It became pretty clear early last season that the summer of 2025 was always going to be a big one for Tottenham Hotspur. Ange Postecoglou's squad was decimated by a mountain of injuries but somehow they managed to stick together and lift the Europa League trophy come May.
Domestically it was a season to forget, though. The Lilywhites finished 17th in the Premier League table and new head coach Thomas Frank has plenty to do to guide his team back up towards the top of the standings.
Spurs have already added to their numbers for the new term with Mathys Tel signing permanently, Kota Takai joining from Kawasaki Frontale and Mohammed Kudus completing a £55million move from West Ham. Tottenham did look like they were going to complete another big-money transfer at the end of last week with the £60million addition of Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest.
The move has since hit a bit of a stumbling block with his current club believing an illegal approach had been made to their player without their permission. They also believed that the confidentiality of Gibbs-White's £60million release clause had been breached with suggestions that Spurs made a bid that was exactly what was required to release him.
Everything has since ground to a halt and it has left the transfer in limbo for now. Tottenham still want to press ahead with a deal and the hope from a Spurs perspective will be that it goes through sooner rather than later.
Gibbs-White appears to be the perfect player for Frank's system due to the creative side of his game and also his energy. Frank did previously want to sign him for Brentford during the player's time at Wolves, with the Dane potentially now set to get his hands on him at Tottenham.
The England international enjoyed a brilliant season at the City Ground in 2024/25 and was a key reason for Nuno Espirito Santo's men claiming a European place against the odds. Rather than playing for Forest in the Conference League, or perhaps now Europa League due to Crystal Palace's demotion to UEFA's third club competition, Gibbs-White could be set to be playing his football in the Champions League.
What his £60million move to Tottenham does do is raise questions over a couple of players already at the club. James Maddison is the first of those.
Gibbs-White has experience in a variety of positions in the final third but he will be expected to start in his favoured No.10 role considering the money Spurs look set to splurge on him. That in turn may mean that Maddison is no longer guaranteed a starting spot in the Tottenham XI.
What that should do is bring out the very best in both players as that extra competition should hopefully spur them on to new heights and secure that place in Frank's starting team. If he is to find himself on the bench at times, Maddison can be an excellent option to bring on if Spurs need a creative spark to win them a game.
Rotation is going to be required over the course of the season with Tottenham competing on four fronts, meaning Gibbs-White will be rested from time to time. As was the case in the Europa League last term, Spurs will have eight games in the league phase of the competition before the knockout round commences in early 2026.
A deal for Gibbs-White also raises a question about what is in store for Dejan Kulusevski. The Swede is currently working his way back to fitness after sustaining a knee injury leading up to the Europa League final.
Speaking at the time, Postecoglou admitted that his player would be out of action for "at least" a few months. New head coach Frank will speak to the media very soon considering Spurs have pre-season friendlies on the calendar and a potential return date for the ex-Parma man could soon become clear.
Kulusevski has confessed in the past he does prefer to operate centrally and he did flourish there when played by Postecoglou last season. Whether he plays on the right-wing or as a No.10, the Sweden international has plenty of competition as there will be Brennan Johnson, Wilson Odobert, Yang Min-hyeok and Kudus competing for a spot on the right and then Gibbs-White and Maddison at No.10.
Tottenham are a much better team for having Kulusevski in there and it will be interesting to see if he flicks between the two positions or just stays in the one role. The increased competition is exactly what Spurs need, though, after their troubles in 2024/25 and it should stand them in good stead under Frank going forward.
Now all they have to do is complete the signing of Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest.