Tottenham Hotspur fans watched in horror as Christian Norgaard, Morgan Gibbs-White, and Eberechi Eze all snubbed them this transfer window, with Norgaard and Eze looking like slam dunk transfers for Spurs before they ultimately chose to join bitter North London rivals Arsenal instead.
But Tottenham washed away much of the sour taste of missing out on that trio, especially talented Premier League playmaker Eze, by hijacking Chelsea's seemingly nearly sealed transfer for RB Leipzig star Xavi Simons, bagging a better playmaker than Eze in the end. And a younger and cheaper one, to boot.
As Tottenham get ready for the final hours of the summer 2025 transfer window, it appears they are close to making another high-profile hijacking move on the transfer market, landing a second high-profile Premier League player to go with former West Ham forward Mohammed Kudus.
According to a report from Sky Sport Italia, Tottenham have the leg up on AC Milan for a Manuel Akanji transfer from Manchester City. Both Milan and Spurs are after the Premier League veteran and former Borussia Dortmund star, but because Tottenham are in the Champions League, they are widely seen as overwhelming favorites to sign the 30-year-old ball-playing center back.
Tottenham outbid AC Milan
Sky Sport Italia, better yet, are also reporting that Tottenham have outbid Milan, too. The Rossoneri had offered Manchester City 15 million euros for the Swiss international, but Spurs have upped the ante to a cool 20 million euros to beat out the struggling Serie A giants.
Akanji additionally prefers to remain under the bright lights of the Premier League, so, at this point, all signs point to the center back heading to Tottenham. Although Spurs already have three great center backs in Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, and Kevin Danso, the shaky performance against AFC Bournemouth this weekend may have been a reminder that Spurs could use more depth.
Granted, Tottenham were already interested in center backs before the Bournemouth game, and even though Thomas Frank has been coy publicy about wanting a center back, most transfer insiders have pointed towards Spurs and the new manager still wanting additional defensive depth, potentially at multiple positions.
Akanji is nearing the end of his top-level Premier League career, but he's still one of the better center backs in England and should age gracefully with his incredible reading of the game and football IQ, as well as his elite ball-playing abilities. Frank would love his skill set.