The latest updates on Spurs in the summer transfer window - including news on the striker search and Lucas Bergvall’s future.
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Tottenham Hotspur have pulled no punches in their attempts to rebuild a squad which spent last season embroiled in a relegation battle – Spurs have already made six new signings and spent a massive £230m, the most of any Premier League team in the transfer window so far.
The money spent to sign Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes and Jan Paul van Hecke won’t be the last outlays made, either. The club are starting the post-Daniel Levy era by ripping apart the budget-conscious rulebook he spent decades writing, and are determined to buy their way back into contention for the European places as quickly as humanly possible.
With so many holes still visible in the squad, especially due to long-term injury problems, several further signing can be expected, while a few first-team players look likely to leave. In today’s States of Play, we’ve looked at the probable incomings and outgoings as the transfer window unfolds.
Spurs looking for alternatives as Kroupi hopes fade
With the midfield largely sorted, a new striker is now at the very top of Tottenham’s transfer wishlist – but their primary target looks to be out of reach, at least for now.
Spurs were one of the sides considering a move for Bournemouth starlet Eli Junior Kroupi but the Cherries have made it clear in no uncertain terms that the Frenchman, who scored 13 Premier League goals in his debut season down in Dorset, won’t be leaving Dean Court - even if they receive bids north of £100m, according to The i Paper.
While Spurs have been happy to blow bidding wars apart by paying over the odds for the likes of Tonali and Fernandes, that looks like won’t work this time. All indications are that Kroupi is off limits, at least for another year, and that they’ll have to figure out a Plan B.
Two players who are under consideration are Club Brugge’s Nicolò Tresoldi, a German forward who scored 22 goals last season, and Hoffenheim’s Fisnik Asllani, who scored 10 times in the Bundesliga. At the ages of 21 and 23 respectively, both are young, up-and-coming players who could provide immediate competition for Dominic Solanke. No formal offers appear to have been made as yet, however, and they are just two names on a longer shortlist.
Right now, it’s not clear who Spurs will target first once they give up on Kroupi – the odds that they land their primary target appear to be vanishingly thin as it stands, so this is a position in which another surprise bid could be sprung at any time.
Who else are Spurs trying to sign this summer?
The other key priority as it stands is the signing of at least one winger – and it’s possible that Spurs sign two, including one young developmental player, depending on how concerned the club are about the long-term fitness of injury-stricken players such as Xavi Simons and Dejan Kulusevski.
Manchester City winger Savinho remains a potential target, although the club have maintained a watching brief on the Brazilian despite being made aware that he would be available at the beginning of the window. Spurs failed with a bid of £65m last summer, but the 22-year-old endured a difficult year at the Etihad and is now up for sale.
Savinho remains the single most likely transfer target out wide, but there are other names in the frame, including Benfica’s Andreas Schjelderup – scorer of Norway’s goal against England in the World Cup quarter-finals – and PSG wonderkid Ibrahim Mbaye, who is likely to leave Paris after the anticipated arrival of Yan Diomande.
Will Lucas Bergvall leave – and who could follow him out?
Spurs have rebuffed initial approaches over midfielder Lucas Bergvall from both Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest, with opening bids believed to have come in at around £45m, as reported by BBC Sport – but although Spurs turned those offers down, the Swede is still likely to leave North London this summer.
The 20-year-old has gone public with his desire to move on after he fell out of favour after the appointment of Roberto De Zerbi and the arrivals of Tonali and Fernandes won’t have made him any more keen to stay and fight for his place. Spurs don’t plan to stand in his way but do plan to hold firm on their valuation, which stands at £60m.
Further bids are expected, but it’s not clear whether Spurs plan to be flexible with their demands as negotiations continue. The way that the bidding for Bergvall pans out will tell us a lot about how sporting director Johan Lange and chief executive Vinai Venkatesham will handle the transfer market going forward.
There is also growing interest in Djed Spence, buoyed by his outstanding performances in the World Cup knockout rounds. Both Juventus and Everton are known admirers and Spurs are likely to ask for a fee of at least £30m before they consider a sale – but no final decision on Spence’s future has been made as yet.
Other players expected to leave include goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, who is wanted by both Juventus and Napoli, striker Richarlison and centre-back Cristian Romero, all of whom have been given the all-clear to find a new club. Inter Milan appear to be the most likely buyers for Romero as it stands, but if there have been any negotiations they have been kept under wraps thus far.
Israeli winger Manor Solomon was expected to join Fiorentina after a successful loan spell with La Viola, but the Italian outfit have declined their purchase option and are trying to renegotiate the price downwards.
As it stands, there have been no offers for Micky van de Ven, but he has admirers who could make a move if they have enough of a transfer budget left towards the end of the window – Liverpool chief among them.
As it stands, the likelihood is that he stays put, however, with Spurs keen to keep hold of one of their best players. The asking price would likely be north of £100m if a potential move did materialise. For now, that’s a hypothetical. Archie Gray also seems likely to stay, too, as it stands, but the versatile youngster has many admirers and his situation could still change.