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Handed the chance to manage one of the biggest teams in England following the sacking of Ange Postecoglou in June, Frank’s reign in charge of Tottenham got off to a brilliant start, with the north Londoners tasting victory in six of their opening 10 games in all competitions.

Rewarded for an excellent spell in charge of Brentford in which he turned the Bees from Championship promotion hopefuls to an established Premier League side, the Dane and Spurs appeared to be a great match at the start, with the club sitting third in the table at the start of November.

However, the early, warm connection Frank was able to build with the Tottenham faithful soon went cold following a torrid end to the same month which brought about a heavy 4-1 loss to Arsenal in the north London derby, as well as defeats against Paris Saint-Germain and Fulham. On Monday, Spurs narrowly beat Crystal Palace to register their second win in their last nine Premier League matches.

Ahead of their trip to Selhurst Park, Frank had claimed that his team are on the right track as he told Sky Sports: "Yeah, I think that's fair. I think it doesn't work if you say, 'Ah, the pros are, by the way, are so good. We have so many nice underlying performance indicators, but by the way, we lost 15 games in a row'. It doesn't work like that, so we need to win, and we need to win, hopefully, a lot of football matches. But what I like is that we haven't had two bad performances in a row. Maybe we lost two games in a row, but not two bad performances. I think it's a big difference. We performed terribly against Arsenal, which is very bad. But we put in a very good performance against PSG, for example. As an example, bad performance against Nottingham Forest, but a good performance against Liverpool. I know we lost it, but that's what you need to look at. And that's a good indicator of how we bounce back, how we work with the players and the team. And I think that's signs of something going in the right direction.

"Honestly, I think we are in a transition phase, because yes, we are a Champions League club, but are we a Champions League club? We only qualified because we won the Europa League. We didn't qualify because we were one of the four or five best clubs in the Premier League last season. We finished 17th. And now we need to compete in the Champions League while we're competing in the Premier League, which is the most difficult thing. The last time we did that was three years ago, when we finished eighth. That's reality. Something happened with the squad over those three years. Then the year after, with no Europe, some of the key players offensively were (James) Maddison, (Dejan) Kulusevski, Sonny (Son Heung-Min), who are not here anymore [Son has left club, while Maddison and Kulusevski are long-term injury absentees]. So that's just some of the reality. And then we need to build that competitive team that can compete every third or fourth day. And that's just an ongoing working process, no matter if we like it or not, to speak about it. That's what we're working very hard on every single day. I think we are building some of the bits behind the scenes that are good. So, for example, I think there is a very good win in how the coaching staff, performance staff, and medical staff are working together."

After completing a second loan move to Villarreal in the summer transfer window, Solomon got off to a flying start as he scored a goal and provided an assist in his first two La Liga appearances. However, as the season progressed, he slowly fell out of favour at the Spanish club and as the year-end approaches, the Israeli winger has managed to accumulate only 358 minutes on the pitch in 11 appearances across all competitions, where he scored one goal and provided four assists.

According to El Periodico Mediterraneo, the player is frustrated with his lack of game time in Spain and his representatives are not ruling a move away from Villarreal in the January transfer window. If Solomon leaves the club next month it will benefit both the club and the player as the Yellow Submarines will be able to free up their squad and reduce their wage bill.

According to AS, Solomon has a release clause in his loan contract which will allow him to end his spell prematurely and exit Villarreal in January. If he manages to trigger the release clause, there is also a possibility that he could return to his parent club in the Premier League.

Spurs boss Frank will then have to evaluate whether to incorporate the attacker in his squad in the second half of the 2025-26 campaign or sent him out on yet another short-term loan spell.

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After a difficult start to the new season, Frank might consider making fresh additions to his squad to improve the team's performance in the second half of the season. Tottenham have been tracking Vasco da Gama wonderkid Rayan closely for months, encouraged by his rapid development and consistent end product in the Brazilian Serie A.

Sport reported earlier this week that Rayan had ended his association with super-agent Pini Zahavi, which could come as a boost for Spurs. The report further explained that when Zahavi was managing the player, Barcelona were considered the favourite candidate to secure the player's signature. This was because their director of football, Deco, was in talks with Zahavi and the club are generally known to be close to the player's representative. However, with Zahavi now out of the picture, Tottenham may hope their chances have gone up of convincing the 19-year-old to move to the Premier League.

Spurs are currently 14th in the Premier League table after 17 matches, having lost their last two league games against Nottingham Forest and Liverpool. However, despite the poor run of form, Frank recently claimed that his team is on the 'right track' as the manager told Sky Sports: "Yeah, I think that's fair. I think it doesn't work if you say, 'Ah, the pros are, by the way, are so good. We have so many nice underlying performance indicators, but by the way, we lost 15 games in a row'. It doesn't work like that, so we need to win, and we need to win, hopefully, a lot of football matches.

