Football London

Tottenham once had an 'agreed' deal for Fulham’s Moussa Dembele scrapped at the last minute, despite the striker completing a medical.

Back in January 2016, Spurs were chasing rivals Arsenal and surprise package Leicester City in an effort to lift their first Premier League trophy. Chairman Daniel Levy already had Harry Kane at his disposal after his incredible breakthrough 18 months prior.

But Levy recognised the need to bolster his attacking options and provide a back-up for the Englishman in order to challenge in the second half of the season. He pursued Fulham’s promising forward, Dembele - not to be mistaken for Spurs’ own central midfielder at the time - as his key January target.

Levy managed to negotiate a bargain £6million deal with Fulham for the then-19-year-old, whose contract was set to expire that summer. Dembele even underwent a Spurs medical two days before January deadline day, with the transfer seemingly confirmed.

But the west Londoners were keen for their talented youngster to return to Craven Cottage until the end of the 2015/16 season, due to their attempts to battle relegation and a transfer embargo leaving them unable to sign any replacements in January.

They wanted to strike a deal which would have seen them still receive a fee for Dembele despite him becoming a free agent at the end of the season. Spurs were not impressed by Fulham’s demands and pushed for him to be allowed to join their ranks straight away.

That led to a breaking point between the two clubs, with The Guardian claiming Fulham subsequently 'angrily' cancelled the deal. Negotiations were not revived, and the forward was said to be left bitterly disappointed.

The Lilywhites didn’t end up buying a player in January and finished third that season, with Leicester extraordinarily winning the league by a ten-point margin.

Levy would bring in Moussa Sissoko and Vincent Janssen the following summer, while Dembele signed for Scottish giants Celtic on a four-year contract. Two impressive seasons followed for Dembele, who netted 51 goals in 94 appearances while clinching two Scottish Premiership winners’ medals, two Scottish Cups and two Scottish League Cups.

He made his long-awaited return to France in 2018, signing for Lyon. Between 2018 and 2023, Dembele scored 70 goals in 172 appearances.

He would later follow the horde of former big names moving to the Saudi Pro League in July 2023, when he signed for Al-Ettifaq as a free agent. As one of Steven Gerrard’s first signings, the forward scored 14 goals in 26 appearances in an otherwise disappointing season for the team.

Still just 28 years old, he went on to register seven goals and four assists in 21 games for Al-Ettifaq in 2024/25. They finished seventh in the Saudi Pro League, with the ship steadying following Gerrard’s departure after the side had been left just five points clear of the relegation zone.

Tottenham are expected to sanction more summer transfers once July is underway following on from Mathys Tel's loan switch becoming made permanent and an agreement for Kota Takai being reached.

The latter is set to join from J League side Kawasaki Frontale for £5 million, a record sale for the division with the plan being for him to be part of Spurs' first-team squad.

His impending arrival has caused quite the stir among supporters after after Daniel Levy made it clear he wanted the club to compete for the Champions League.

Spurs could theoretically win that competition this season but the lack of marquee arrivals, all while Manchester City, Liverpool and now even Arsenal are making big moves, will make even getting to the knockouts a serious challenge. Tel quite clearly has plenty of potential and it appears that same thought-process is present for Takai.

However, the Lilywhites need signings for the now as opposed to the long-term. Links to some big names including Eberechi Eze, Xavi Simons and Bryan Mbeumo have emerged, but no real progress has been made toward signing any of those names.

The latter is adamant on joining Manchester United even if they are yet to meet Brentford's asking price and Crystal Palace's Eze is now a serious option for the Gunners and Man City. That reluctance to formally pursue a target could be no longer in just a few days with the start of a new financial year beginning on Tuesday, July 1.

Without any concerns over breaking profit and sustainability rules in play, Spurs should have the freedom to commit to sizeable fees on players having obtained significant prize money last season from winning a European trophy and thus qualifying for the Champions League.

Applying that logic, sanctioning two deals in the region of £65m each is doable but Frank faces some big decisions. A right winger, with a different profile to Brennan Johnson and Dejan Kulusevski, should be the priority after a central midfielder.

Given Frank is now at the club, Mbeumo would have been the perfect addition however Mohammed Kudus is a more-than-capable alternative.

The former Ajax man was unplayable at times for West Ham during the 2024/25 season, but his output makes it a struggle to justify activating his £85m release clause.

However, with the Hammers appearing desperate to sell, it has been said that an offer worth £65m could be accepted.

Just a little over that asking price is Eze's £68m release clause, but that appears quite flexible and thus easy to meet. While also having the option to pay it using instalments, the Lilywhites can absolutely afford that once June is over.

The 26-year-old is far better centrally but he is capable of playing off the left and cutting inside. H

is and Kudus' versatility make them the perfect additions for Tottenham and the added depth in attack could help Spurs go a long way in the Champions League.

