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Tottenham Hotspur have had an incredibly eventful year so far. They won the Europa League for the first time in 41 years, finished 17th in the Premier League, fired Ange Postecoglou, hired Thomas Frank, splashed major cash on Xavi Simons and Mohammed Kudus, and then saved the craziest move for September by finally parting ways with long-time chairman Daniel Levy.

Few saw the Levy twist coming after a productive summer transfer window, but that very window likely highlighted the growing difference in priorities between a commercial-focused and miserly Levy and the rest of the Tottenham brass that has ambitions of finally usurping Chelsea and Arsenal as London's biggest club.

Tottenham still have one major move left to make in 2025, as the future of executive Fabio Paratici remains unclear. Spurs have been working closely with the former managing director of football in a consultant role, and he played a pivotal role in them securing a loan deal for Randal Kolo Muani over his former employers Juventus.

But after Levy's dismissal, there was some concern that the expected permanent role for Paratici may fall through. Thankfully for Tottenham fans, that doesn't actually appear to be the case.

A permanent move makes sense for Tottenham

According to a report from Matt Law of The Daily Telegraph, Tottenham will be holding formal talks with Paratici in the coming weeks regarding his future role. Paratici remains interested in working with Tottenham despite the Levy dismissal, and he is reportedly open to remaining a consultant or returning to a full-time role.

While Tottenham would benefit from Paratici's presence and scouting eye in any capacity - his thumbprints are all over the success of the squad today, especially his networks in Italy - the chance to bring him back in a full-time role is awfully enticing.

Paratici is one of the best executives in world football and a real ace up Tottenham's sleeve. If anything, removing Levy as a roadblock and opening up more money for Paratici to spend on the transfer market should make the fit between both parties in a full-time role even stronger and entice the former Juventus executive to return even more.

At this point, it would be a shock if Paratici does not remain with Tottenham in some sort of a capacity, and it feels like the most sensible thing to do is to bring him on board in a bigger role again, especially since the club could use a steady hand after letting Levy - an institutional presence at the club - go this summer.

After the debacle two weeks ago against a highly underrated Bournemouth side, Tottenham Hotspur got back to winning ways on Matchday 4 of the Premier League, tearing apart rivals West Ham United 3-0 in a derby that simply wasn't a contest from the moment the match started.

This result was more like what Thomas Frank has produced through the first two matchdays for Tottenham with a 3-0 win over Burnley and a 2-0 win over Manchester City. Obviously, there will be a much more sterner tests for Spurs this season in their bid to return to the top five, but credit is fully due to the team for taking full advantage and making Mohammed Kudus's homecoming a successful one.

In addition to Kudus's personal storyline, there was a big one for Xavi Simons as well, as the debuting Tottenham transfer shined and recorded a goal contribution in a positive all-around performance despite playing in a less ideal position on the left wing.

Simons didn't play the full 90 minutes as he is still tuning up after a period of inactivity at the club level with RB Leipzig, but he showed more than enough to impress both Frank and the Tottenham faithful.

Thomas Frank liked what he saw

Frank said of Simons's performance, via Football.London's Alasdair Gold, "I think he was promising. I liked what I saw from him. I liked that he took initiative on the ball. Every single time he had the ball he tried to create something. And I think he had a wonderful assist for the first goal from a corner. Worked hard as well. I think it was a good first game."

The assist from Simons for breakout midfielder Pape Matar Sarr came from a corner and opened the scoring. Simons then finished the matchup with a tackle, key pass, dribble completed, and foul drawn in an excellent and well-rounded debut performance.

Frank's praise that he took initiative is the best takeaway from this matchup, because, soon, Frank is going to give Simons the keys to the kingdom. Tottenham didn't spend 70 million euros on Simons for no reason, and they see him as a centerpiece player in the squad and the new face of the franchise alongside the likes of Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Lucas Bergvall, and fellow new signing Mohammed Kudus.

Simons had a successful debut, especially since Tottenham posted a dominant win. There will be plenty more goals and assists on the way for the 22-year-old Dutch sensation.

Tottenham Hotspur are looking to shake off their first bad performance of the season, and there's no better team for them to make a statement against than reeling rivals West Ham United this weekend in what should be a big-time "revenge" matchup for new winger Mohammed Kudus.

The Ghanaian international has already made the right side of the flank his home, but Spurs have concerns on the left side of the formation. They lost legend Son Heung-min to MLS and didn't sign a top left winger, but they did make the Mathys Tel move from Bayern Munich permanent.