"But what I like is that we haven't had two bad performances in a row. Maybe we lost two games in a row, but not two bad performances. I think it's a big difference. We performed terribly against Arsenal, which is very bad. But we put in a very good performance against PSG, for example. As an example, bad performance against Nottingham Forest, but a good performance against Liverpool. I know we lost it, but that's what you need to look at. And that's a good indicator of how we bounce back, how we work with the players and the team. And I think that's signs of something going in the right direction."

They will be back in action on Sunday as they travel to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace in an important fixture.

Handed the chance to manage one of England’s biggest clubs following the sacking of Ange Postecoglou in June, Frank’s reign in charge of Tottenham got off to a brilliant start, with the north Londoners tasting victory in six of their opening 10 games in all competitions.

Rewarded for an excellent spell in charge of Brentford in which he turned the Bees from Championship promotion hopefuls to an established Premier League side, Frank initially looked tailor-made for the Spurs dugout, with his new side sitting third in the table at the start of November.

However, the early, warm connection Frank was able to build with the Tottenham faithful soon went cold following a torrid end to the same month which brought about a heavy 4-1 loss to Arsenal in the north London derby, and defeats against Paris Saint-Germain and Fulham.

Spurs looked to have arrested their slide with successive victories over Frank’s former side Brentford in the league and Slavia Prague in the Champions League at the start of December, with summer signings Xavi Simons and Mohamed Kudus both finding the net in the latter result.

But Tottenham have been unable to build on those wins, suffering back-to-back league defeats against Nottingham Forest and Liverpool, with Frank’s side also being reduced to nine men against Arne Slot’s champions, with both Simons and captain Cristian Romero receiving their marching orders.

However, despite the inconsistency which has also led to a nervy Spurs squad being regularly booed off the pitch by their concerned fanbase, manager Frank insists the club are on the right track under his tutelage.

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When asked if he is currently auditioning for more time in charge of Tottenham, the 52-year-old told Sky Sports: "Yeah, I think that's fair. I think it doesn't work if you say, 'Ah, the pros are, by the way, are so good. We have so many nice underlying performance indicators, but by the way, we lost 15 games in a row'. It doesn't work like that, so we need to win, and we need to win, hopefully, a lot of football matches.

"But what I like is that we haven't had two bad performances in a row. Maybe we lost two games in a row, but not two bad performances. I think it's a big difference.

"We performed terribly against Arsenal, which is very bad. But we put in a very good performance against PSG, for example. As an example, bad performance against Nottingham Forest, but a good performance against Liverpool. I know we lost it, but that's what you need to look at. And that's a good indicator of how we bounce back, how we work with the players and the team. And I think that's signs of something going in the right direction.”

Having also inherited a Spurs side which finished 17th in the league last season, despite ending their 17-year wait for a trophy with victory in the Europa League final in May, Frank believes he took over the reins when the club were in a “transition phase”.

Frank added: ”Honestly, I think we are in a transition phase, because yes, we are a Champions League club, but are we a Champions League club? We only qualified because we won the Europa League. We didn't qualify because we were one of the four or five best clubs in the Premier League last season. We finished 17th. And now we need to compete in the Champions League while we're competing in the Premier League, which is the most difficult thing.

"The last time we did that was three years ago, when we finished eighth. That's reality. Something happened with the squad over those three years. Then the year after, with no Europe, some of the key players offensively were (James) Maddison, (Dejan) Kulusevski, Sonny (Son Heung-Min), who are not here anymore [Son has left club, while Maddison and Kulusevski are long-term injury absentees]. So that's just some of the reality.

"And then we need to build that competitive team that can compete every third or fourth day. And that's just an ongoing working process, no matter if we like it or not, to speak about it. That's what we're working very hard on every single day. I think we are building some of the bits behind the scenes that are good. So, for example, I think there is a very good win in how the coaching staff, performance staff, medical staff, are working together.”

Though Tottenham do not have the weight of recent trophy wins to assert their authority, they have consistently battled for European spots in the 21st century, playing in the Champions League in seven seasons, a tally only bettered by the other 'big six' sides since its 1992 makeover. Spurs were also one of the defining English sides of the 20th century, known for being a cup team and playing with an attacking style, even if it bordered on naivety. Fans were mostly accepting of that trade-off.

The club boast one of the finest football-specific training grounds in the world, having moved from the diminutive Spurs Lodge to the world-class site of Hotspur Way in 2012. There isn't a whim that can't be satisfied among their staff. In 2019, they inaugurated their new billion-pound new stadium, which is one of the finest in the sport and boasts a formidable, head-splitting atmosphere when the mood is right. It just doesn't feel that way coming off the back of calendar year which saw the club record its fewest home league wins since 1915, midway through World War I (this cannot be stressed enough).

When owners ENIC took majority control of Tottenham in 2001 and appointed Daniel Levy, a boyhood Spurs fan, as chairman, they quickly sought to dramatically improve the club's infrastructure. They located a plot of land between the Enfield suburbs and London's orbital M25 motorway for the training ground, and with space to build a stadium at a premium in the capital, swiftly bought property surrounding their White Hart Lane site. It was always their intention to maximise potential off the pitch in the hope it would, directly or indirectly, correlate to success on it. That was the plan, anyway.