Thomas Frank must get his ideas across quickly to the Tottenham Hotspur players otherwise the pressure will quickly build reckons former Spurs and England striker Teddy Sheringham.

Frank took over this month after Ange Postecoglou was sacked following last month's Europa League victory in Bilbao. The Dane made a name for himself with his six years in charge of Brentford, taking them into the Premier League and then turning them into an established side in the English top flight.

Now he has swapped the security of his long-term role with the Bees for the pressure at Tottenham, a club with an average managerial shelf life somewhere between 18 months and two years.

Former Spurs captain Sheringham believes it's going to be a big step into the unknown for Frank and the 51-year-old needs to get the players playing his way very quickly before the Spurs crowd turns.

"I’m okay with the appointment of Thomas Frank. I know he’s done very well with Brentford, but it’s a whole new ballgame from Brentford to Tottenham. You’ve got to be a different type of manager and experience different expectations," Sheringham told SkyBet.

"Thomas has done very well at Brentford but it’s a big difference managing at Tottenham and it will be interesting to see how that materialises. He’s going to want to get his players in, install a new way of playing football which he has to get across very quickly because if he doesn’t, he’ll start getting under pressure."

Sheringham does not believe Postecoglou deserved to depart the north London club after landing them their first trophy in 17 years, even if Spurs ended the season 17th in the Premier League.

"I think when you win a European trophy, any trophy, you deserve to carry on. I know Erik ten Hag has been mentioned, that Manchester United had to get rid of him after 15 games but it’s a different football club," he said. "I understand that Ange Postecoglou did some things wrong in the football club, but when you win a European trophy, some things have to be overlooked, and he should have been given time.

"We’re not talking about any other club, we’ve been ridiculed at Tottenham for not winning anything for years and he’s won something, so give the man a chance.

"He told us he was going to win something in his second year, and he did it, so he should have gone on from there. I was very surprised – I understand where people are coming from, looking at the league position, but he didn’t care about the league position, it was all about winning something. His remit at the start of the two years was to win something at Tottenham and he won but got the sack at the end of that conversation.

"I think it’s been a harsh realisation for everyone concerned with Tottenham and I’m still devastated for Ange, that he’s lost his job in that manner when you look back at the deeper effects of what’s gone on in the season."

Tottenham are set to sign another young striker to their academy and their stockpiling in that area could help get around UEFA's rules.

Spurs are set to add Leeds United youngster Oliver Boast to their youth set-up this summer with a transfer that will reportedly cost the north London club a seven-figure sum. The striker, who only turned 16 last month, netted nine goals in the final eight U18 games of Leeds' season and will now make the switch to Hotspur Way.

The England U16 international's arrival comes at time when Spurs have options galore up front in Stuart Lewis' U18 team with 17-year-old George Feeney signed last summer from Glentoran, where he had been playing first team football. The teenager played mostly in midfield for Tottenham's U18s last season but still managed 10 goal involvements in 21 league matches.

Spurs also have a gem of their own in Luca Williams-Barnett, who plundered an incredible 20 goals and 12 assists in the U18 Premier League and FA Youth Cup alone, not even counting the hat-trick he scored as Spurs won the U17 Premier League Cup final against Charlton.

The 16-year-old can play in an attacking midfield role or up front and was named on the first team bench once in the Premier League and three times in the Europa League last season.

There is more attacking talent coming through the door in January next year with Mason Melia on his way. Spurs agreed a deal with St Patrick's Athletic for the 17-year-old worth an initial £1.6million - a record transfer for the League of Ireland - but with the potential to rise further with add-ons that could double that figure.

Melia has been one of the most sought-after Irish youngsters of recent times and Tottenham saw off competition from clubs across the Premier League and Europe to land his signature. Due to the UK's exit from the European Union, Melia's move cannot go through until after he is 18, which happens in September, so his transfer will officially happen in the January window next year.

Melia has remarkable experience already for someone so young and his big frame means he made his debut for St Pats at just 15 and has now played in 76 senior games for the club, scoring 16 goals and laying on five assists. He also has European experience, having played up front for the team during their Conference League qualifying run in July and August last year as a 16-year-old.

It is Europe that is another factor in Tottenham's attempt to stockpile talent aged 18 or under within their squad for the Premier League side currently has major problems with a lack of club-trained players which will affect Thomas Frank's Champions League squad this coming season.

They will currently only be able to name a 22-man squad in Europe rather than a 25-man one as they cannot fill the four club-trained spots with senior homegrown players, with only goalkeeper Brandon Austin an option. That means they must leave three of those places empty.

However, they are trying to fill that void with first team youngsters like Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall as well as a flood of talented teenagers into the academy.

UEFA's rules state that club-trained players are those on a club's books for three entire seasons or 36 months between the ages of 15 and 21.

