Tottenham Hotspur's season brought the best of times, it brought the worst of times; but it also brought with it the prospect of a huge 2025/26 campaign.
For Spurs' triumph in Bilbao with Ange Postecoglou's men lifting the Europa League trophy ended the 17-year wait for silverware and a 41-year longing for a European triumph. That night in Spain also ensured that despite Tottenham's torrid Premier League season they will go into the new campaign as a very attractive prospect for potential new signings because they will have not only Champions League football on the menu, but an instant chance to win a trophy with the UEFA Super Cup on August 13 against either PSG or Inter Milan.
Plenty will depend on what happens with Postecoglou's future in the coming days as the Australian remaining at the helm could affect certain player's futures and transfer targets in varying ways. The expected return of Fabio Paratici will also have a bearing on what targets Tottenham go for.
Here's the current transfer state of play with Tottenham's squad, including who could leave the club and which areas need to be improved as the north London side take on Europe's elite next season. Let's go through each department, starting with the men wearing the gloves.
Goalkeepers
This department feels set even with a couple of likely departures. Guglielmo Vicario, Antonin Kinsky and Brandon Austin all have long-term contracts and had key moments on the pitch this season. That trio look to be the ones who will fight it out for the top spot with Austin potentially the only club-trained player in the squad next season if Dane Scarlett heads off on loan again.
Fraser Forster and another club-trained player Alfie Whiteman are both heading towards the end of their contracts, and you would imagine they depart the club. That is unless Whiteman is purely kept on through a late decision for that homegrown aspect when it comes to European competition.
It's well worth keeping an eye on the homegrown/foreign player numbers for next season as it's set to be even more of a problem in the Champions League than the last time out as Spurs just have so few club-trained players, which means a smaller European squad can be named as empty spaces must be left.
There is also Josh Keeley, who has had a brilliant season at Leyton Orient with 16 clean sheets. The 22-year-old is expected to be handed a new contract and then given another loan to a higher level with plenty of interest in his services. There is also talented 20-year-old Luca Gunter, who got his first taste of senior football on loan to National League Wealdstone last season.
Full-backs
This is an area that needs at least one new addition. Pedro Porro, Destiny Udogie and the versatile Djed Spence all look to be set for next season, barring any unexpected bids over the summer, with all three having played their part during the campaign and having plenty of time left on their contracts. Versatile teenager Archie Gray can also play in both full-back roles if required.
Sergio Reguilon is leaving, though, as his deal comes to a close. A decision has to be made on Ben Davies with plenty of talk about the option to extend his contract by another year, but nothing concrete on that actually happening yet.
That leaves a space for another left-back to join in the summer even though Spence has looked better on that flank this season.
Centre-backs
It seems crazy to say it when for a spell this season an 18-year-old midfielder and a left-back were playing as centre-backs because fit central defenders were so few and far between, but Spurs will go into this coming season with a lot of centre-backs on the books.
Much depends on the transfer window but as it stands Tottenham will have Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Kevin Danso - as Spurs have an obligation to buy him, Radu Dragusin - once he returns from his cruciate ligament injury - and Ben Davies - if his option is taken up - as well as the incoming Luka Vuskovic and the returning Ashley Phillips and Alfie Dorrington.
Of the senior centre-backs, Romero is the one where the transfer doubts lie. He has been linked heavily with a move to Atletico Madrid and has admitted he wants to play in La Liga at some point. Spurs can offer him Champions League football next season though and if Postecoglou stays then the Argentine does have a lot of affection for the Australian. Either way, with two years left on his contract, Tottenham are not going to allow the World Cup winner to leave without a sizeable bid.
If he were to leave and perhaps even if he doesn't, then Spurs would certainly be looking at the availability of Marc Guehi, a long-time target at Crystal Palace who they made an approach for in January. The England defender has only a year left on his contract at Selhurst Park so will be a man in demand, but again Spurs can offer Champions League football. They're a far more attractive prospect than they were a fortnight ago, let alone five months ago. Much will depend on whether Guehi would be guaranteed to start each week as he would elsewhere.
If Davies were to leave then Spurs might look for another versatile defender who can play both as a centre-back and full-back.
Vuskovic will be expecting some game time, similar to Lucas Bergvall and Gray's initial expectations, in that Spurs will have promised a healthy amount of minutes when they saw off competition from Europe's top teams to sign the big Croatian teenager. There will certainly plenty of appearances to go around with another packed fixture schedule.
Central midfield
All eyes here will be on the progression of the younger midfielders and the contract status of the older ones. Bergvall should be set for a huge second season after sweeping the club awards in his first campaign at the club, while Gray will be far wiser and assured in his second season and should get to actually learn in his favoured midfield role. Pape Matar Sarr will also continue to grow in the midfield after another season of development.
