Hotspur HQ

For the better part of the past month, all the rage on the Tottenham Hotspur transfer rumor mill has been news regarding star left winger Antoine Semenyo, who swapped flanks and burst out as an even bigger breakout star in the 2025/26 Premier League season for sleepers Bournemouth - the same club Spurs plucked record striker signing Dominic Solanke from in the preceding summer transfer window.

Semenyo and Spurs are no strangers to each other as far as transfer links go, because Tottenham were among the clubs interested in the Cherries star forward this past summer window, alongside the likes of powerhouses including Manchester United. And these same clubs are, of course, still interested in Semenyo now that the Ghanaian international is putting up even bigger numbers for Bournemouth in 2025/26.

Tottenham were listed among the favorites for several weeks, but it looks like their grip on the transfer battle has slowly faded into the background. According to the latest information from journalist Jamie Jackson of The Guardian, Tottenham Hotspur are not even among the top choices for Antoine Semenyo at this stage. Semenyo is said to favor Liverpool the most, which does conflict with other reports that Manchester City are now the favorites. But the Citizens are not far behind, ranking second behind the Reds in the chase. And then Manchester United slot in at third in the hierarchy to sign Semenyo for 65 million pounds this winter.

Tottenham are left in the dust

That leaves Tottenham nowhere to be found. Spurs were once among the pack interested in Semenyo and seemed to stand as good of a chance as anyone, including Liverpool and Manchester City, to sign the young standout.

And that was likely because of the combination of the countryman connection with new star right winger Mohammed Kudus, as well as the clear and obvious path to playing time on the left wing at the N17 whereas Semenyo would have more competition at the other top Premier League clubs.

But the harsh reality is starting to set in that Spurs are not real competitors for Semenyo because they just are not good enough. As ever, Spurs do not have quite the same clout as a Liverpool or a Manchester United, and they are certainly not playing as well as Man City - not this season or in the last several. Spurs are closer to the bottom half of the table than the top half, and their lack of sporting success over the years is a big reason why they can't win these sorts of targets.

Tottenham Hotspur are going to be one of the more active teams in the winter transfer market, because they have been playing pretty poorly so far in the 2025/26 Premier League season under Thomas Frank and are at serious risk of not even qualifying for European football at all next year. They are currently in the Champions League, but that is only by virtue of winning the Europa League; they finished 17th in the English top flight last season under Ange Postecoglou.

And yet instead of taking steps forward, it feels like Spurs are treading water or even actually moving backwards under Frank in 2025. The summer signings of Randal Kolo Muani, Mohammed Kudus, and Xavi Simons have all been important to varying degrees, and yet the Spurs attack still feels wholly incompetent and quite disjointed under the new manager.

Tottenham need to sign a player who can bring more goals to the table, and they are zeroing in on the left wing position as their biggest need. And so far in December, the main transfer target linked to Spurs has been Bournemouth breakout superstar Antoine Semenyo, who was already a target for the Lilywhites in the summer market.

Tottenham are fading fast

But Spurs are fading fast in the battle for Semenyo. According to the latest information from talkSPORT transfer reporter Alex Crook, while the battle for Antoine Semenyo is heating up, Tottenham Hotspur are the ones cooling down. Manchester City have been holding direct talks with the Ghanaian winger, while Manchester United and Liverpool are "very keen". Meanwhile, Tottenham are suddenly reportedly seen as the "outsiders" in the transfer race, which was not the case weeks ago when they were mentioned as favorites alongside the likes of Man City and Liverpool.

It appears the transfer race has been turned on its head, per the rumor mill. Man City are gunning harder and harder after Semenyo as they look to flip the script on Arsenal in the Premier League title race, while the Gunners themselves appear to be nowhere near the Semenyo chase. And despite their big summer signings in the attack, Man United appear to be highly interested in Semenyo, moreso than the surprisingly struggling defending Premier League champions Liverpool.

And now Tottenham are falling behind the rest, perhaps already rejected by Semenyo or simply not as serious in the player anyway - maybe even sending the inevtability of losing out on another highly sought after Premier League transfer target.

