Hotspur HQ

At first, Tottenham Hotspur fans were hoping for a big January transfer move for Bournemouth breakout superstar Antoine Semenyo. But after weeks from hearing from top transfer reporters in England that Spurs were among the finalists to land Semenyo with virtually all the Big Six of the Premier League interested, it did not take long for David Ornstein to definitively kill any hopes of a blockbuster Semenyo signing.

With Semenyo expected to join Manchester City from Bournemouth when the January transfer window opens up, Tottenham are having to pivot to other transfer targets. The main one next up on their wish list is a Man City player in Savinho, who was heavily linked to Spurs in the preceding summer transfer window.

But Savinho never came close to joining Tottenham, as Manchester City were unwilling to give up on Savinho and sell him directly to a Big Six rival. In fact, Man City actually signed him to a contract extension at the beginning of the season despite not starting him much.

It won't be easy for Tottenham

Savinho has not been impressive for Man City so far in 2025/26, but it sounds like the Tottenham fans who have seen the Brazilian as a slam dunk signing this January may want to readjust their expectations because Man City are remaining pretty stingy.

According to transfer insider Fabrizio Romano in an appearance on the Men In Blazers podcast, a Tottenham Hotspur January transfer swoop for Manchester City winger Savinho is "more complicated" than everyone is making it out to be.

Fab told fans, “No, I think it’s more complicated to sign Savinho in January. In the summer, let’s see because we never know. But in January, I don’t think Man City want to change anything in terms of Savinho situation as they recently signed a new deal with him. So I think they trust him for this season for sure.”

Savinho has only started about a handful of games for Manchester City on the wings this season, but he is still expected to cost around the 70 million euros that Man City were asking for him last summer, which is just about what Antoine Semenyo will cost on his release clause.

Tottenham Hotspur have to get the full three points this weekend against Crystal Palace, because after losing many important London games this season, Thomas Frank and this Spurs side need to prove that they can beat a club like Crystal Palace, who may not be at the level of an Arsenal or Chelsea but are certainly a step above the West Ham United and Brentford sides Spurs beat.

Heading into Sunday's game, there is a lot of pressure on players in the squad to show their value and be the best they can be in order to earn more regular starts from Frank. Here are three Tottenham Hotspur stars with the most to prove to the club this Premier League weekend.

CM Archie Gray

Archie Gray has become a regular starter for Tottenham this season as Thomas Frank has slowly phased out veterans Rodrigo Bentancur and Joao Palhinha. Much to the happiness of Spurs supporters, Gray has pretty much fully replaced the mediocre Uruguayan as a regular.

But we know how Frank favors the veteran players, especially Bentancur, and Gray is always one disappointing performance away from a benching from Frank. Gray needs to rule the pitch on Sunday against Adam Wharton and Palace, because this can be a statement game from the former Leeds man that he is every bit as promising of a No. 6 controller as Wharton.

ST Randal Kolo Muani

A lot of the spotlight will be on Randal Kolo Muani, who still has not fully supplanted Richarlison in the eyes of Frank, even as Tottenham supporters readily accept the Frenchman as a superior option. Richy's future sale and Kolo Muani's permanent purchase from PSG are both far from certainities, and so every game is a chance for RKM to swing the pendulum in his favor.

Therefore, Kolo Muani is always among the Spurs players under the most pressure to perform, because both his future is at stake and so is the present, given he is easily Spurs best shot at scoring goals from an all around quality perspective.

CB Kevin Danso

Obviously, Kevin Danso has a lot to prove this weekend, because Tottenham Hotspur will be without Cristian Romero due to suspension. The Austrian center back is honestly good enough to start at the Premier League level, though he is obviously not the caliber of player that Romero, who is one of the best in the world in his position, is. Danso can prove that he merits more starts and even audition to other Premier League clubs with a strong performance on Sunday.

Tottenham Hotspur have made it their M.O. to sign the world's best young players before they become superstars. Sometimes that means bagging someone while they are an inexpensive prospect like Lucas Bergvall, but other times it means making a slightly bigger splash for a player like Xavi Simons on the hopes that they will blossom into an even bigger star.

