After Tottenham Hotspur decided to hire Thomas Frank as the replacement for Ange Postecoglou, rumors immediately swirled around Brentford star Bryan Mbeumo, who was arguably the biggest breakout attacking player of the 2024/25 Premier League season.
Although Mbeumo was already clearly leaning in the direction of a Manchester United transfer, there was optimism that hiring his former manager would give Tottenham a leg up in the transfer battle.
That hasn't been the case for Spurs, as Mbeumo continues to show priority towards Man United, and Tottenham have been less involved in the Mbeumo transfer race than was initially reported. Now, according to a report from talkSPORT's Alex Crook and Jackson Cole, Tottenham are expected to focus their recruitment efforts on signing Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze with Man United accelerating their talks with Mbeumo further.
Tottenham were never serious about Bryan Mbeumo
At this point, it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that Manchester United are signing Mbeumo. They have been in the lead for him for weeks, and it's to a point where many Tottenham fans have to wonder if Spurs were ever in on Mbeumo at all. They may have just been leaking to English media that they were going after him as a means to strum up optimism for the fans, either knowing full well Mbeumo didn't want to go to North London - or knowing full well that they weren't actually going to submit a competitive bid to Brentford or to Mbeumo to match the salary Man United would pay.
Eze appears to be the big Premier League star most realistically on the transfer radar to join Tottenham this summer, but Spurs fans are a bit divided on the England international. He's an FA Cup winner and a proven commodity in the attacking midfield in the Premier League, but for only a little bit more, Tottenham could roll the dice on Bundesliga superstar Xavi Simons, who is more of a well-rounded attacking midfielder and a couple of years younger.
Right now, Eze is the top target for Tottenham of the big names in the Premier League, and it feels like Mbeumo is almost completely discarded. It would be an upset if Mbeumo didn't join Manchester United now, and the question for Tottenham becomes, is Eze the guy? And how long will it be until Tottenham fans hear rumors of the club concretely accelerating their interest in one of the major transfer targets of the summer like an Eze or a Simons.