In the first half of Levy's 24-year premiership, Spurs re-established themselves as a destination for budding talent. Buy low, sell high, but without the 'moneyball' moniker. Sceptics of this approach claimed this was a way for ENIC, an investment company after all, to maximise profit rather than focus on challenging for honours. But ultimately, both before and after the introduction of the Premier League's first set of Financial Fair Play rules, Tottenham weren't rich or attractive enough to bring in players to immediately pose a threat to the old 'big four', consisting of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and United. City only joined the party after the Abu Dhabi Group takeover of 2008, though Spurs joined the party organically with their model, strategy and a slice of luck.

It would take another five years for Spurs to play in Europe's top club competition again, but by that point they had built a new core of top talent. Christian Eriksen, a prodigy at Ajax, arrived for a measly £11.5m and was the only undoubted success story of the seven players brought in with the money raised from Bale's world-record sale to Real Madrid. Dele Alli, at the recommendation of legendary club scout David Pleat, came from League One side Milton Keynes Dons for £5m. The boat was pushed out a tad further for £22m Son Heung-min at Bayer Leverkusen. And, of course, Harry Kane went from meme material to the greatest player in Spurs' modern history within a matter of seasons. Together, they were known affectionately by fans as 'DESK'.

This foursome was surrounded by other stars such as France captain Hugo Lloris, Belgian defenders Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen, dynamic full-backs Kyle Walker and Danny Rose, and a one-man midfield in Mousa Dembele. Together, this side finished in the top four for four successive seasons - a feat only bettered by the team of 1959 to 1964 - finished with the club's all-time record of 86 top-flight points over a single season and, most famously, reached the 2019 Champions League final in dramatic circumstances, only falling to a Liverpool team who were clearly head and shoulders the best team in Europe.

Post-final loss, Eriksen stated his desire for a new challenge and eventually left for Inter in January 2020. Dele failed to overcome a string of injury problems and was sold two years after the Dane's exit, joining Everton. Kane and Son remained, but were surrounded by infinitely inferior players to those they had grown into their respective primes with, having to carry the team during their own final seasons at the club.

On the eve of the Champions League final, Pochettino confirmed he would stand down as manager if Spurs were victorious, believing his work to be complete. In truth, admission of this was the ultimate signal that he was flagging and on the way out sooner or later. There was uproar when he was sacked a few months later, but there was at least enough reason behind that decision. Tottenham started 2019-20 poorly and weren't playing with anywhere near the same trademark intensity of previous seasons. What didn't make sense was Levy's sudden pivot in strategy.

Believing the squad to be closer to winning the most important of trophies than they actually were - despite making only four signings over the last two years and the team still visibly exhausted - Levy completed a long-held ambition of hiring Jose Mourinho, claiming the declining ex-Chelsea and Manchester United boss was at that point 'one of the two best managers in the world', even when it was clear to the rest of the world this was no longer the case.

Tactical reservations over Mourinho aside, the 'Special One' was also used to working with massive budgets that dwarfed the competition. Tottenham, despite the stadium move, couldn't quite promise the same yet. In his sole summer transfer window as head coach, Spurs signed Matt Doherty, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Sergio Reguilon, Joe Rodon and Joe Hart. Bale also returned on a season-long loan, though judging by how infrequently he played under Mourinho, is regarded in hindsight as a Levy-led signing. After leading the table early in 2020-21, the Portuguese was sacked in April of that season with the team in seventh and only six days from playing in the Carabao Cup final.

Mourinho's failure was entirely predictable, yet the club did not learn from their mistakes. They were forced to settle on Nuno Espirito Santo as his replacement after over two months of trying to find a successor, only to sack him after 17 games when their top target, Antonio Conte, was open to working again.

Though Conte is often put in the same bracket as Mourinho by Spurs fans, he did enjoy initial success, leading the team to an unlikely top-four finish at the expense of Arsenal. Heading into the summer of 2022-23, it was Tottenham who were expected to become title challengers, not their north London rivals.

Alas, it was a familiar story. Spurs bought poorly, didn't add enough quality to surround Kane and Son, and towards the end of a testing season which also saw several tragedies in his personal life, Conte effectively quit by targeting all corners of the club in an explosive press conference. That summer, Kane was sold to Bayern Munich after refusing to sign a new contract, and you could hardly blame him.

Kane's departure hit Spurs hard, though only after a latency period. Ange Postecoglou successfully managed to lift spirits in N17 after taking the reins, quickly creating a sense of unity while getting off to an incredible start of eight wins and two draws from 10 Premier League games, all while playing an exciting brand of front-foot football.

Once the rest of the league figured out Postecoglou's tactics though, Spurs became incredibly one dimensional and couldn't lean on individual quality to bail them out in the same way as before. Son, who was appointed captain, was on a downward slope physically even if he was putting up impressive numbers, while Tottenham only signed a striker one year after Kane's departure, parting with £60m to bring in Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth. He was the only non-teenager signed in time for the 2024-25 season, with youngsters Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Wilson Odobert their only other arrivals when the squad was crying out for leadership and ready-made options.