Spurs have quite a few areas of need they will need to address in 2026, and it is often quite difficult to take care of those issues in the winter transfer window when teams are less willing to part ways with real difference makers in the middle of the season.

Since Tottenham want to keep going young, here are three players under the age of 23 who could help transform the face of Spurs in 2026.

RB Leipzig LW Yan Diomande

Tottenham already went to the RB Leipzig well this summer transfer window by signing attacking midfielder Xavi Simons, and while the early reviews on the dynamic Dutch international are mixed, there is little doubt from the Spurs supporters themselves that long term, signing Simons was 100 percent the right play.

Now, Tottenham are being linked frequently with a move for Yan Diomande, who will be even more expensive than the 60-70 million euros Spurs spent on Simons, though the talk of a 100 million euro fee is likely more inflated drivel Leipzig are selling to the German media to stoke up the transfer flames.

Juventus LW Kenan Yildiz

Another left wing solution for a Tottenham side begging for difference makers on that flank after watching Son Heung-min exit to MLS, Kenan Yildiz is the ultimate dream transfer target for Spurs in 2026 and will likely have all of the elite clubs in Europe after him if there is any prayer of a move.

Juventus and Yildiz are still negotiating over the future of their No. 10, the heir to Alessandro Del Piero, but since Yildiz already moved from one elite club (Bayern Munich) to join the Bianconeri, there stands a good chance of him leaving again, too. Yildiz is more of a playmaker, but he has proven to be an elite goal scoring option on the wing and has that something special Spurs are desperate for.

Sunderland GK Robin Roefs

Robin Roefs has been one of the biggest breakout stars of the 2025/26 Premier League season with a save percentage above 77. The 22 year old Dutch goalkeeper is already much more reliable than Guglielmo Vicario, and with James Trafford potentially out of reach, Roefs could be a clean sweep from Sunderland to give Tottenham both youth and star power between the sticks in 2026.

Tottenham Hotspur will head into another big rivalry matchup in the Premier League this Sunday against Oliver Glasner and Crystal Palace knowing that they need to pick up the full three points. An they will have to do so without their best player and captain Cristian Romero, who picked up a soft red card after a surprisingly poor performance in a tough loss to Liverpool.

The tough losses have been a recurring theme for Tottenham this season, and after being embarrassed by London rivals Chelsea, Arsenal, and Fulham already this season, Spurs know they need to do a lot better on the road this weekend against the Eagles.

Here are three Tottenham Hotspur stars most likely to ascend the game and be Man of the Match winners for Spurs this Sunday afternoon.

RW Mohammed Kudus

With Cristian Romero out suspended, Mohammed Kudus is going to be the best player on the pitch for Tottenham this weekend, and Spurs, as per usual, are going to have to ride or die the Ghanaian international's creative genius in this one.

Kudus is the team's leader in assists, key passes per game, and dribbles completed per game. He will have a tough matchup against the Palace defense, and a lot will be placed on his shoulders in terms of creative output, ball carrying, and even the ability to get his own shots off.

DM Joao Palhinha

The best ball winner on Tottenham, Joao Palhinha has been phased out of the starting lineup in recent weeks, but against a rough and tumble team like Crystal Palace, something tells me that Thomas Frank will turn back to the Portuguese international to be the destroyer.

This is the kind of matchup Palhinha likes to feast on. Palace will try to take the reigns of this game and hit Spurs hard with direct attacks, which Palhinha can then break up and help restore the advantage to Spurs. He has an insane 4.1 tackles per game this season.

ST Richarlison

Richarlison is probably going to be the most inconsistent player on the pitch for either side on Sunday, but when he gets hot, man, is he hard to stop. And he showed a bit of that hot streak and nasty edge again vs. Liverpool last weekend, and while that was probably the beloved former Evertonian finding that Merseyside spark again, there's every chance he carries that into the Palace game. All he needs is one shot - either a beauty from range or a bungled cross from Kudus - to give glory to Spurs and hog Man of the Match honors.

