Hotspur HQ

Tottenham Hotspur are heading into the 2025/26 Premier League season with aspirations of competing for a top-five place, but after finishing 17th in the league last season, they are living on a pipe dream if they think Mohammed Kudus as the only signing can lift them up to that status.

Kudus is a great help and has the upside to develop into one of the best wingers in the Premier League, but Tottenham's attack is still a way's off of clubs like Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, and even Chelsea at the top of the Premier League table.

The best thing Tottenham can do is sign world-class players who are also courted by these elite clubs and actually beat Liverpool, Arsenal, and the others to these signings. That's the best way they can compete to win the title - or at least secure a safe finish in the top five.

Right now, the most prominent of those transfer targets is Real Madrid winger Rodrygo Goes. The talented young forward loves Real Madrid but is now open to a move after feeling marginalized by the club during the 2024/25 season following the addition of superstar Kylian Mbappe.

Tottenham never go for the real big targets

Rodrygo even got his benching orders by the end of the campaign, and even new manager Xabi Alonso hasn't been interested in giving Rodrygo starts; the Brazilian international rode the bench during the Club World Cup.

Recent reports have indicated that Tottenham are finally joining London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal, as well as defending Premier League champions Liverpool, with interest in the 24-year-old Madrid forward. But it appears any hopes of signing Rodrygo are premature.

According to a new report from Sky Sports Germany's Florian Plettenberg, Rodrygo Goes is, in fact, "not a target" for Tottenham Hotspur. Plettenberg states that the initial rumors that Spurs are after the Real Madrid star are simply "wide of the mark", putting things back to a three-horse race among usual suspects Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea.

It's an entirely unsurprising transfer blow to a Tottenham fanbase that is used to Daniel Levy and the club showing zero interest in actually competing with the big boys in European football for elite targets. It was the same story last year with Desire Doue, this year early in the window with Rayan Cherki, and now it will be the same case with Rodrygo. And every Tottenham fan who doubted this rumor when it first emerged won't even bother saying "I told you so".

A busy summer Saturday is on the horizon for Thomas Frank's Tottenham, with an extra pre-season friendly against Wycombe Wanderers scheduled ahead of our trip to Kenilworth Road.

Spurs kicked off the summer with a 2-0 win at League One Reading last weekend, as young striker Will Lankshear and freakish centre-back talent Luka Vuskovic found the back of the net. 22 players were used in total, with the new manager opting for two different starting XIs at the start of each half.

A trip to Luton Town, who have suffered back-to-back relegations and are now also in the third tier, was scheduled to be our next friendly, but only half of the first team squad will make the relatively short trip up the M1. The rest will enjoy an early kick-off at Hotspur Way.

Thomas Frank explains reason for extra pre-season friendly

The newly arranged friendly against Wycombe will kick off nice and early at 11:00, and the club have confirmed that fixture will be available to stream via SPURSPLAY, as will the clash with Luton later in the day.

Similar to last weekend's clash at Reading, Frank's first team squad will be split into two, with half playing against Wycombe, and the other half against Luton.

"We wanted an extra game in our schedule to give as many players as many match minutes as possible, in order to put them in the best position, physically," Frank has said, explaining the extra fixture.

"We will play two even, strong teams and they will play between 60 and 75 minutes, maybe more.

"By the end of Saturday, 22 players will have played a lot of match minutes and they will be in a very good place before we go on tour," he concluded.

While Dejan Kulusevski and Radu Dragusin remain out of action, Frank said last week that Richarlison will feature on Saturday, having missed the win at Reading. James Maddison has also continued to step up his recovery from a knee injury, and the Englishman is expected to be a part of the travelling squad to the Far East.

Our summer tour begins against familiar foes Arsenal in Hong Kong on 31 July, the first-ever North London Derby played overseas. We then take on Newcastle in Seoul and face Bayern Munich in Bavaria before the UEFA Super Cup against European champions Paris Saint-Germain on 13 August, three days before the start of the Premier League season.

Although it can be frustrating for Tottenham Hotspur supporters who would like more frequent updates and more activity from their club, one of the few things Tottenham do well as an organization on the transfer market is that they run a tight ship. Their lips are sealed, and they often do their best business in silence before swooping in and making a sudden move.

