What Tottenham need more than anything else in the summer 2025 transfer window is a game-changer. With Harry Kane gone to Germany and Son Heung-min perhaps entering the declining phase of his career at the age of 32, Tottenham don't have a superstar player who can take over a game.
They have a very good secondary star in playmaker James Maddison, and young loaene signing Mathys Tel could be that caliber of player next season with the potential to become a superstar in the future.
When Tottenham were at their best, they had two superstars in Son and Kane together, and the goal should be taking some calculated risks and putting a young nucleus of attacking stars together. With a bargain 22.5 million euro release clause, 21-year-old Lyon star Rayan Cherki has quickly entered into the picture as an ideal candidate for Tottenham to sign this summer.
Tottenham will have to compete with other big Premier League clubs
According to a report from GiveMeSport's Danny Rust and Dean Jones, Tottenham are, in the early going, among the favorites to land Cherki this summer and have made a new transfer approach for the 21-year-old French international. They note that Tottenham are "leading contenders" to sign Cherki, though the player is understandably unsure about the club because of their poor performances in the Premier League this season.
Of course, to most Tottenham fans, this report will sound too good to be true. Spurs are not, per the report, THE leading contender but rather among a sea of them, perhaps only because they have already reached out. Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa, and other top-five contenders around England will be in on Cherki, who was once a dream target of Real Madrid's a few years back when nobody had heard of him.
Now, Cherki is a well-known name among diehard football fans around Europe, and Tottenham supporters have surely heard of him and his playmaking exploits in Lyon. Cherki has a whopping 30 goals and assists between Ligue 1 and the Europa League, and he is a big-game player who can provide the individual moments of briliance in key moments of matches that Tottenham desperately need.