Tottenham Hotspur will battle local rivals Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League, coming off dreadful losses to Nottingham Forest and Liverpool. Sitting 14th in the league table, it has been far from a banner year thus far for Thomas Frank, who has somehow been even worse in the league than Ange Postecoglou.

For the most part, Spurs have been especially bad in these London games. Aside from lowly West Ham United and Brentford, Tottenham have been spanked by the rest of their local rivals. Arsenal, Chelsea, and even Fulham have embarrassed Tottenham this season.

Here are three Tottenham Hotspur stars who are going to need to step up the most in order for their club to get all three points off of Crystal Palace.

ST Richarlison

Richarlison has six Premier League goals this season despite some of the worst all around play at the striker position of any actually known player in European football. The Brazilian can cook up moments of magic, but, more often, he is a ghost who bumbles himself into goals beautifully set up by Mohammed Kudus and Randal Kolo Muani.

Going up against the center back pair of Marc Guehi and Maxence Lacroix, Richarlison is going to have to do a lot more running into the channels and creating. He is maybe going to get a couple of good chances to score, and he has to start making better use of them.

ST Randal Kolo Muani

It is unclear if Tottenham manager Thomas Farnk will roll with one or two strikers, but Randal Kolo Muani can play either as a No. 9 or a left winger inverting heavily to add goals, given Spurs are not getting much production from that position. Oliver Glasner's Crystal Palace defense is tough, but Kolo Muani shredded an even tougher defense against parent club PSG in the Champions League. if Spurs can feed him the chances and work with him (looking at you, Richy), Kolo Muani can lead them to a big W on Sunday.

CB Kevin Danso

With Cristian Romero out due to a rather ticky tack suspension from the Liverpool game, Kevin Danso is going to be the man Jean-Philippe Mateta and the Crystal Palace front line target. Big Danso against Big Philippe is going to be one heck of a battle, and Tottenham had better hope it ends up being a stalemate, which is, technically speaking then, a win for the Austrian center back. Avoiding mistakes on the ball, even if fed by the incompetent Guglielmo Vicario, is the biggest key here. Don't give Mateta and the Palace press any free wins.

For the most part, Tottenham Hotspur are going to be linked to wingers in the January 2026 transfer market, because their most immediate need is signing attacking players to up the tempo and dynamism of a squad that still struggles to score against some of the worst teams in the Premier League like Wolves and Nottingham Forest.

Thomas Frank has been unable to turn things around for Spurs in the Premier League with the personnel available despite the club adding Mohammed Kudus, Xavi Simons, and Randal Kolo Muani in a highly productive summer transfer window.

But Spurs also have a need for one more star player in the midfield. Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Pape Matar Sarr, and Simons are the future of this club, but in the present, Spurs need one more guy who can create, dribble, and rule the midfield as a true Premier League star.

Another Tottenham vs. Manchester United transfer battle?

Elliot Anderson of Nottingham Forest has been floated around as a dream option for Spurs, and he certainly auditioned well agains them in Forest's 3-0 victory over Spurs. The thing is, Manchester United are very hot on Anderson's heels and may the favorites for a breakout superstar who will have the rest of the Premier League Big Six very much after him.

According to the latest information from Mark Critchley and Laurie Whitwell of The Athletic, Nottingham Forest also understandably value Elliot Anderson very highly, and any Tottenham Hotspur fan dreaming of a January, mid season swoop ahead of Manchester United to sign the Forest star midfielder may want to think again. Whitwell and Critchley state that Forest currently have "no intention of selling yet" when it comes to Anderson, who is also Man United's first choice target.

Tottenham should not give up on Anderson as an option, because even though they have lost to Man United time and time again on the transfer market despite owning them in the Europa League Final, anything can happen on the transfer market, especially since Man United are after other targets like Carlos Baleba in midfield.

So in the summer 2026 transfer window, when it is more likely for Anderson to move and be tempted by a bigger club in England, Tottenham had better be sharp and ready for a move. But right now, in Janaury, there is pretty much close to a zero point zero percent chance that Anderson makes a move to the N17.