Xavi Simons has had to fight for every inch since joining Tottenham Hotspur, and there was even a stretch of four games in which manager Thomas Frank discarded the Dutchman on the bench. The decision by the Danish manager was met with wide spread derision by the Spurs faithful, and Tottenham did not win a single one of those four games in which Simons was thrown to the subs.

When he came back, Tottenham immediately improved offensively, and, if anything, the time Simons spent on the bench and the issues that have remained even with him on the pitch as a No. 10 have exposed the true extent of a rotten issue eating at the core of Spurs and their inability to truly push the Champions League level sides in the Premier League.

Tottenham are closer to the bottom half of the Premier League table than the top, and there is a serious dearth of goal scoring weaponry and attacking fire power. Simons gets the slack, but he only has three assists between the Premier League and Champions League despite actually playing well because of how poor the players in front of him are.

Tottenham know what they need to do

Besides new striker Randal Kolo Muani, who has not been able to feature much due to injury, and young left winger Mathys Tel, who barely plays because of Frank's poor personnel decsion making, there is not much to write home about as far as the goal threats at Spurs. Richarlison leads the way with six goals, but he misses way more of those chances and has been awful, as any true Tottenham fan will readily attest.

As Tottenham enter the January 2026 transfer window, it is clear and obvious that the Lilywhites need to sign more attacking talent, specifically someone who can go out there and score goals and link up with the talented No. 10 who has been left to feed off scraps with mostly Richy to try to assist. And that's not going well.

The fact that Simons barely has any assists despite showing real spark and technical quality is down to the personnel around him, and it only underscores how badly Tottenham need to go after a player like Antoine Semenyo and continue to feed Tel and Kolo Muani, especially, more minutes. They are not going to find a great striker option in January, but they have a ready made left winger who can score double digit Premier League goals in Semenyo available. And a player like that can really open the offense for Simons to improve his assist totals and overall output.

Europa League champion James Maddison was unable to help Tottenham Hotspur take Manchester United down in Bilbao, Spain in May, but there is no question that the top class English playmaker played a crucial role in Spurs winning their first major European trophy in 41 years during the time he was healthy.

Maddison was one of the team leaders in goal contributions and the best overall chance creator, as the Leicester City man has proven to be every bit as good as advertised since joining Tottenham. While the injury woes have indeed reared their head as a member of Spurs, the positives outweight the negatives for one of the few veteran leaders on Tottenham and easily one of the most likable Premier League players.

Unfortunately, Maddison has not been able to play in the 2025/26 Premier League or Champions League seasons yet for Spurs due to a devastating ACL tear he suffered towards the end of the preceding 2024/25 campaign.

Will James Maddison play this season?

Updates on Maddison have been hard to come by, but the freelancing commentator has finally delivered a tangible injury update for Spurs fans. James Maddison recently opened up to ITV News about his injury status, stating that he is high unlikely to be in contention for the 2026 World Cup for the Three Lions due to the time table of his injury. However, he dropped big news that he should be able to return for Tottenham towards the end of the 2025/26 season.

The man known as Madders said, "When I realised, obviously, I was going to be out for the majority of the season, if not the whole season, that kind of crushed that dream of going to the World Cup. It was a tough one to take. That's the cons of football and one of the negatives of missing out through injury. It's about dealing with that mentally. And that's partly why there's been some dark days. You want to represent your country, you always want to be in a position, especially off the back of a good season last year. Personally, with good numbers, I felt like I was close with Thomas Tuchel coming in. The first and foremost thing for me is just to come back safely and be fit. It's such a long injury. There are so many ups and downs that I just want to be in a place, returning and having a smile on my face and being fit for Tottenham Hotspur, whenever that is. It's going to be towards the end of the season, so the World Cup is probably going to be ruled out, if not definitely. So, it's one of them things. As I said, I'll take it on the chin and, yeah, it's one of those things that will drive me going forward."

Tottenham Hotspur are expected to be one of the major players in the European transfer market next January when the window officially opens, as they have endured a disappointing start to life under Thomas Frank in the 2025/26 Premier League season.

Mohammed Kudus, Randal Kolo Muani, and Xavi Simons have been assets to the attack after their acquisitions in the summer transfer window, but the left wing position remains a key area of need that was not addressed following club legend Son Heung-min's departure to MLS in 2025.

