Tottenham Hotspur haven’t done enough in the transfer window.
The North Londoners have turned Mathys Tel’s loan into a permanent deal and have also signed Mohammed Kudus and Kota Takai.
Thomas Frank needs much more help across multiple areas of the pitch, but for one reason or another, Spurs are not close to signing anyone at the moment.
Tottenham did have an interest in one Premier League defender, but he is now on his way to join a different club.
PSG were scared that Tottenham could hijack their Ilya Zabarnyi deal
Ilya Zabarnyi was fantastic for Bournemouth in the 2024/25 season.
The Ukraine international’s performances were often overshadowed by Dean Huijsen’s brilliance, but he was just as good as the now Real Madrid star.
After his excellent season under Andoni Iraola, a number of clubs had an eye on the 22-year-old centre-back.
TBR revealed in June that Liverpool and Chelsea both liked Zabarnyi, while in July, we broke the news that Tottenham had made an approach to sign Zabarnyi.
L’Equipe have now claimed that during negotiations, the decision-makers at PSG feared that Spurs or Newcastle United could hijack their move to sign the Bournemouth defender.
However, Zabarnyi had made up his mind. He had no interest in joining Tottenham or Newcastle – he only wanted to join PSG this summer.
TBR confirmed that PSG are closing in on signing Zabarnyi for a fee close to €65 million (£56.3m) in the coming days.
Tottenham are at risk of more injuries
Frank’s system doesn’t demand the same kind of intensity that Tottenham players were forced to deliver under Ange Postecoglou last season.
However, the North Londoners will play more intense games in the upcoming campaign because they will be in the Champions League.
Takai is the only new defender to arrive at Hotspur Way this summer. He is currently injured, as is Radu Dragusin, who has been out for months.
Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven’s injury history is not great either, which leaves just Kevin Danso and young Luka Vuskovic.
Entering the new season with only these options is far from ideal. Making the likes of Romero and Van de Ven play every game will increase the risk of injuries, and Spurs could end up in the same situation that they were in last season.
That would be a disaster.