The priority for Tottenham Hotspur this coming January transfer window will be to sign a winger who can add more dynamism and goal scoring threat to the team, relieving pressure off striker Randal Kolo Muani and right winger Mohammed Kudus, who seem to be the only sure fire starters in the Spurs front three at this stage.

Spurs have not adequately replaced the goals left behind by legendary striker and left winger combo Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, as the latter left this past summer transfer window without a single new full time left winger signing.

But Tottenham do have other needs, too, and Spurs fans are looking for the club to sign another deep lying playmaker to help Archie Gray out. The M.O of Spurs right now is to sign ascending young players before they become superstars, in the mold of moves they have made for the likes of Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Mathys Tel, and Wilson Odobert.

Many Tottenham fans want this guy

Wanted by clubs as big as Real Madrid, 19 year old Dutch defensive midfielder Kees Smit is widely being tabbed as the next big thing as the No. 6 position, which has, in some ways, become as in demand as the No. 9 in modern football.

Even though Tottenham have not been concretely linked to Smit by top transfer reporters, Spurs fans have heard the rumblings and some are smitten with Smit as an alternative to more expensive Premier League standouts like Adam Wharton.

But Smit will not come cheap either. According to reporting by The Athletic, AZ Alkmaar know the young gem they have in Kees Smit and are demanding a whopping 60 million euros in transfer fee for the 19 year old sensation in midfield.

While Tottenham have spent more than that for Xavi Simons and prefer to sign young stars like Smit, they generally do not spend 60 million euros on these unproven young stars. They tend to spend 60 million on more proven players like Kudus and Simons, and then they like to spend 30 million euros or less on the future superstars like a Tel, Odobert, Bergvall, Gray, or a Smit.

Coming out of Christmas, Tottenham Hotspur are in trouble again this season, sitting just 14th in the Premier League table and showing no real signs of growth under new manager Thomas Frank despite a pretty active summer transfer window.

Spurs have been just as bad to start the 2025/26 season as they were in the 2024/25 campaign, and the Europa League title triumph over Manchester United seems to be all but a fleeting memory. And though Spurs were able to land two big fish in Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons last summer, they have already been ruled out of the race for their dream January transfer target, Antoine Semenyo,

There are a lot of needs left for Tottenham to fill in order to get back to being a top four side in the Premier League, with most of those needs being in the attack. But there are other issues in the squad besides left winger and striker that need to be addressed.

Another battle with Manchester United

An underrated player Tottenham could sign in 2026, most likely in the summer rather than the winter transfer window, to upgrade their squad is RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande. Though he can play on the left or right, Diomande offers the most long term upside on the left side, as the Ivorian international has shown insane explosiveness and real goal scoring upside.

Diomande already has 6 goals this Bundesliga at the age of 19, and his hat trick in a big game against Eintracht Frankfurt is a sign of what is to come. The battle with Manchester United will, as ever, be a fierce one, but Diomande is a future superstar worth believing in.

Staying on the same team, Tottenham could use a more attacking left back to pair with the frequently injured Destiny Udogie, and David Raum is a better crosser and attacking outlet than Djed Spence. Udogie is already one for the future, but imagine grabbing the 27 year old Raum as a present star and going for a Leipzig double swoop for both stars on their left flank.

Raum's numbers this season are incredible. He is averaging an insane 3.3 key passes per game for one of the top clubs in the Bundesliga while recovering plenty of balls defensively. He's basically a much better version of Pedro Porro on the left side.

Finally, if James Trafford is not available, the 26 year old Mile Svilar is a young goalkeeper entering his best years who is producing jaw dropping plays week after week for Roma. Ever since replacing Rui Patricio, Svilar has been vital to the Giallorossi, and while it is unlikely Roma would want to sell such an important player, if Tottenham offer enough money, maybe they could convince them. Antonin Kinsky is the prospect, but Svilar could be a younger and better Guglielmo Vicario replacement with the same shot stopping ability and much better leadership and distribution.