That was the case with the Morgan Gibbs-White transfer, which should, hopefully, be completed in the coming days. And that was also somewhat the case with Mohammed Kudus, who wasn't squarely on the Tottenham transfer radar until the days leading up to the deal - most fans thought other targets, like Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze, were the focus.

Tottenham have not made any real approaches for a defensive midfielder this summer transfer window. Joao Palhinha has been floated around as the boring option - a 30-year-old veteran with Premier League experience currently toiling away on the bench at Bayern Munich with no real future in Germany. And Adam Wharton has been linked, but nobody seriously thinks that Palace will sell the England international to Spurs - or anyone else, for that matter - in the year 2025.

Manchester United open to a move now

Perhaps Tottenham are biding their time for an even bigger splash. According to a report from Graeme Bailey for United In Focus, Manchester United still haven't reached an official agreement with young defensive midfielder Kobbie Mainoo on a new, long-term contract despite goignng at it for months of negotiations.

Per Bailey, Tottenham are one of the clubs interested in signing the talented 20-year-old. Just a season before, Mainoo was the biggest revelation for Manchester United and one of the biggest revelations in Englisih football as a whole, firing the Red Devils to European qualification with his heroics against crosstown rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup Final.

But lat season, Mainoo became an afterthought, and under Ruben Amorim's already tumultuous reign as manager, he's become increasingly unsettled. Manchester United aren't meeting his admittedly rich salary demands, and if they continue to carry on this way, Mainoo may push harder to want out.

Bailey even reports that Manchester United are starting to open up to the idea of selling Mainoo this summer, and that could give Tottenham the opening they need to reach in and steal away one of the biggest gems in the Premier League, filling the biggest need on the roster in one fell swoop by nabbing a young and exciting defensive midfield player.

If Tottenham Hotspur are finally able to close a transfer for star attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest, then they will have very few gaping holes in their offense going into the 2025/26 season under new manager Thomas Frank.

They'll have a pairing of James Maddison and Gibbs-White at the 10, a trio of talented right wingers after snagging Mohammed Kudus from rivals West Ham, and then, most likely, the tandem of Richarlison and starter Dominic Solanke at striker. On the left wing, Son Heung-min will presumably stay as the veteran with Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel competing for starts behind him.

If there is room for another transfer standout, then it is at either left wing or striker, with left wing being preferred, given Son's limited shelf life. And it's still not even settled if Son will stay, since Spurs may simply be waiting until after the trip to Seoul to officially offload their biggest club legend.

On the left wing, Lyon standout Malick Fofana has been mentioned as a possible transfer target for Tottenham Hotspur this summer. Fofana has been linked to a number of Premier League clubs, but after Chelsea cooled their interest in the talented Frenchman, Liverpool have since emerged with the intention to replace not Luis Diaz with him, but rather Federico Chiesa. Fofana will be the new understudy to the next superstar left winger, whether that is Diaz or Rodrygo Goes.

Liverpool are one sale away from this transfer being a reality

As Tottenham Hotspur themselves enter the transfer race for Rodrygo, with Liverpool and Arsenal being the main favorites, they have to worry about the prospect of losing out on Fofana, in addition to being major underdogs in the Rodrygo race.

According to a new report from Sky Sports Switzerland's Sacha Tavolieri, the minute Chiesa officially transfer to Serie A - Atalanta are favorites - Liverpool are "expected to sign" Malick Fofana as his replacement. He is "highly rated" by Liverpool, which comes as no surprise, since most French footballing experts view Fofana as a special talent and the latest big gem from the Lyon academy.

Tottenham already lost out on one such gem, barely even fighting Manchester City early in the window for the transcendental playmaker Rayan Cherki, whose sweet left foot wasn't even seriously pursued by a Spurs side still grappling with the future of Ange Postecoglou at the time.

Although Tottenham already have Odobert and now Tel permanently in their ranks, Fofana would have been quite the get for them. And if he goes on to be a superstar for Liverpool, which is a more than plausible scenario, we'll look back at this time in five years and wonder why Tottenham didn't try harder.

The Morgan Gibbs-White transfer should have been completed a week ago alongside the 55 million pound coup of West Ham star Mohammed Kudus, but Nottingham Forest's temper tantrum has blocked Spurs from signing one of the biggest attacking talents in the Premier League to a squad that was in need of game-changers this summer.