It is not only that Spurs have misjudged their needs in the market. As reported by finance expert Swiss Ramble, their wage-to-turnover ratio of 42 per cent was the lowest in the Premier League for the last financial year. Only one other side, Luton Town, who are now in League One, had a percentage below 50. Tottenham isn't as popular a destination for top-line talent just because of the club's relative lack of tangible glory, but also due to their seeming unwillingness to pay a premium for better players.

When Levy was at the helm, the overriding feeling was he had to win every negotiation. If he did not feel great about a deal, it probably wasn't worth doing. Even when a sporting director was in charge of transfers, he still had to find a way to be involved.

This is all before you examine the list of Spurs' most expensive signings and question what their scouts have been watching. Sixty-million-pounds on each of Solanke, Richarlison and Tanguy Ndombele lead the way. Only this summer did they break the mould to bring in Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons for a combined £106m, but neither of them have particularly set the world alight yet either.

Tottenham's powerbrokers were supremely unpopular with supporters long before the club decided to remove Levy from his post in September. For many years, Spurs have been among the country's most expensive clubs when it comes ticket prices, which was more palatable under Pochettino when the team appeared to be going places. You can't get away with it when the product is rubbish and simply not winning enough games, especially at home.

Many of Levy and ENIC's supporters changed allegiances during the Super League fiasco of 2021. Fans of Tottenham were equally as bemused as rivals when they managed to worm their way onto the list of 12 breakaway clubs.

With the appointment of Vinai Venkatesham, formerly of Arsenal no less, as CEO earlier this year and Levy's subsequent exit, the club have been trying to paint the image of a new era unfolding. But ENIC remain the majority owners. In front of them, the controlling Lewis family have suddenly emerged as a forward-facing entity, with The Athletic reporting they want 'more wins, more often'. In October, they pumped £100m of new capital into the club, supposedly setting up a busy January transfer window. There's no real evidence yet to suggest this is more than a change of face, though.

Lower down the hierarchy, sporting director Johan Lange has taken a backseat to the returning Fabio Paratici, rehired by the club after his 30-month ban from football for financial offences with Juventus expired. It's dubious how two people of such power can coexist anyway, but they may not even get to work together for a single transfer window, with Fiorentina desperate to bring Paratici back to Italy. There isn't any stability at any level at the club right now.

Venkatesham and Levy, when still in post, made a big song and dance about how Thomas Frank was the ideal person to replace Postecoglou as head coach last summer. The Australian was brutally sacked after ending the club's 17-year wait for a trophy, winning the Europa League in May. Given Spurs had finished 17th in the Premier League, this was an understandable move and one lacking in emotion that club executives should be paid to make. But Frank's struggles thus far will bring scrutiny back on the people upstairs.

This iteration of Spurs are dull to watch and increasingly self-destructive. The step up from Brentford may well be too much for Frank and he is not popular among fans at all, with many calling for him to be sacked already. Whereas he was a messiah at the Bees, Frank was starting from scratch at Tottenham in a far more intense spotlight and has cracked under pressure on several occasions so far, notoriously calling out disgruntled fans for the atmosphere generated during some of their many, many home losses this year. He's been dealt a bad hand, but still played it badly.

From 17th last season to 13th now, there are also concerns about the true level of this squad that has been assembled, which can't hold a candle to those even from the Mourinho, Nuno and Conte eras.

Tottenham have slid back into mid-table mediocrity, and in a Premier League with more parity than ever, who knows when they will even be able to stop it. Maybe they won't and, after only being saved by three awful promoted teams last season, they will actually sniff the danger of relegation in the coming years. They may be a Champions League team who won the Europa League only a few months ago, but Spurs are masquerading as the elite and won't get away with such fraudulent behaviour for much longer.

Though Tottenham do not have the weight of recent trophy wins to assert their authority, they have consistently battled for European spots in the 21st century, playing in the Champions League in seven seasons, a tally only bettered by the other 'big six' sides since its 1992 makeover. Spurs were also one of the defining English sides of the 20th century, known for being a cup team and playing with an attacking style, even if it bordered on naivety. Fans were mostly accepting of that trade-off.

The club boast one of the finest football-specific training grounds in the world, having moved from the diminutive Spurs Lodge to the world-class site of Hotspur Way in 2012. There isn't a whim that can't be satisfied among their staff. In 2019, they inaugurated their new billion-pound new stadium, which is one of the finest in the sport and boasts a formidable, head-splitting atmosphere when the mood is right. It just doesn't feel that way coming off the back of calendar year which saw the club record its fewest home league wins since 1915, midway through World War I (this cannot be stressed enough).

When owners ENIC took majority control of Tottenham in 2001 and appointed Daniel Levy, a boyhood Spurs fan, as chairman, they quickly sought to dramatically improve the club's infrastructure. They located a plot of land between the Enfield suburbs and London's orbital M25 motorway for the training ground, and with space to build a stadium at a premium in the capital, swiftly bought property surrounding their White Hart Lane site. It was always their intention to maximise potential off the pitch in the hope it would, directly or indirectly, correlate to success on it. That was the plan, anyway.