Tel has struggled to start the 2025/26 season, and he's not showing the same spark he did at the end of the 2024/25 campaign when he played a role in Spurs capturing a historic Europa League title. The Frenchman has shown sparks of creating chances, but he's been inconsistent and has lacked his usual dynamism in one-on-ones.

Tottenham manager Thomas Frank even snubbed Tel from the Champions League squad, which sent shockwaves across the fanbase. Some felt it was deserved based on his recent play while others see his talent, potential, and the fact that they don't actually have a better option on the left wing.

Tottenham need to back their young

But how does Frank feel about Tel after leaving him off this important squad? He had nothing but kind words to say about the young forward, praising the top prospect for how he handled being left off, via Football.London's Alasdair Gold:

“The way he handled it, the way he trains, everything about him, extremely impressive.”

Although Tel hasn't gotten off to the best start this season, it's only been a total of four games if you count the UEFA Supercup debacle. Tel was better in a bigger sample size last season, and while that really wasn't a big sample either, that only reenforces the point that Tel is still a growing player.

Tottenham and even its fanbase have made the mistake of not nurturing young talent enough, and that's part of why the club has underperformed. Their best periods, like under Mauricio Pochettino, are when they believe in their guys and give them grace. Ange Postecoglou was the same way, whereas coaches like Antonio Conte were not and that's why they failed miserably despite their pedigree.

Frank is more in the Pochettino and Postecoglou mold, albeit with the tactical acumen to rival the likes of Conte and Jose Mourinho. Tel is in good hands, and Frank, at this same press conference, made remarks indicating he's more upset about the stringent Champions League squad rules than anything Tel did.

As Tottenham Hotspur get ready for the Mohammed Kudus Derby against London rivals West Ham this Saturday, the focus will be on an attack that looked quite limp two weeks ago in a 1-0 shutout loss to Bournemouth.

Guglielmo Vicario was the only thing keeping it from being a huge blowout for Tottenham, as they struggled to move the ball up the pitch in the first concerning game of an otherwise promising start to the Thomas Frank era.

Tottenham have brought in Randal Kolo Muani to join the brigade of Richarlison and Dominic Solanke in attack. But while Richarlison has been favored by Frank and was brilliant through the first two weeks of the season, the Brazilian star showed the ugly side to his game by completely ghosting on Matchday 3.

Solanke is a well-rounded option and a big anchoring point for Spurs, but he's now been claimed by a foot injury. And per Frank, Solanke still isn't ready to return yet, though he did nestle that news with a more positive injury update on the No. 2 striker's status, via Football.London's Alasdair Gold:

“I get the feeling he is not too far away, but he’s just fallen short for this week.”

Tottenham are missing a big-game player

Solanke had a solid first season at Tottenham, even if he didn't put the ball in the back of the net 15 times, which was what Spurs were hoping for out of the 65 million pound signing from Bournemouth. But Solanke brings much more to the game than goals, which Tottenham did benefit from significantly in the Europa League knockout stages.

Big Dom is a big game player, and his aerial presence can be a game-changer in tight matches. West Ham are rivals, but they are so poor that missing Solanke isn't a huge deal. But after this matchup, Tottenham start their Champions League return campaign at mid-week with a battle against a fiery and well-coached Villarreal side.

Thereafter, Tottenham will face Brighton in the Premier League, Doncaster in the League Cup, and the Wolves in the Premier League return. Having Solanke back as an option against Brighton would be nice, but given how vague Frank was, the positive injury update still doesn't mean Solanke will be back next week either.

But Spurs have more options with Kolo Muani now, and it will additionally be worth tracking how many minutes Kolo Muani gets on the left side of the attack - or if Frank tries to go with two strikers to accommodate the three men once Solanke returns.

Overall, Tottenham Hotspur had one of the more productive transfer windows of any big club in European football, bringing in three legitimate game-changing players to their starting lineup in winger Mohammed Kudus, as well as midfielders Xavi Simons and Joao Palhinha. And there is hope that new striker Randal Kolo Muani, whether in the middle or off to the left, can be a difference-maker for Thomas Frank's new-look team, too.

Going the other way, there were very few notable departures for Tottenham, who struggled to find a suitor for Yves Bissouma. They were able to finally sell off Bryan Gil permanently to Girona, while Manor Solomon also made his way to La Liga on a loan deal after a move to Crystal Palace collapsed at the last second.

