Here, the Press Association looks at the options in the 18th-placed Spurs squad that Roberto De Zerbi could turn to during the club’s final four games of the Premier League season.
Mathys Tel
The most likely candidate to benefit is Mathys Tel, who has been a rare shining light for Tottenham during a disastrous second half of the campaign, with his fearless mentality and non-stop desire to run at defenders earning him plaudits.
Tel went 11 weeks without a start under Thomas Frank before the 21-year-old forced his way into contention at the start of 2026 and a string of consistent displays under Igor Tudor followed.
However, De Zerbi had used Simons on the left side behind Dominic Solanke but that is where Tel flourished under Tudor and played late on at Wolves, where he forced the corner which produced Joao Palhinha’s winner. Spurs desperately need creativity and a goal threat – could Tel provide that?
Lucas Bergvall
One alternative for De Zerbi would be to bring the highly rated Lucas Bergvall into the team and potentially deploy him on the left or in fact on the right, which would mean Randal Kolo Muani would switch to the opposite flank.
Kolo Muani was hooked after 45 minutes at Wolves following a largely anonymous display and De Zerbi joked he must take the France international out every day in order to boost his confidence in a cryptic way which suggested he was in the last-chance saloon.
If Bergvall could be used on the right to provide energy and some creative flair, it would allow De Zerbi the opportunity to give Kolo Muani one final chance to prove his worth in Tottenham’s time of need.
Richarlison
Spurs could well be without Solanke during the run-in after he suffered a muscle problem on Saturday and even though Richarlison looks the likely candidate to play through the middle, De Zerbi could throw a curveball.
Richarlison was used on the left in De Zerbi’s debut fixture away to Sunderland. If the versatile Brazil attacker is fielded there again, it would allow Kolo Muani to play as the central striker.
Kolo Muani’s five goals for Spurs and his best performances in England have occurred when used as a centre forward. A final roll of the dice by De Zerbi to get a tune out of the Paris St Germain loanee may be to put him up front and Richarlison wide left.
James Maddison
The most obvious replacement for Simons in an ideal world would be James Maddison, but the playmaker has not played since his own anterior cruciate ligament injury in August.
Maddison’s presence on the bench for the last two fixtures has felt purely to give a depleted squad a psychological, especially given he has not warmed up during the Brighton and Wolves matches.
Sunday’s trip to Aston Villa will fall on the nine-month anniversary of Maddison’s ACL injury and given he has been back with the first-team group for many weeks, he could be ready to make an eagerly awaited return – but can he start after such a lengthy lay-off?
Tynan Thompson
De Zerbi could cast an eye over Tottenham’s academy and with talented academy graduate Luca Williams-Barnett still sidelined, it may open the door for natural left winger Tynan Thompson.
Thompson has regularly impressed for Wayne Burnett’s under-21s this season, scoring seven in seven in the UEFA Youth League and recently firing Spurs through to the Premier League 2 play-offs with goals against Leicester and Blackburn.
Aged only 18 and part of the first-team matchday squad previously, it would seem unlikely that De Zerbi turns to youth in such a desperate situation but right-footed silky winger Thompson would no doubt back himself to make an impact.