Tottenham Hotspur may have a disappointing summer transfer window ahead - according to an intriguing prediction.
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Between Tottenham Hotspur’s difficult season and their strong financial position, few would expect the club to be quiet during the summer transfer window. This is a team in need of a rebuild and with the funds to make it happen.
That said, most pundits expected them to be busy in January, too, and in the end they really didn’t make much of a splash – much to the chagrin of Cristian Romero, who publicly criticised the lack of movement, and perhaps of Thomas Frank, too, given that he wasn’t given the reinforcements required to help him save his job.
Will Spurs actually spend freely in the summer, then, or will they once again prioritise young talent, a policy which Ange Postecoglou took umbrage with in a recent interview? Well, we don’t have a crystal ball but we do have the next best thing – Football Manager 2026. We decided to send the game a few months into the future to find out whether the world’s most accurate football simulation reckons that Spurs will go big in the summer or not…
Spurs sign Juventus and Napoli stars this summer – according to Football Manager
If Spurs fans are hoping for their side to make a bold statement in the coming transfer window, then they’d better hope that Football Manager has it all wrong – Spurs went shopping for bargains and youngsters in our save.
Not that a couple of the four deals done – yes, just four – don’t look relatively astute. Our virtual Spurs snapped up Juventus winger Edon Zhegrova from Juventus, for instance, on a loan-to-buy deal worth just £9.5m. Quick and tricksy, it’s hard to argue that the Kosovan wouldn’t represent good value for money.
More was spent on Napoli defender Sam Beukema, with the 27-year-old centre-back setting Spurs back £26m. Not a flashy signing, perhaps, but a very respectable rotational player if the stats accurately represent his ability.
Elsewhere, FC København right-back Rodrigo Huescas was signed for £16m to back up Pedro Porro, although it doesn’t look like the Portuguese’s starting place is in too much danger, while they also spent £2.9m to sign St. Patrick’s Athletic youngster Mason Melia. The young striker is a developmental prospect but has a dash of pace which makes him look like a good budget buy for the future.
In reality, though, it’s fair to say that most fans would see this as a pretty disappointing window, with the Spurs side largely looking much the same as it did before. We’d expect the knives to be out for the owners if this ended up being the sum total of their business in real life, however.
£77m made in sales as Spurs turn transfer window profit
Say what you like about this simulated transfer window, there’s no doubt that Spurs are being run as a pretty efficient business in our save – despite all the players the club need in real life, they actually turn a comfortable in this virtual summer.
Kevin Danso heads off to Atlético Madrid for £26.5m, making the deal to sign Beukema a break-even proposition, but the real money-spinner turns out to be the sale of young winger Mathys Tel – in our game, Manchester United take a chance on his potential to the tune of £45m. A year ago, that might have felt quite realistic.
Elsewhere, youngster George Abbott joined Fulham for £5.5m and veteran defender Ben Davies heads to relegated Burnley on loan alongside young centre-back Ashley Phillips – a move which would cause fans of Phillips’ former club Blackburn Rovers to seethe. Phillips might ask to be head to a different side, but otherwise the less headline-worthy deals of this virtual window do seem like the most realistic.
Ultimately, this isn’t the kind of prediction Spurs fans will appreciate, and we’d expect Football Manager to have underestimated the kind of work that the team needs to do over the coming summer. But then again, we thought that the club would sign more players this winter, too…