In the first half of Levy's 24-year premiership, Spurs re-established themselves as a destination for budding talent. Buy low, sell high, but without the 'moneyball' moniker. Sceptics of this approach claimed this was a way for ENIC, an investment company after all, to maximise profit rather than focus on challenging for honours. But ultimately, both before and after the introduction of the Premier League's first set of Financial Fair Play rules, Tottenham weren't rich or attractive enough to bring in players to immediately pose a threat to the old 'big four', consisting of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and United. City only joined the party after the Abu Dhabi Group takeover of 2008, though Spurs joined the party organically with their model, strategy and a slice of luck.

It would take another five years for Spurs to play in Europe's top club competition again, but by that point they had built a new core of top talent. Christian Eriksen, a prodigy at Ajax, arrived for a measly £11.5m and was the only undoubted success story of the seven players brought in with the money raised from Bale's world-record sale to Real Madrid. Dele Alli, at the recommendation of legendary club scout David Pleat, came from League One side Milton Keynes Dons for £5m. The boat was pushed out a tad further for £22m Son Heung-min at Bayer Leverkusen. And, of course, Harry Kane went from meme material to the greatest player in Spurs' modern history within a matter of seasons. Together, they were known affectionately by fans as 'DESK'.

This foursome was surrounded by other stars such as France captain Hugo Lloris, Belgian defenders Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen, dynamic full-backs Kyle Walker and Danny Rose, and a one-man midfield in Mousa Dembele. Together, this side finished in the top four for four successive seasons - a feat only bettered by the team of 1959 to 1964 - finished with the club's all-time record of 86 top-flight points over a single season and, most famously, reached the 2019 Champions League final in dramatic circumstances, only falling to a Liverpool team who were clearly head and shoulders the best team in Europe.

Post-final loss, Eriksen stated his desire for a new challenge and eventually left for Inter in January 2020. Dele failed to overcome a string of injury problems and was sold two years after the Dane's exit, joining Everton. Kane and Son remained, but were surrounded by infinitely inferior players to those they had grown into their respective primes with, having to carry the team during their own final seasons at the club.

On the eve of the Champions League final, Pochettino confirmed he would stand down as manager if Spurs were victorious, believing his work to be complete. In truth, admission of this was the ultimate signal that he was flagging and on the way out sooner or later. There was uproar when he was sacked a few months later, but there was at least enough reason behind that decision. Tottenham started 2019-20 poorly and weren't playing with anywhere near the same trademark intensity of previous seasons. What didn't make sense was Levy's sudden pivot in strategy.

Believing the squad to be closer to winning the most important of trophies than they actually were - despite making only four signings over the last two years and the team still visibly exhausted - Levy completed a long-held ambition of hiring Jose Mourinho, claiming the declining ex-Chelsea and Manchester United boss was at that point 'one of the two best managers in the world', even when it was clear to the rest of the world this was no longer the case.

Tactical reservations over Mourinho aside, the 'Special One' was also used to working with massive budgets that dwarfed the competition. Tottenham, despite the stadium move, couldn't quite promise the same yet. In his sole summer transfer window as head coach, Spurs signed Matt Doherty, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Sergio Reguilon, Joe Rodon and Joe Hart. Bale also returned on a season-long loan, though judging by how infrequently he played under Mourinho, is regarded in hindsight as a Levy-led signing. After leading the table early in 2020-21, the Portuguese was sacked in April of that season with the team in seventh and only six days from playing in the Carabao Cup final.

Mourinho's failure was entirely predictable, yet the club did not learn from their mistakes. They were forced to settle on Nuno Espirito Santo as his replacement after over two months of trying to find a successor, only to sack him after 17 games when their top target, Antonio Conte, was open to working again.

Though Conte is often put in the same bracket as Mourinho by Spurs fans, he did enjoy initial success, leading the team to an unlikely top-four finish at the expense of Arsenal. Heading into the summer of 2022-23, it was Tottenham who were expected to become title challengers, not their north London rivals.

Alas, it was a familiar story. Spurs bought poorly, didn't add enough quality to surround Kane and Son, and towards the end of a testing season which also saw several tragedies in his personal life, Conte effectively quit by targeting all corners of the club in an explosive press conference. That summer, Kane was sold to Bayern Munich after refusing to sign a new contract, and you could hardly blame him.

Kane's departure hit Spurs hard, though only after a latency period. Ange Postecoglou successfully managed to lift spirits in N17 after taking the reins, quickly creating a sense of unity while getting off to an incredible start of eight wins and two draws from 10 Premier League games, all while playing an exciting brand of front-foot football.

Once the rest of the league figured out Postecoglou's tactics though, Spurs became incredibly one dimensional and couldn't lean on individual quality to bail them out in the same way as before. Son, who was appointed captain, was on a downward slope physically even if he was putting up impressive numbers, while Tottenham only signed a striker one year after Kane's departure, parting with £60m to bring in Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth. He was the only non-teenager signed in time for the 2024-25 season, with youngsters Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Wilson Odobert their only other arrivals when the squad was crying out for leadership and ready-made options.