But the reality is that Tottenham could have closed this deal despite Forest's protests, and they really should have ended this entire process by showing more urgency to sign Gibbs-White and fight the Powers That Be to make this deal happen officially. After all, Gibbs-White wants a Tottenham move, and Spurs paid his 60 million pound release clause fair and square.

If Gibbs-White truly wants to join Tottenham Hotspur this summer, then he could push for a move, too, instead of playing nice with a Forest organization that is essentially holding him hostage and placing him in official match squads for meaningless friendlies, as opposed to facilitating a transfer that should be legal and done by now.

Meanwhile, a different Tottenham transfer target is showing how it's done. Brentford striker Yoane Wissa, who is being pursued by both Newcastle and Tottenham this summer, has, per a report from BBC Sport's Sami Mokbel, made it crystal clear to the Bees that he has no intention of playing for them next season.

Yoane Wissa is standing on business

Wissa wants a move, and, unlike Gibbs-White, he's willing to act like it. The star striker has left the club's preseason activities in Portugal and is speaking with the Brentford sporting director about his future with the full intent of agreeing on personal terms with either Newcastle or Tottenham and getting a deal done.

Tottenham don't seem to be pursuing Wissa very hard, though, even though Thomas Frank is interesting in reuniting with his 19-goal Brentford striker after losing out on star man Bryan Mbeumo to Manchester United.

Newcastle, having just lost out on Hugo Ekitike to reigning Premier League champions Liverpool, are now showing the most urgency for Wissa. Tottenham appear to be resigned to giving Richarlison one last, honest go under Frank, with 2024 marquee signing Dominic Solanke entrenched as the starter after an excellent Europa League campaign in 2024/25.

Wissa's willingness to take a strong-arm stance on Brentford is a harsh reminder to Tottenham that if Gibbs-White really wants to be a Spur, then he'll make it happen. So far, MGW hasn't done that at all, and that has to be disappointing to Tottenham fans who want players, like Mathys Tel, who truly push to be part of the club.

Tottenham Hotspur have one clear transfer priority above all others at this point. If they want to ensure that they can compete at the highest levels of both the Premier League and Champions League in the 2025/26 season, then they are going to need to sign at least one competitive, starting-caliber defensive midfielder behind the, hopefully duo, of James Maddison and Morgan Gibbs-White in the No. 10 spot.

Dream transfer targets like Adam Wharton who are ascending and proven in the Premier League are highly unlikely, so Tottenham are going to have to scour more underrated options. Given how valuable defensive midfielders are these days, most of those options are already out of the bag, with Leeds snapping up the Bundesliga's Anton Stach and Club World Cup superstar Richard Rios moving over to Portugal's Benfica.

Joao Palhinha is heading towards the wrong side of 30, but the former Fulham star is a proven Premier League commodity who plays for one of the world's most prestigious clubs, Bayern Munich, and can be signed easily and cheaply by Tottenham this summer transfer window.

Tottenham don't even care about midfield

However, it looks like Tottenham aren't moving with any urgency for Palhinha - or any other defensive midfield option - for that matter either. According to new information from Football.London Tottenham beat reporter Alasdair Gold, Tottenham would actually have to sell off a center midfielder before they can sign Palhinha up to any deal, whether a loan or a permanent transfer.

That report seems to affirm what is clearly unfolding before Tottenham supporters, and that is the sad reality that Spurs don't have any real gusto towards acquiring a new midfielder. And as of right now, Palhinha is the only real option Spurs have an intention of pursuing this summer.

The implicit meaning of the report is that until Tottenham can offload Yves Bissouma, who has very little interest around European football currently, they won't be able to sign Palhinha. Tottenham evidently don't value the defensive midfield position highly, and they may even be OK with making the critical error of heading into the 2025/26 season with no real changes at their biggest position of need.

As happy as Thomas Frank should be about Spurs supporting him with Mohammed Kudus and, hopefully, Morgan Gibbs-White, Spurs supporters should be incensed at the lack of movement elsewhere in the squad. And the GIbbs-White situation will end up being an even bigger net negative in the minds of the fans if he doesn't ultimately arrive either.