Every Tottenham Hotspur fan is eager to see what the club plans on doing to upgrade an attack that has been one of the most anemic in the Premier League throughout the 2025/26 season. Spurs supporters had high hopes for the team coming into the season, but Thomas Frank has failed to improve anything about the club at all from Ange Postecoglou. If anything, the brutal losses to key rivals Arsenal and Chelsea have shown that Spurs are more lethargic and inept attacking wise than ever.

Frank has a lot to improve, no doubt, but the personnel is also far from ideal attacking wise. Tottenham have never filled the void left behind by Ballon d'Or favorite Harry Kane, nor did they adequately replace Son Heung-min this past summer after watching the South Korean leave for MLS. Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel are not ready yet to take on the mantle of being star left wingers, and at striker, everyone but Randal Kolo Muani has proven to be a disaster in 2025/26.

There is a dearth of striker options available, so with Antoine Semenyo off the table now, the best bet for Tottenham in upgrading their attack is to sign one of the three wingers potnetially up for grabs at Manchester City (Oscar Bobb, Savinho, or Omar Marmoush) or look elsewhere entirely.

Tottenham are going to push for him

Lately, Yan Diomande has become a more appealing option for Tottenham to monitor. The Ivorian winger has been tearing it up for RB Leipzig, especially lately, and he is going to improve his stock even more this winter at AFCON. After a hat trick against Eintracht Frankfurt, Tottenham and Manchester United are battling hard for Diomande, with Spurs hoping to avoid losing out to Man United for this winger prospect, just like they did for more proven options Bryan Mbeumo and Semenyo this year.

According to his latest information, transfer insider Fabrizio Romano reports that Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are both "on a mission" to scout out Yan Diomande and sign him, whether that it is in 2026 or 2027. RB Leipzig know Diomande is a great talent and a key player, so Fab notes the decision is in their hands on when he would be sold.

So Diomande may not be a January transfer for Spurs, but he is a special talent whom Tottenham are smitten with. Fab also says that other Premier League clubs are interested, but these are the main two clubs after the 19 year old Ivory Coast international. Many Spurs fans are in love with Diomande, too, and whlie he will cost a pretty penny, he is one of the few players who actually can move the needle.

Tottenham Hotspur were mulling over several options this past summer when they were searching for candidates to replace Ange Postecoglou, who was a beloved figure around Spurs and had just won the Europa League for the first time in 41 years at the club.

But after finishing 17th in the Premier League, Spurs wanted to move on from Postecoglou, whose tactics were quickly figured out by league rivals. They did not take long to settle on Thomas Frank, who was coveted by other Premier League giants in their own managerial searches over the past couple of years, having built a reputation for being something of a tactical savant in turning Brentford into a perennially solid side.

Well, Spurs have seen anything but solidity from Frank in the early going, and as the embarrassing losses pile up, including two dreadful performances against bitter rivals Arsenal and Chelsea, Spurs supporters are increasingly out on a manager who has even gone so far as to openly insult them as a fan base at press conferences.

Tottenham could be one of his suitors

There are not many viable options available, though, and if Spurs were to move on from Frank in 2026, there is a feeling that the club may settle for another mid table Premier League manager. And there is now one to watch closely.

Per a new report from Fabrizio Romano, Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner will soon be available for hire. Fab says that Glasner, once monitored by Real Madrid as a coaching option after winning the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt, is not interested in signing a new deal. He states that his understanding is the Austrian manager "plans not to sign new deal at Crystal Palace". Glasner will reportedly continue to focus on Palace's success this season, but he has already made his choice to move on in the future.

That means Glasner is likely walking away from Palace one year after threatening to walk out of the club if they were to have sold Marc Guehi to Liverpool on transfer deadline day this summer. Now, Palace will lose both for free.

Glasner's treatment of Palace this season and mediocre results are cause for concern, and he may be a lateral move from Frank. But he is better than the other mid level Premier League options, given he actually won a significant trophy with the Eagles last season in the FA Cup and also won the Europa League in Frankfurt in the past. He is one to watch for sure, though Spurs supporters will have mixed feelings about him.