It is not only that Spurs have misjudged their needs in the market. As reported by finance expert Swiss Ramble, their wage-to-turnover ratio of 42 per cent was the lowest in the Premier League for the last financial year. Only one other side, Luton Town, who are now in League One, had a percentage below 50. Tottenham isn't as popular a destination for top-line talent just because of the club's relative lack of tangible glory, but also due to their seeming unwillingness to pay a premium for better players.

When Levy was at the helm, the overriding feeling was he had to win every negotiation. If he did not feel great about a deal, it probably wasn't worth doing. Even when a sporting director was in charge of transfers, he still had to find a way to be involved.

This is all before you examine the list of Spurs' most expensive signings and question what their scouts have been watching. Sixty-million-pounds on each of Solanke, Richarlison and Tanguy Ndombele lead the way. Only this summer did they break the mould to bring in Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons for a combined £106m, but neither of them have particularly set the world alight yet either.

Tottenham's powerbrokers were supremely unpopular with supporters long before the club decided to remove Levy from his post in September. For many years, Spurs have been among the country's most expensive clubs when it comes ticket prices, which was more palatable under Pochettino when the team appeared to be going places. You can't get away with it when the product is rubbish and simply not winning enough games, especially at home.

Many of Levy and ENIC's supporters changed allegiances during the Super League fiasco of 2021. Fans of Tottenham were equally as bemused as rivals when they managed to worm their way onto the list of 12 breakaway clubs.

With the appointment of Vinai Venkatesham, formerly of Arsenal no less, as CEO earlier this year and Levy's subsequent exit, the club have been trying to paint the image of a new era unfolding. But ENIC remain the majority owners. In front of them, the controlling Lewis family have suddenly emerged as a forward-facing entity, with The Athletic reporting they want 'more wins, more often'. In October, they pumped £100m of new capital into the club, supposedly setting up a busy January transfer window. There's no real evidence yet to suggest this is more than a change of face, though.

Lower down the hierarchy, sporting director Johan Lange has taken a backseat to the returning Fabio Paratici, rehired by the club after his 30-month ban from football for financial offences with Juventus expired. It's dubious how two people of such power can coexist anyway, but they may not even get to work together for a single transfer window, with Fiorentina desperate to bring Paratici back to Italy. There isn't any stability at any level at the club right now.

Venkatesham and Levy, when still in post, made a big song and dance about how Thomas Frank was the ideal person to replace Postecoglou as head coach last summer. The Australian was brutally sacked after ending the club's 17-year wait for a trophy, winning the Europa League in May. Given Spurs had finished 17th in the Premier League, this was an understandable move and one lacking in emotion that club executives should be paid to make. But Frank's struggles thus far will bring scrutiny back on the people upstairs.

This iteration of Spurs are dull to watch and increasingly self-destructive. The step up from Brentford may well be too much for Frank and he is not popular among fans at all, with many calling for him to be sacked already. Whereas he was a messiah at the Bees, Frank was starting from scratch at Tottenham in a far more intense spotlight and has cracked under pressure on several occasions so far, notoriously calling out disgruntled fans for the atmosphere generated during some of their many, many home losses this year. He's been dealt a bad hand, but still played it badly.

From 17th last season to 13th now, there are also concerns about the true level of this squad that has been assembled, which can't hold a candle to those even from the Mourinho, Nuno and Conte eras.

Tottenham have slid back into mid-table mediocrity, and in a Premier League with more parity than ever, who knows when they will even be able to stop it. Maybe they won't and, after only being saved by three awful promoted teams last season, they will actually sniff the danger of relegation in the coming years. They may be a Champions League team who won the Europa League only a few months ago, but Spurs are masquerading as the elite and won't get away with such fraudulent behaviour for much longer.

Following a quiet opening to the fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the hosts were soon reduced to 10 men when Xavi Simons received a red card for raking his studs down the back of Virgil van Dijk’s calf.

Spurs manager Thomas Frank took aim with the Video Assistant Referee’s (VAR) decision to upgrade Simons’ initial yellow card to a red after the full-time whistle, saying "the game is gone."

Liverpool were then incensed when Alexander Isak suffered a fractured leg following a challenge by Micky van de Ven after putting his side in front after 56 minutes.

Reds head coach Arne Slot later described Van de Ven’s tackle as "reckless", with Sweden striker Isak having subsequently been ruled out for a couple of months through injury.

And in what turned out to be an eventful evening for Spurs centre-back Romero, the 27-year-old received his first yellow card for dissent after remonstrating with referee John Brooks over what he perceived to be a foul on himself by Hugo Ekitike, who headed Liverpool into a two-goal lead.

While Tottenham showed great amounts of courage as they tried to get back into the game with ten players, they were soon reduced to nine when Romero was booked again for aiming a kick towards Liverpool’s Konate.

Former Atalanta and Juventus ace Romero protested angrily once again, before reluctantly heading down the tunnel as Spurs were left to wonder what might have been against Liverpool.