Tottenham Hotspur are trying hard to sign a new midfielder to bolster a unit that is well behind their peers in the never-ending competition to secure Champions League football in the Premier League, and, now, Spurs are increasingly running the risk of ending up empty-handed in the middle of the park.

Ideally, Tottenham would sign a box-to-box player and a holding midfielder, with one player being on the younger side and the other older. Furthermore, Spurs also need to sign one player who is more of a creator and the other who is more of a defensive presence.

Although Tottenham have already pushed to sign Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest, the 25-year-old English attacking midfielder is not a signed, sealed, and delivered transfer for Spurs. So Tottenham need to look for an alternative, and, in this case, that alternative, Xavi Simons, could also be a stand-alone signing in conjunction with Gibbs-White as a more attacking profile of a No. 8 to offer a completely different dynamic to the Tottenham midfield.

Chelsea are cruising ahead

The problem is that Tottenham may already be implicitly out of the transfer battle for Simons. In his latest transfer update, Sky Sports Germany's Florian Plettenberg reports that Tottenham rivals Chelsea have continued transfer talks with Xavi Simons on Tuesday with the goal being to reach a "verbal agreement" with the world-class 22-year-old RB Leipzig star.

Chelsea have been pushing harder than anyone else to sign Simons, with rivals Arsenal and even Bundesliga powerhouse Bayern Munich falling to the wayside. Tottenham? They aren't even mentioned anywhere in Plettenberg's latest transfer report, indicating that they are no longer even in the picture to sign Simons, who is increasingly tied to Chelsea.

Tottenham have other transfer targets in the midfield, mostly more defensive options like Joao Palhinha of Bundesliga fame for Bayern Munich. A former Premier League star for Fulham, Palhinha is 30 years old and far from the most exciting option Spurs could sign in midfield, but with Adam Wharton implausible at this juncture, he might be one of the best options Spurs will get with Anton Stach, Richard Rios, and others already signing.

Staying in the Bundesliga, Tottenham could make a swoop for Stuttgart's underrated Angelo Stiller if Die Schwaben are open to listening to offers, but, in the case of Simons, this ship is already sailing. Tottenham have been slow to the punch, again, in the middle of the park, and Spurs supporters will hope it doesn't end up costing them this season.

Tottenham Hotspur supporters have been wanting to see their beloved club get serious and actually challenge the biggest franchises in European football for truly world-class players who can transform the team's fortunes.

Mohammed Kudus and, presumably, Morgan Gibbs-White will be an established Premier League one-two punch with the upside for more, and they would be a great start for the incoming Thomas Frank as summer signings. However, neither player is world-class, and, in truth, Tottenham don't have a single midfielder or forward who is a 100 percent, nailed-on world-class player.

That could change if Tottenham are able to actually sign the latest player they are interested in. According to Diario AS, Tottenham have come out of nowhere to join the transfer race for Real Madrid superstar Rodrygo Goes, who has become increasingly distant from his beloved Royal White club after being benched towards the end of the 2024/25 season by Carlo Ancelotti. Per AS, Daniel Levy is hoping that he can get a slight discount on Rodrygo due to his good relationship with Real Madrid, having sold them club legends Gareth Bale and Luka Modric in the past.

All the elite Premier League clubs want this move

Real Madrid have been in a push-pull situation with Rodrygo, with new coach Xabi Alonso, on the one hand, trying to convince him to stay with words but, on the other hand, benching the Brazilian Champions League hero outright during Real's disappointing Club World Cup run.

Rodrygo is wanted by virtually all the top clubs in the Premier League, with Arsenal, in particular, wanting him desperately as an upgrade on the left wing for Gabriel Martinelli. Chelsea have also been closely linked, and, lately, Liverpool have been pushing hard to sign Rodrygo as a possible Luis Diaz replacement.

So Tottenham are late to the party, but with Rodrygo's future still completely up in the air, it is truly a case of better late than never for the Hotspur. Rodrygo is an elite player on the left wing, and even when he plays out of position on the right, he's still a better forward than pretty much everyoen else in the Tottenham first team right now.

It will cost a pretty penny, likely over nine figures, to sign Rodrygo, but that is money well-spent for Tottenham, who are craving a player with his explosion, short-area quickness, creativity, effort, passion, technical ability, and tactical intelligence. All Rodrygo is missing is the finishing, but that will surely come with more consistent playing time in his favored position. And with Son Heung-min on his last legs, the left wing job at N17 is wide open for the taking in 2025.

