Spurs could sign a superb defender from Serie A this summer - according to Football Manager.
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However Tottenham Hotspur’s season ends, there will be an awful lot of work to do this summer if they are to build a competitive side from the wreckage of the past year – and likely a lot of comings and goings in the transfer market.
Not only are there glaring weaknesses in several departments, but it seems increasingly likely that several key players (not least Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero) will push to leave North London. Tottenham’s transfer team may have their work cut out.
Figuring out just how they will do that work is a little trickier, with the gossip columns throwing new names up almost every day. So we decided to get a glimpse into the potential footballing future by turning to just about the most accurate simulation available to us, Football Manager 2026, to see who Spurs might invest in this summer – and how those moves will work out.
Serie A star will be Spurs’ best summer signing – according to Football Manager
Spurs didn’t actually go overboard in our save, having avoided relegation from the Premier League in a season rather less disastrous than the one taking place in front of our eyes – but still spent over £100m on new players as they look to beef up their squad.
A few of the new signings weren’t especially impactful. Juventus’ Edon Zhegrova managed just three goals in our simulated 2026/27 season, while highly-rated attacking midfielder Charles De Ketelaere was restricted to just 17 appearances by injuries – although he did manage seven goals in that time, suggesting that the £46.5m paid to Atalanta for his services was a very decent deal.
A couple of back-ups made up the numbers, but the most impressive signing seems to have been 28-year-old centre-back Sam Beukema, a Dutchman who came from Napoli in a deal worth £26m and immediately made an impact, starting 24 matches in the Premier League and proving himself to be a fine investment.
In the game, he took Romero’s place despite the fact that the Argentine actually stayed put, but his combination of physical power and positional discipline in the game would make him a fine replacement in the real world, too – and given that he’s being touted for a late call-up to the Dutch squad ahead of the World Cup, it might be that the in-game stats reflect reality quite well.
But could Beukema really move to Spurs in real life – and is Football Manager’s prediction for Spurs’ summer dealings, which resulted in a disappointing sixth-placed finish with a big gap between them and the top four, likely to bear any resemblance to the reality?
Could Spurs sign Sam Beukema this summer?
While Football Manager may have projected both Van de Ven and Romero to stay at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium over the course of the coming months, we strongly suspect that one or both will be on their way out – meaning that relatively affordable deals for proven defenders like Beukema could be precisely the kind of signings that Spurs try to make this summer.
There are no rumours currently linking Spurs with Beukema specifically (although Liverpool’s name cropped up on occasion in 2025), but he represents the right kind of profile – a good combination of experience and years left in the tank, strong and fast but also technically capable. Beukema is a genuine all-rounder in his position, a player who would fit into most managers’ systems without fuss.
Of course, the rest of Spur’s business dealings in Football Manager fail to align with the grim reality of just how bad this team have been. This is a world in which the team finished sixth two seasons in a row – arguably an underachievement compared to expectations, but streets ahead of where they are now. They are likely to be far more aggressive with their dealings in reality. Assuming they stay up…