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And following his dismissal, Romero has now been charged by the FA, with Tottenham’s No. 17 having until Friday, 2 January to respond.

In a statement on Christmas Eve, English football’s governing body said: "Tottenham Hotspur’s Cristian Romero has been charged following their Premier League match against Liverpool on Saturday 20 December. It’s alleged that he acted in an improper manner by failing to promptly leave the field of play and/or behaving in a confrontational and/or aggressive manner towards the match referee after being sent off in the 93rd minute."

Spurs have been tracking Vasco da Gama star Rayan closely for months, encouraged by his rapid development and consistent end product in the Brazilian Serie A. However, O Dia recently reported that the north London club may soon find themselves outflanked by La Liga giants Real Madrid, who are considering a bid in the region of €50 million (£44m/$59m) as they reassess their attacking options ahead of the next transfer window.

Los Blancos view Rayan as a serious alternative following Endrick’s loan move to Lyon. A potential €50m offer would significantly raise the stakes. That figure exceeds the €40m valuation first mentioned when Tottenham’s interest became public, underlining how rapidly Rayan’s stock has risen.

Now, Sport reports that Rayan has ended his association with super-agent Pini Zahavi, which could come as a boost for Spurs. The report further explains that when Zahavi was managing the player, Barcelona were considered the favourite candidate to secure the player's signature. This is because their director of football, Deco, was in talks with Zahavi and the club are generally known to be close to the player representative. However, with Zahavi now out of the picture, Tottenham would hope their chances have gone up in convincing the 19-year-old to move to the Premier League.

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Tottenham’s confidence in the transfer market has been bolstered by a significant financial boost, which was confirmed as a £100m ($135m) equity injection from majority shareholders, the Lewis family trust, strengthening the club’s position as they plan for long-term success.

During the change of ownership, the club statement read: "We are pleased to announce that our majority shareholder, the Lewis family trust, has, through ENIC Sports & Development Holdings Ltd (“ENIC”), injected £100 million of new capital into the Club. This equity injection will further strengthen the Club’s financial position and equip the Club’s leadership team with additional resources to continue the focus on driving long-term sporting success. This additional capital is part of the Lewis family’s ongoing commitment to the Club and its future."

Spurs are in need of new attacking signings in the next window after their struggles in the 2025-26 campaign. Frank's men have won just two of their last five Premier League matches and are now 14th in the Premier League table. They will be back in action on Sunday as they travel to Selhurst Park to Crystal Palace in a crucial league clash.

Isak, who replaced Conor Bradley at the break at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday evening, opened the scoring for the Reds 10 minutes after his introduction as he fired past Guglielmo Vicario. And Hugo Ekitike doubled Liverpool's advantage midway through the second half.

Richarlison halved the deficit late on to set up a tense finish, but Liverpool held out to secure all the spoils in the capital. However, Isak suffered a serious injury in the process of scoring his second league goal of the season.

As the summer signing got his shot away, Spurs centre-back Van de Ven came across to prevent the shot. While the Dutchman was unable to block Isak's effort, the striker's standing leg became twisted under the former Wolfsburg man, which ultimately forced the Swede off on the hour mark.

And Van de Ven has admitted that he sent a message to Isak after the game, where he apologised to the forward and added that he "wanted to wish him all the best of course."

Speaking on Sky Sports, Van de Ven said: "I sent him a text because I didn’t want to injure him, or to do something to hurt him of course. I just wanted to try to block the shot. I think it was a bit unlucky how his foot landed between my legs. So I sent him a text afterwards and I wanted to wish him all the best of course. I hope to see him on the pitch again very soon. He appreciated the message and texted back."

Van de Ven's effort to deny Isak, however, didn't go down well with Liverpool head coach Arne Slot, who deemed the tackle 'reckless'. The former Newcastle man underwent successful surgery on a fractured ankle earlier this week, and while Slot is confident that Isak will be available again before the end of the campaign, the Reds boss was reeling about the situation.

"It was a reckless challenge," Slot said earlier this week. "I've said a lot about the tackle of Xavi Simons, which for me was completely unintentional. I don't think you will ever get an injury out of a tackle like that. But the tackle of Van de Ven?

"If you make a tackle like that 10 times, 10 times there is a serious chance the player gets a serious injury. It is going to be a long injury for a couple of months. That’s a big, big disappointment for him and, as a result of that, also for us."

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Slot's comments on Van de Ven's 'reckless' tackle drew the ire of Spurs boss Thomas Frank on Tuesday as the Dane leapt to the defence of the Netherlands international, insisting it was the type of challenge that any defender would try to make in their bid to prevent a goal.

"I'm obviously disagreeing," Frank said of Slot's comments. "In many ways, I think we are talking about a defender in Micky van de Ven that will do everything he can to avoid the goal, so it's a transition.

"He's sprinting back in, this ball slides down the side, and he does everything he can to see if he can block that shot, so he's sliding. Unfortunately, Isak's planted his foot straight there, and that makes it look worse than it is. I think that would be a natural reaction for any defender.