But the most intriguing departure is that of teenage phenom Luka Vuskovic, who has all the tools to be one of the best center backs in world football. Tottenham could have used him in the squad on the basis of his talent, but with three top center backs already and then Radu Dragusin coming back from injury, the young man would have been buried behind a logjam of talent at center back.

So Tottenham loaned him off to Hamburg for the year, where Vuskovic will presumably be able to work his way into the regular starting lineup for a Bundesliga returnee that could struggle defensively. Vuskovic will have a chance to gain valuable experience elevating a team that needs him in a highly attacking league that has produced great Premier League center backs like Tottenham's very own Micky van de Ven.

Tottenham can recall a standout on loan if needed

But if Tottenham, for whatever reason, need Vuskovic back or are so blown away after six months by his performances at Hamburg that they want him to return early, they could actually have the opportunity to do so in January.

According to a report from BILD's Kai-Uwe Hesse and Babak Milani, there is a clause in the loan contract between Hamburg and Tottenham Hotspur that would allow Luka Vuskovic to return to North London in the January transfer window.

While Spurs supporters shouldn't anticipate this happening given there are five options at center back, including one of the world's finest duos between Van de Ven and Cristian Romero, the safety net of having Vuskovic should something happent to the top guys is a big deal in a grueling season with Champions League football.

Tottenham were burned so often by injuries last season that having an additional contingency plan is massive for the team, and while Vuskovic is young, he has the athletic ability and courage of character to make a difference in his youthful years.

Tottenham Hotspur surprised the entire footballing world just a few days after the closure of the summer 2025 transfer window, pushing long-time chairman Daniel Levy out the door. And the most surprising part of it all is that they have parted ways with Levy because of significant disagreements with his approach, as the club now want to truly compete with the Big Six on the scale of being Champions League and Premier League title contenders every year.

Although Tottenham fans are as wise as any fanbase on this planet and have a "we'll believe it when we see it" whenever they are fed these kinds of optimistic lines from the club (and who knows how many times Levy sold them on this, too), there is indeed palpable optimism. After all, Spurs spent big on Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons this summer while also bringing in Randal Kolo Muani and Joao Palhinha on loan from elite European clubs.

There doesn't seem to be any downside in Tottenham letting go of Levy, regardless of how much stability he is purported to have brought the club financially. Look, it's awfully tough not to make money with a massive club in London when said club's net spending is closer to clubs in the Championship than the other major English footballing powers in large cities.

But there may be one potential negative quietly brewing. Tottenham seemed to have the reunion of Fabio Paratici sewn up, and the top-notch footballing executive was said to be a key reason why Spurs were able to get Kolo Muani at a cheap loan price from PSG even though Paratici's former employers Juventus were keen on extending the striker's loan for longer (and on a more expensive deal).

Tottenham's big reunion is now in real doubt

Now, according to a report from talkSPORT's Alex Crook, Daniel Levy's exit at Tottenham threatens to prevent Paratici from returning for good. Apparently, Paratici was only advising Levy in an unofficial role without being hired as a part of the technical team yet, and whlie things were moving in that direction, Levy's dismissal has cast serious doubt on Paratici's future as an official member of the club.

It would be pretty ridiculous for Tottenham to not want an executive of Paratici's caliber back, especially since the club's Europa League winning outfit last season has Paratici's handprints all over it - and so does this Kolo Muani transfer. Anyone would love to work with Paratici, and even though he seemed to have an affinity for Levy, it would be equally outlandish for Paratici to base his own future at Tottenham off the exit of an impediment to him getting more financial support in a general manager or other executive-type role at Spurs.

Nevertheless, Levy's exit means that Paratici's full-time return to Tottenham is reportedly legitimately up in the air because of how much Levy was the one pushing for his return to the club, and whlie that twist of fate seems hard to believe, there is now an apparent, tangible drawback to Levy's exit from Spurs this summer.

Tottenham Hotspur stars once again made the club proud over the international break, and while the most important headline for Spurs supporters is that their best players will be heading back to North London unscathed, fans have something else to cheer about as Premier League action returns this weekend with a battle against London rivals West Ham.