Rodrigo Bentancur has impressed on the pitch on the whole this season and is likely to be offered a new contract, with his entering its final year as he turns 28 this month. Yves Bissouma is in the same situation but the Mali international, who turns 29 this summer, has proved less reliable this season despite impressing in Europe in the final weeks of the campaign.
Logic would suggest that only one of those two players will get a new deal and Tottenham will look for a new deeper-lying midfielder this summer. Spurs do seem to like a lot of Crystal Palace players and certainly have plenty of admiration for Adam Wharton, but after a trophy-winning season themselves and European football next time around, the Eagles aren't exactly going to be desperate to offload numerous star players.
Tottenham hold a clause with Real Betis midfielder Johnny Cardoso that allows them to sign him on the cheap or get a cut of his sale, as part of the deal that took Giovani Lo Celso to Spain last summer. Current reports around Betis suggest Atletico Madrid are set to sign the USA international, so it looks to be financially Spurs will gain from a player they do not even own rather than on the pitch.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is set to join Marseille permanently after his season there on loan. A decision must also be made on what comes next for Alfie Devine and George Abbott, who have enjoyed successful loan spells away from the club at Westerlo and Notts Country respectively. Both players could be in line for new contracts along with new loan moves.
Attacking midfielders
When it comes to central attacking midfielders there are only James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski, so that is a clear area in need of strengthening and the Europa League final showed that.
Back to Palace again, because the most wanted player at Spurs for a while has been Eberechi Eze. The England international is represented by Base, the agency that looks after most of Tottenham's key players and also Postecoglou and has had long, close links with chairman Daniel Levy. If ever there was a perfect Spurs signing it feels like Eze with his ability on the ball, his versatility and also his ability to excite the fans.
Again though, everything depends on Palace and whether they are willing to sell as well as the competition, with Eze holding just two years left on his contract he's in that awkward time period like Romero, where his club can ask for plenty for him but it's probably the last chance to do so.
When it comes to wingers at Tottenham, the options are more plentiful with this season's top scorer in Brennan Johnson, captain Son Heung-min, Wilson Odobert, youngster Mikey Moore and loan players Mathys Tel and Timo Werner, as well as those who have been out on loan such as Yang Min-hyeok, Manor Solomon and Bryan Gil.
Son's contract has just a year left to run after Spurs took up the option to extend it by 12 months and a decision will have to be made over the skipper who finally lifted a trophy when others could not. Moore probably needs a loan move next season but Tottenham are likely to be more inclined to keep him in house for now, especially as he can be included on the B list in Europe.
Tottenham will look for another winger in the summer transfer window to bolster their options in the final third. With Tel and Werner, the German's time at Tottenham is done. For the young Frenchman, Spurs would prefer to bring him back but at nowhere near the figures initially being quoted for the Bayern man. Either the north London club get that price tag knocked right down or they agree a deal to take him on loan again or they simply switch to other targets.
In terms of those coming back from loans, Yang will be looked at again this summer and most certainly taken on the club's tour to Hong Kong and South Korea. Gil will leave the club with Tottenham looking for a permanent solution with a year left on his contract.
With Solomon having earned promotion with Leeds, the Elland Road club are expected to try to bring him back permanently after a successful loan but there is set to be some competition for his signature.
There is also the returning Jamie Donley, who shone on loan at Leyton Orient and can play anywhere across the front line or in a central attacking role. The 20-year-old could be given a chance to impress again in pre-season before a decision is made on whether he heads out on loan to the Championship next time out.
Strikers
Dominic Solanke looks set to be Spurs' main striker for next season after a very solid first campaign with 24 goal involvements in 45 games around a knee injury.
Injuries have been the problem for Richarlison, who showed his worth in the final weeks of the campaign but has struggled for availability again this year on the whole. With two years left on his current contract, Tottenham will no doubt listen to any decent offers that come in for the Brazilian, who was called up for international duty this month.
The club will look for a new forward to bolster their numbers for there were too many occasions as injury hit when Postecoglou had no recognised number nine to call upon.
Alejo Veliz will return from a mostly unsuccessful loan at Espanyol and Spurs are likely to look for a move for the young Argentine, whether permanent or on loan to try to bump his value up.
Dane Scarlett is that rarity of being a club-trained player at Tottenham and it might just be that he gets kept around, certainly for the first half of the season, unless a loan deal that's just too good to turn down comes in. The same goes for Will Lankshear, who is young enough to be on the B list for Europe, but could do with another loan after his time at West Brom. Ryan Mason's potential arrival at the Baggies could see one or two Tottenham players make that move.