"I'll put it this way: if my defender doesn't do that, then I don't think they are true defenders. He's a very fair and competitive player. That's one thing. The other thing, you also know that the two players have sorted it out, so that's a good sign of how they've sorted it out. A good sign."

Speaking to Casino Beats, injury expert Ben Dinnery has claimed it wouldn't be worth Liverpool's time to try and sign high-level cover for Isak during the January window, as Arne Slot already has plenty of attacking options to choose from.

"My immediate thought is that Liverpool won't need to find a solution to Alexander Isak's injury in the January transfer window," he said. "The expectation is Isak will return before the end of the season and Liverpool have enough depth across their forward line.

"The obvious pick to fill Isak's void is Hugo Ekitike, but they'll have Mohamed Salah return in January after AFCON, and the club could even deploy Dominik Szoboszlai across the front three.

"Liverpool's dilemma will be whether they can recruit a player who matches the quality they expect from a first-team striker. For any player they might look to sign, the player themselves might consider their role at the club in the long-term, given the club's options in Ekitike and Isak. Furthermore, signings come at a premium in January. Selling clubs hold more leverage mid-season.

"Antoine Semenyo has been linked with the club, and he's certainly someone who can play across multiple positions, but I think Liverpool's focus - if they were to recruit in January - would be finding someone to support Ekitike rather than compete with him for an out-and-out striker position."

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Though Isak will spend significant time on the treatment table, Dinnery expects the forward to be available again come March, though the club should keep half an eye on his preparations for the 2026-27 season.

"With a fractured fibula, the extent of the injury will naturally depend on the severity," he added. "The standard time out for this kind of injury is usually six to eight weeks, but Isak's ankle problem and subsequent surgery has complicated that. The recovery process may involve setbacks - rarely do players have a clear and uninterrupted path back to full fitness in these circumstances.

"It felt like we were beginning to see Isak perform at similar levels to his Newcastle career, whereby he was approaching higher levels of fitness, having missed pre-season entirely.

"The harsh reality is, Isak will likely return towards the back end of the season, be given minutes to slowly bring him up to speed again, but the focus will be on having a really strong pre-season going into next year."

At a press conference on Tuesday, Slot laid into Van de Ven for the challenge that hurt Isak, claiming it was 'reckless' and was certain to have caused serious injury.

"It was a reckless challenge," Slot said. "I've said a lot about the tackle of Xavi Simons [on Virgil van Dijk], which for me was completely unintentional. I don't think you will ever get an injury out of a tackle like that," he told reporters. "But the tackle of Van de Ven, if you make a tackle like that 10 times, 10 times there is a serious chance the player gets a serious injury."

It was a cagey start to the match with neither team committing big numbers into attack, avoiding defeat seemed to be the priority for both. Chances were limited to headed chances for Virgil van Dijk and Kolo Muani, both of which were directed too close to the respective goalkeepers. The key moment of the half came in the 33rd minute when Simons was shown a straight red card, on review, for a reckless challenge on Netherlands compatriot van Dijk. Simons lunged needlessly for the ball and raked his studs down the Liverpool captain’s calf. Referee John Brooks initially showed the attacking midfielder a yellow card, but VAR intervened and it was upgraded after checking the replays, to a chorus of boos from the home fans.

Slot brought Alexander Isak on at half-time for Conor Bradley who picked up a knock towards the end of the first-half and it was the Sweden international who opened the scoring. Spurs captain Romero gave the ball away, Florian Wirtz played in Isak who fired past Guglielmo Vicario, but he was clattered by Micky van de Ven in the process and had to be helped off the pitch. Slot's side doubled their lead three minutes later when Ekitike leapt above Romero to head the ball past the flat-footed Vicario, to bag his fifth goal in three Premier League matches.

There were brief signs of a Spurs comeback after Liverpool failed to clear a corner and substitute Richarlison fired home from close range, but the hosts ended the match with nine players after Romero was shown a second yellow card for a ridiculous kick at Ibrahima Konate, compounding a dreadful night for the Argentinian.

The win moves Liverpool up into fifth place, level on points with Chelsea in fourth, only outside the Champions League positions on goal difference.

GOAL rates Liverpool's players from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium...

Alisson Becker (7/10):

Was enjoying a quiet evening until late in the game, but there was nothing he could do about Spurs' goal.

Milos Kerkez (7/10):

Played very high up the pitch as Liverpool pressed hom the advantage with the extra man. Had very little defending to do.

Ibrahima Konate (7/10):

Was generally given an easy ride facing up to Spurs' attack. His evening was marred by picking up an unneccesary yellow card and showing indecision in the box ahead of Tottenham's consolation goal.

Virgil van Dijk (6/10):

Was targeted all evening by the home fans for his involvement in the Simons' red card, but he wasn't at fault. Should've done better in his attempt to clear the ball in the box in build-up to Spurs' goal.

Conor Bradley (7/10):

Had plenty of running to do and did excellent job of chasing Spence back towards the end of the first half, but picked up an injury in the process and was replaced at the break.