Bournemouth breakout superstar Antoine Semenyo is the hot name on the transfer market heading into January, as he has been one of the top three players in the entire Premier League to start the 2025/26 season and could be available for a very reasonable 65 million pounds due to a release clause in his contract with the Cherries.

Tottenham vs. Manchester City again

Tottenham and virtually all of the other top clubs in the Premier League badly want to sign Semenyo. Arsenal and Manchester United are involved, Liverpool are lurking, and Manchester City are believed to have very strong interest in the Ghanaian international.

According to a new report from James Ducker of the Daily Telegraph, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Liverpool are all very much in a four way battle for Antoine Semenyo, with Man United pushing even harder this January than they did in the summer because of the decreased cost of signing him. United, of course, already added Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha, and Bryan Mbeumo on big money transfers last summer.

Manchester United, as well as Tottenham and Liverpool, are hoping for an X-Factor to help them beat the mighty Manchester City for Semenyo, as the Citizens have been showing increasingly strong interest in the player over the past several weeks. Their hope is that the new uncertainty around Pep Guardiola's future and the speculation that he could step away from the Citizens for a new challenge could help push Semenyo away from them and to another Big Six Premier League club.

The Guardiola factor is something Tottenham fans probably have not thought a whole lot about but should. There is another Semenyo piece with Man City that makes things interesting for Tottenham, and that is the fact that if City were to acquire Semenyo, another winger transfer target, Savinho, would be readliy available for Spurs. And you would have to imagine, the possibility of Guardiola leaving or the uncertainty it creates should be an opening Spurs exploit to push harder for Semenyo (or even a Savinho double swoop, for that matter).

Tottenham Hotspur have a litany of major needs coming up that must be addressed in the 2026 transfer windows, and Spurs would ideally like to take care of at least one of them with a marquee signing in the January transfer window. And with Antoine Semenyo available on a 65 million pound release clause, many Spurs supporters are hoping the club can knock the pressing left wing issue out of the park with the Bournemouth breakout superstar.

Funnily enough, though, even with Spurs having one of the world's best center back trios in Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, and Kevin Danso, as well as the incredible Luka Vuskovic tearing it up beyond belief on loan in the Bundesliga, Spurs continue to be linked with center backs. They were linked to some major players in the summer transfer window, and the same has been the case going into the winter.

According to a report from FC Inter News, Tottenham Hotspur joined very center back needy Premier League rivals Chelsea with an interest in dream defensive target Alessandro Bastoni from Inter Milan.

Tottenham want a special center back

The left footed central defender is widely viewed as one of the best players in the world at any position, and even though Tottenham have way, way bigger needs than another center back, Bastoni is such a special player that Spurs fans would clearly not opposite the pursuit of the world-class player entering his prime years.

But per the report from FC Inter News, the Nerazzurri star himself rejected both of the transfer offers from Tottenham and Chelsea. He is apparently not convinced by the offers presented by the London powerhouse clubs, even though Tottenham executive Fabio Paratici is. said to be "crazy" about signing Bastoni, who is also a major dream target for FC Barcelona.

Paratici used to be an executive in Serie A for Juventus, so it is no surprise that he dreams of bringing Inter Milan's biggest talent to Tottenham. He has already found a lot of success with Serie A players to Spurs, most namely a former Juve (and Atalanta) center back in Cristian Romero, who is now one of the best players in the Premier League at any position.

So you could imagine how much he would be interested in forming a center back trio with Romero, Bastoni, and Van de Ven, all of whom could be even better in a trios set up. For now, the dream is not alive, though.

Tottenham Hotspur have a great collection of young up and coming talent in their first time. Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Lucas Bergvall, Xavi Simons, and Mohammed Kudus are already among the best in the league in their respective roles, and the likes of Archie Gray, Pape Matar Sarr, Wilson Odobert, and Mathys Tel may soon join them in the future.

Meanwhile, the Tottenham loan army is incredibly strong, too. Young winger Mikey Moore and Hamburg center back Luka Vuskovic have been two of the most impressive loanees in all of European football, with Vuskovic currently standing out as one of the best center backs in the entire Bundesliga in just his first season as a senior player.

