Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank has, overall, enjoyed a relatively successful start to life in North London, though he has found it more difficult to score goals and imprint an attacking identity on Spurs than he did at Brentford despite Spurs being a bigger club.
And the harsh reality is that Frank doesn't have the goal scoring quality he did at Brentford. He has gone from Kevin Schade, Mikel Damsgaard, Ivan Toney, Bryan Mbeumo, and Yoane Wissa in attack to Randal Kolo Muani, Richarlison, Mohammed Kudus, an adjusting Xavi Simons, and the young duo of Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel.
Since Tel and Odobert are still growing - but promising, of course - Kudus is the only player who has shown a high degree of competency under Frank. Tottenham didn't sign a left winger to replace Son, and the manager's best strikers, Kolo Muani and Dominic Solanke, have been riddled with injuries, forcing Frank to continue to roll with the woeful Richarlison.
So after being unable to keep Brentford stars Wissa and Mbuemo last summer - both joined other top Premier League clubs in Newcastle and Manchester United, respectively - there's been increasing speculation that Frank could try to reunite with another former Brentford star forward in 2026.
Thomas Frank still loves his Brentford crew
Aside from current youngster Schade, there's been increasing transfer rumors swirling around Ivan Toney coming back from Saudi Arabia to join Tottenham Hotspur or even some other big Premier League club.
Unfortunately for Frank, it looks like that proposition is entirely unrealistic, especially for Tottenham. TalkSPORT's Alex Crook reports that Toney is unlikely to return to any Premier League club, much less Spurs. The issue is that while Frank and Spurs would love to have Toney, as would Everton, he would have to lose a lot in taxes and take a financial hit if he were to leave Saudi Arabia just one year after moving to the country.
Furthermore, Crook reports that Toney is unlikely to play for Thomas Tuchel at the 2026 World Cup regardless of whether or not he joins the Premier League this winter. So that advantage would be moot, meaning Toney would be taking a financial hit for nothing.
Now, Toney could potentially move back to England in 2026, but, by then, you'd think that Tottenham would have better options to look at than a 30-year-old at striker who may or may not be better than Kolo Muani or Solanke anyway.