Tottenham Hotspur are on the hunt for new solutions in the middle of the park, and Spurs have to know that if they want to truly compete in the top five of an increasingly competitive Premier League each season, then they are going to need more than just Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur as the veteran options with Lucas Bergvall, Pape Sarr, and Archie Gray as the youngsters.

Spurs need to sign top-class talent. Ideally, Spurs will sign a box-to-box defensive destroyer and a more holding, playmaking defensive midfielder. And ideally, one will be a sure-fire player in his prime while the other will be, like Bergvall and Gray, an exciting up-and-comer.

Bayern Munich defenisve midfielder Joao Palhinha has done absolutely nothing to stand out in Germany, but before his ill-fated transfer to the Bundesliga, he was one of the best defensive No. 6's in the Premier League for Fulham, who were flirting with European football at the time.

Palhinha has been squarely on Tottenham's transfer radar as a more experienced alternative to the likes of Adam Wharton, who are dream targets but entirely unrealistic. The 30-year-old Bayern man, however, is very achievable and clearly has no future with the Bavarian giants.

Tottenham don't need to commit to a 30-year-old

According to a report from The Athletic's Jack Pitt-Brooke in the site's Transfer DealSheet column, Tottenham are now eyeing the acquisition of Joao Palhinha on a loan transfer as opposed to a permanent move.

It would make much, much more sense for Tottenham to negotiate a loan deal with Bayern. Unlike the Mathys Tel tranfer Tottenham negotiated with Bayern this summer after a six-month loan spell, Palhinha is unlikely to join Spurs on a permanent basis as a 30-year-old.

Palhinha makes a lot more sense as a solid, stopgap option. Maybe Tottenham could be convinced to sign him permanently, but he'd have to show a lot in that year on loan. And that's why a loan makes sense. Tottenham don't have a whole lot of great options in the defensive midfield, but maybe preferred targets like Wharton will be more available in 2026.

So Spurs can cover Palhinha's wages, bring him over for a year as a starter, and tell Bayern that there's a chance they could take him off their hands permanently if he does well enough. It makes way more sense to get a loan done for Palhinha than commit to, say, 30 million pounds to sign him this summer.

There have been so many conflicting reports about Son Heung-min's future at Tottenham. Early in the transfer window, it seemed like Son was more likely to go than stay, but in the last several weeks, Tottenham and Son appeared to have worked out an agreement to have the club legend remain in North London for the final year of his contract.

Recently, though, seemingly spoonfed quotes from Daniel Levy to manager Thomas Frank cast slight doubt on Son's future with the club. Frank invoked the classic line that the club would decide Son's future, and his remarks seemed more like a caution to not assume Son would be staying rather than genuine excitement at the South Korean icon sticking around.

According to a report from the Daily Telegraph's journalist Matt Law, there is a "key player clause" in Tottenham's tour contract in South Korea, meaning the club could not actually sell the 33-year-old left winger before the tour in Asia. Specifically, Tottenham are set to face Premier League rivals Newcastle on Aug. 3 in Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

Tottenham could lose millions

If Tottenham were to sell Son and thus not have him available for the tour, which also features a July 31 battle against North London rivals Arsenal, then Tottenham would have risked forfeiting 75 percent of their total earnings from the tour. That is a whopping hit, and anyone who knows anything about Daniel Levy knows that he would not take that hit.

Law also reports that if Son were to travel with the team but not play in the game in Seoul against Newcastle, they'd lose half the fee. So to recap, if Son isn't in the squad, they lose three-quarters of their earnings from the match in Seoul. And if he doesn't play, it's a loss of 50 percent.

You can see why there's a more cynical reason why Tottenham have neither sold Son nor seriously entertained any transfer offers from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and MLS for the South Korean superstar. They can't afford to sell him now and miss out on that money.

That doesn't guarantee Son will be sold at all, but it means that a lack of transfer movement around the Tottenham icon doesn't necessarily indicate that the forward is safe. When August hits, we'll get a better idea of how serious Tottenham are about keeping Son, because the minute they return from Asia, we could see the transfer rumors ramp up.