There is another young gem on loan worth watching, too. Yang Min-Hyeok is quietly having a strong season at Portsmouth despite not getting many chances to shine in the first team, especially with Portsmouth playing such negative, defensive football in the Championship.

Tottenham may terminate young winger's loan

Therefore, Spurs have been contemplating getting the promising teenager a bigger loan. That could be in the Championship, but he could also follow in the foot steps of Vuskovic and join a Bundesliga - or even a Ligue 1 - side as a rotational piece in a top five league.

However, it sounds like Portsmouth are not interested in letting go. As reported by Neil Allen for The Portsmouth News, Portsmouth FC manager John Mousinho (not related to former Spurs coach Jose Mourinho) maintained that he feels Yang Min-Hyeok will be staying with the club for the remainder of the 2025/26 Championship campaign.

Mousinho said, "I think Min-hyeok will be here for the rest of the season. Spurs have a recall, as most of these loan contracts. Spurs have a recall if they want to recall him. I think he’s been a really bright spark in a lot of the performances we’ve had, particularly in the early part of the season. At times you have probably seen what you can sometimes expect from young players, but, as a 19-year-old coming into a struggling side, he has done very well. He will be staying until the end of the season. We have tried Min-hyeok on the right over the past couple of games. It’s just about trying to find the best place for him to fit into the team."

Min-hyeok has been a key player for Portsmouth with three goal contributions in nine starts, and if given more starts and more opportunities to play an attacking role, he would have better creative and even progressive and one on one statistics than he currently does. The 19 year old left (or right) South Korean winger is ready for a bigger gig, and although Portsmouth sound like they value him too much to let him go, Tottenham hold most of the cards with Min-Hyeok.

Tottenham Hotspur have found one real attacking gem in 2025, as new right wing signing Mohammed Kudus has been an immediate, rousing success since joining Spurs in the summer 2025 transfer window. Meanwhile, fellow new attacking signings Xavi Simons and Randal Kolo Muani have also shown they can be key parts of the solution, and there is plenty of hope that permanent Bayern Munich addition Mathys Tel can one day develop into a star left winger.

But neither Tel nor summer 2024 signing Wilson Odobert are quite there yet. Even if Spurs say they have the striker, right winger, and No. 10 positions settled with Kolo Muani, Kudus, and Simons, respectively, they do need immediate left wing help.

Antoine Semenyo has thus been picked out as the No. 1 top transfer target for Tottenham to sign in the January transfer window, as his 65 million pound release clause will be active. Every single top team in England wants to get their hands on Semenyo, who has only been bested by Erling Haaland in terms of individual performance in the current campaign. So, naturally, there are Spurs fans who think the club have already lost the battle before January has even opened up.

Tottenham could pay up for Antoine Semenyo

According to a report from David Ornstein of The Athletic in an appearance on Sky Sports's Back Pages podcast, Tottenham Hotspur will make the money available for the right profile and signing this January transfer window, and he specifically names Antoine Semenyo and Manchester City star Savinho, who could become even more available if Spurs lose out on Semenyo to Man City, as the two star forwards Spurs could sign this coming year.

Ornstein said, "Spurs will have the opportunity to improve the squad in the January transfer window. There will be money available if the right profile comes to them, and if it will improve the team in their eyes. They like Antoine Semenyo, for example, if it’s not going to be him, maybe some other players in that wide attacking position, which is something they looked at last summer with Savinho from Manchester City. It didn’t come to fruition. Maybe it will in January, and they’ll hope that Thomas Frank can bring the results over time.”

So the Savinho transfer links are very much alive for Tottenham. They went hard after him at the end of the transfer window, but not hard enough to pay up the requisite money to convince City to sell. Since Savinho has struggled a bit, maybe Man City will be more open to selling. They really only didn't in the summer because Rodrygo Goes did not move.

There is no question that Tottenham Hotspur will be one of the most active teams in the Premier League this coming January transfer window when it comes to seeking further attacking upgrades. Spurs were already lacking a lot in the goals department for years after watching club legend Harry Kane join Bayern Munich, and now that Son Heung-min has also left the N17, Spurs are missing even more goals from the left wing position.

