on the pitch against Newcastle and part of a titanic defensive display against PSG. The latter also showed how vital he could be to Spurs’ efforts this season, as he was comfortable in back three, a formation that is no stranger to Thomas Frank, and provided threat with long throws. I’m glad we have somebody like Danso in the squad.
Jun’ai Byfield
Wait, not Luka Vuskovic, I hear you say? While the Croatian Adonis was impressive in preseason, it appears he’s more likely to head off on loan: probably roughly in-line with expectations. The youngster who really exceeded them for me was Byfield. He played close to half an hour against Luton Town, and looked completely at home in the backline against a tough League One outfit - at 16-years-old. Sixteen.
It didn’t go unnoticed, also, that he was named on the bench for the UEFA Super Cup. He has a bright future ahead of him, and if he’s this good already, it’s going to be interesting to see how he progresses.