Last season, the midfield was a major weakness under Ange Postecoglou, but with the hiring of Thomas Frank and the additions of Xavi Simons and Joao Palhinha from the Bundesliga, the Tottenham midfield suddenly looks like a real point of strength for Spurs in 2025 - and we haven't even seen Simons take the field yet.

The Tottenham midfield has gotten so good that with Simons in tow, key players from last season like Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Bergvall are going to be fighting for starts. And that's a great "problem" to have, especially with James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski nursing significant knee injuries.

But what makes this all even better is that Tottenham's most prominent midfield upgrade from the 2024/25 season to the 2025/26 campaign isn't even a new signing; it's a young talent who has been there all along.

Tottenham have a new box-to-box maven

Pape Matar Sarr has started the season off on a torrid pace, earning such plaudits from Tottenham fans as comparisons to N'Golo Kante. While those flattering comparisons don't really get to the heart of Sarr's playing style and what he brings to Spurs as much as they lead to social media engagements, the point stands that Sarr has been fabulous in a box-to-box role for Tottenham this season.

And he only enhanced his reputation over the international break for Senegal. Not only is he bringing the same excellent work rate, defensive contributions, progression, and all-around ability in covering all parts of the field for Senegal as he has for Tottenham, but he's also showing even more technical ability and, yes, goal scoring in a more prominent and freer role as THE current star of the Senegal national team.

To wit, Sarr came up with the game-winning goods off the bench in the 87th minute of Senegal's 3-2 victory over the DR Congo in the World Cup qualifiers, producing his second moment of sublime quality to score a goal during this international break.

Sarr had already scored a great goal four days prior in a 2-0 win over Sudan. He is showing a level of star power and technical quality for his country that Tottenham haven't really seen yet, and it's something Frank can unlock, just as he's already gotten significantly more out of the 22-year-old than Postecoglou did last seaosn.

Former Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane is loving life at Bayern Munich.

He has secured the first pieces of silverware of his career in 2025, and he looks set to improve on it ni the coming years with Germany's best team, by an absolute landslide.

However, his decision to leave Tottenham was also met with a lot of criticism - particularly from some former players and English media, which confused quite a few people, including me.

Legendary footballer Michael Owen, famously known for a Ballon d'Or win, his stint at Liveerpool and a failed move to Real Madrid, was heavily critical of Kane's decision to chase silverware in Germany, instead of with his own club.

He was also not too happy with Kane leaving just before he beat Alan Shearer's record of the most Premier League goals ever.

Well, Kane's just responded, and it is as good of a response as you'll hear this week.

Harry Kane gave the perfect response to Michael Owen

He said: "I heard it. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I've spent a bit of time with him but don't know him well. Obviously, he is a Premier League great and an England great as well, so I'll respect him as a person, but ultimately as he will know, everyone's career is different - everyone's decisions and motivations are different.

"I know he was insinuating I went just for the trophy, but it was to be at the highest level for as long as possible, and I'm really happy in that sense of playing big games, title runs, big Champions League matches, Club World Cup quarter-final.

"I feel I'm improving as a player, I'm pushing my limits as a player in terms of goalscoring. It's hard not to hear things these days, but the decisions are best for me and I'm really happy that I made that decision and very happy at Bayern Munich now."

Honestly, that is fair enough.

It is clear that Kane didn't just move for the trophies. That may be one of the reasons - as is with every single big player who wants to win more - but he wanted to be competitive for longer. To be better as a footballer than he was in England.

So, moving to Germany has helped him in many ways. Owen's quotes about the trophies not being a "great achievement" is ridiculous. Every trophy is a success, and much more so when you are by far the best player in the league.

Besides, I do think Kane has improved as a player, even though he was already one of the best in the world at Spurs. English football is great, but these players don't deserve criticism just because they leave for a different country to achieve things elsewhere.

He spent a lot of his formative years and his career trying to win things at Spurs. Things did not work out, so he left. End of story. That does not make him any less of a legend at the club.

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Tottenham Hotspur have an embarrassment of riches at the center back position, and after watching the way Europa League Player of the Season Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, and even third center back Kevin Danso teamed up to take down clubs en route to a victorious Europa League title run, Spurs supporters wouldn't trade any of their center backs for anything in the world.

They were, therefore, ecstatic that Atletico Madrid's overtures for Argentinian World Cup and Copa America hero Romero didn't go anywhere, keeping one of the world's finest center back trios intact for the 2025/26 Premier League and Champions League seasons. And if you are high on Radu Dragusin under new manager Thomas Frank, then you could call it a quartet.