Currently, there is not a single proven goal scorer in the Tottenham first team, and the left wing position is entirely vacant with young, raw players Mathys Tel and Wilson Odobert being the only possible options at all.

But now, Spurs are looking to make a big move beyond just the goal scorers. The transfer may not happen in the winter, but Tottenham are having serious doubts about Guglielmo Vicario after his latest disasterclass. The Italian international gifted Nottingham Forest two goals in an inexcusable 3-0 defeat, and this is just the latest of a handful of games in which Vicario has screwed over Spurs by directly dropping points in the table with his errors.

Just stick with James Trafford or anyone else

Young Manchester City goalkeeper James Trafford is the clear dream option Spurs supporters have in mind as the Vicario replacement, but he and other top options like Andriy Lunin and Mike Maignan may not be available or realistic for Spurs. Worse yet, though, the second name concetely linked to Spurs at goalkeeper after Trafford is one no true Tottenham fan would ever want.

According to a report from journalist Gabriel Sans of Mundo Deportivo, Tottenham Hotspur are among a number of clubs watching Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen ahead of a possible transfer. Per Sans, two other Premier League powerhouses in Newcastle and Manchester United are also interested, as is, surprisingly, Bayern Munich, who already have the uber talented Jonas Urbig as the under study to long time Ter Stegen nemesis Manuel Neuer. Monaco and Besiktas are more reasonable clubs linked to Ter Stegen, given their affinities for signing finisher players.

And Ter Stegen is beyond finished. Accused of being the mole by Barcelona fans, Ter Stegen has caused more problems than solutions over the years, and outside of one purple patch season in 2022/23, he has been a comfortably below average goalkeeper. He was so bad that Barca fans already value Wojciech Szczesny over him, and his lack of leadership skills have made him a despised figure by many Culers who no longer see him as a club icon. After signing Joan Garcia, Ter Stegen is nothing but a fading memory for Barcelona.

So it would be quite insane for Tottenham to spend any money on Ter Stegen's wages. He is not a better option than Vicario now and certainly not in the future. The links to Tottenham may just be Mundo Deportivo or an agent trying to fill papers or strum up falsified interest in a player who should have nobody interested beyond Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

Tottenham Hotspur fans are busy worrying about whether or not they have a real coaching problem, as new manager Thomas Frank has not exactly gotten off to a swimming start as the Ange Postecoglou replacement. He most recently embarrassed himself in totality against Sean Dyche, who had taken over at Nottingham Forest from former Spurs rejects Big Ange and Nuno Espirito Santo. Forest completely tore Spurs to shreds 3-0.

Not everything can be put entirely on Frank, of course. The Tottenham attack certainly improved this past summer transfer window with the signings of Xavi Simons, Mohammed Kudus, and even loan acquisition Randal Kolo Muani, but the left wing position remains a major hole for Spurs.

Although there are some fans who are bizarrely against his signing, the majority of fans and the transfer rumor mill are clearly pointing towards Bournemouth breakout star Antoine Semenyo, whom Spurs were initially interested in last summer window, as the biggest fish possible to upgrade the left wing position vacated by club legend Son Heung-min (now at LAFC).

Tottenham are among three pushing hard

According to new information from top transfer insider Fabrizio Romano, Tottenham Hotspur have been "very interested" in signing Semenyo and are actually being "very aggressive" in their approach to signing him. They recently made calls for the Bournemouth star, as did their newest transfer rivals in the race Manchester City and Manchester United, with Fab backing up other reporting from around England that defending Premier League champions Liverpool have cooled their interest in him.

Based on what Fabrizio Romano is reporting, Tottenham are fully on board with signing Antoine Semenyo and are 100 percent all in, making a big push and spending their time and resources on the player with a 65 million pound release clause that will be active this January transfer window. However, Romano states that as much as Tottenham are trying to sign him, there is an understanding that it all comes down to what Semenyo wants as the big clubs in the Premier League all make overtures for him.

So Spurs fans can not run the risk of falling in love with Semenyo, and when it comes to competing with the elite of the elite in European football like Manchester City or PSG, Spurs have consistently fallen short in the transfer battles. But with wins over Barcelona for Lucas Bergvall and Chelsea for Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons in 2024 and 2025, there is no need to write the Semenyo chase as 100 percent over either.