What's even wilder is that Tottenham could have had, by far, the best quintet of center backs in the world if they decided to keep Luka Vuskovic. But after a standout preseason, Spurs felt it was best to let Vuskovic spread his wings on loan to Bundesliga side Hamburg, in need of new defensive star power upon their return to the German top flight.

Vuksovic is just 18 years old, but Spurs fans are already buzzing about their next Sergio Ramos, and even former Tottenham manager Martin Jol is waxing poetic about the future potential of this special center back talent.

Ex-Tottenham manager sells Cristian Romero a bit short

He told Football.London's Alasdair Gold that Vuskovic has what it takes to be an even better player than Cristian Romero, who is currently Spurs best center back and widely recognized by fans and his peers as one of the best in the world:

"[Cristian] Romero could go anywhere but you feel like if he plays for a while at his top level, he will get injured. Romero is a good, decent defender, but I will tell you one thing, the guy they sent to Hamburg now - Luka Vuskovic - will be better."

It's a bold claim from the one-time Tottenham coach, but it's one of the only bold claims at Romero's expense that Spurs fans may actually entertain. Because if they aren't going to take any center back over Romero or Van de Ven in the world, the one they may take is someone who is already a Spur.

Although Jol does downplay Romero a bit by underselling him as "good" and "decent" when it's pretty clear that he's world-class with what he's accomplished for Argentina and Tottenham as a serial trophy-winner, the reality is that Vuskovic has the potential to be even better.

That's no statement against Romero but rather effusive praise for Vuskovic's potential. Of course, potential is a funny way to say that a player hasn't actually accomplished anything yet, and, for that reason, you really have to tip your cap off to Romero, at the end of the day, for becoming what he's become in world football as a top-level center back. Spurs are very fortunate to have all these guys within their ranks here in 2025.

Tottenham Hotspur had one of the best transfer windows of any Premier League club this summer. And that's not just on paper, because the likes of defensive midfielder Joao Palhinha and right winger Mohammed Kudus have been absolutely smashing it through the first three matchdays of the new campaign, making Spurs look like legitimae top-five contenders after finishing 17th last season.

Credit a large part of the early turnaround to Thomas Frank's tactics, but also credit the players for their contributions. Palhinha and Kudus have been game-changers, and Spurs fans are still waiting for the Tottenham debuts of new attacking midfield sensation Xavi Simons and new striker signing Randal Kolo Muani.

Although Simons is the player everyone is hyped about, Kolo Muani was an intriguing transfer deadline day snag from PSG, and it sounds like Tottenham have big plans for "RKM" in the 2025/26 season. Based on this latest quote from technical director Johan Lange, Spurs don't just see the former Bundesliga star as only a striker either:

"I think with Randal, first of all, I’m so pleased we managed to get it over the line. Credit to everybody at the club to act quickly when the opportunity of a player of that level arises. Randal is a versatile, attacking player, so he can play across the front line. It gives Thomas and the staff so many options across the front line, where most of our players can play in more than one position and, again, with Randal coming in, a player we have followed for a long, long time, very successful in the Eintracht Frankfurt team a couple of years ago. He's made his move to Paris and then in the last six months, also played with success at Juve, played in the World Cup, played in the Champions League, played for big clubs, so we are very, very pleased and excited that he's here and he will be another great addition to squad for the season."

The new Tottenham starting LW?

As Lange notes, even though Kolo Muani didn't make much of an impact for PSG, he was an absolute star in the Bundesliga for Eintracht Frankfurt, even outshining Bayern Munich in some big games. His numbers in terms of goals and assists were pretty similar to Hugo Ekitike's in Frankfurt last season, and Spurs aren't paying anywhere near 90 million euros for his services.

Kolo Muani also impressed enough on loan at Juventus last season that the Bianconeri actually tried to keep him for longer before Tottenham swept in and stole away the versatile 26-year-old forward. He has the finishing, speed, and well-rounded dribbling and creativity to be a solution on the left wing.

Lange seems to be implying Kolo Muani as a versatile option on the left side of the formation with Kudus already nailing the right wing with that tricky left foot of his. If Kolo Muani can be a supplementary goal scorer from the left with Dominic Solanke and Richarlison manning the middle, this Spurs front three suddenly looks versatile, fluid, and unpredictable. And that's exactly what appears to be Frank's and the club's larger plan here.