There is also a B-List for players born on, or after, January 1, 2004 and who have been eligible to play for the club for any uninterrupted period of two years since their 15th birthday – or for a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period not longer than one year. Players aged 16 may be submitted if they have been registered with the club for the previous two years without interruption.

So Tottenham are trying to redress a mess made in their squad by selling too many homegrown players and not replacing them with those coming through. The youngsters in the academy and the new arrivals will be hoping to make a name for themselves in the years ahead.

Tottenham's policy in recent decades has always been clear in signing young players they believe can become stars and while that has brought some huge successes it has also brought some misfires.

Spurs' policy to mostly buy young has brought some spectacular successes in the past such as Dele Alli, before him Aaron Lennon, Kyle Walker, Christian Eriksen and certainly in terms of service to the club Ben Davies, while in more recent years Micky van de Ven, Lucas Bergvall, Destiny Udogie, Pape Matar Sarr, Archie Gray and in the end Djed Spence among others are looking like they could contribute in the long term to the club, having already all become trophy winners.

With 18-year-old Luka Vuskovic about to arrive at the north London outfit and Tottenham about to sign another centre-back in 20-year-old Japan international Kota Takai, the club's desire to build with youth shows no signs of abating. Striker Oliver Boast, who only 16 last month, is set to move from Leeds United this summer as well.

The gamble of signing youngsters with potential is that not all of them are going to achieve what you hope from them and instead can end up costing plenty of money in the process. Here's a look at some of the Tottenham transfer misses with young players over recent years and it's worth pointing out that certainly not all are the club's fault but also not all are the players' faults.

We're looking specifically at players who were signed at the age of 22 or under and we've gone back over the past six seasons or so.

Bryan Gil

It's a shame it hasn't worked out for the young Spaniard but in truth Gil has never looked that comfortable away from his native Spain. Tottenham signed him from Sevilla as a 20-year-old for £21.6million with Erik Lamela going in the opposite direction in 2021.

The pretty dreadful nature of the transfer was only highlighted a couple of years later when Spurs sent Gil back on loan to the La Liga club, meaning the Spanish side had received almost £22million and Lamela only to have Gil still play for them. He has also been loaned out to Valencia and most recently Girona - you can see the Spanish theme.

Former managing director of football Fabio Paratici pushed hard for the signing of the Spaniard, but while he's a talented young player, Gil just doesn't have the physique for the Premier League at this point and perhaps never will. He has a year left on his contract at the club and is expecting to leave this summer. As with most of their unsuccessful deals, Spurs look set to lose a fair whack of money on the player, who is currently recovering from knee ligament surgery and only played 43 times for the club, scoring no goals but providing two assists.

Alejo Veliz

Spurs signed Veliz as a 19-year-old from Rosario Central for a reported £13million on the same day they brought in Van de Ven for three times that figure in 2023.

Veliz has played only eight times for Tottenham since that day, scoring once, with a dreadful loan to Sevilla - yes them again - and then a better loan to Espanyol, albeit mostly with appearances from the bench.

football.london understands that all the talk from Argentina about bids made and an advanced move for Veliz with clubs like Racing is only media noise from his homeland as of this moment and Spurs have not received a concrete bid.

They will accept a reasonable offer though for a player who currently does not appear good enough to break through into the Tottenham first team set-up.

Ashley Phillips

You never know, there could be a major turnaround this summer for Ashley Phillips under Thomas Frank but it looks unlikely with the number of centre-backs at the club and Vuskovic and Takai now joining.

Phillips was signed in 2023 as an 18-year-old from Blackburn after his £2million release clause was activated. However, two years on and he has not played a single competitive game for Tottenham despite impressive loans at Plymouth and Stoke.

This is certainly not a case of ability but more the wrong player at the wrong time, although with his much smaller price tag, Spurs will likely end up making a profit on Phillips when he does head off.

Joe Rodon

All the talk that summer in 2020 was that Mourinho wanted the experienced Milan Skriniar but eventually ended up with then 22-year-old Joe Rodon on a deal from Championship side Swansea worth up to £15million.

That was no slight on Wales international Rodon who has gone on to show that he's a very good centre-back and has led Leeds into the Premier League for the coming season with his performances. However, it was an example of Spurs taking the younger route and it not working out.

Rodon was just two games short of 100 appearances for Leeds in two seasons, whereas at Tottenham he managed only 24 appearances over four years amid loans to Rennes and then to Elland Road.

Tanguy Ndombele

Signed as a 22-year-old in a deal that could have been worth more than £60million overall and without doubt Tottenham's biggest flop of the modern era. Many speculate that the signing of the Frenchman, who promised so much but delivered so little for a string of managers, burned the club somewhat in taking bigger financial risks on younger, less guaranteed performers.

Signed in 2019, Spurs had to come to an agreement with Ndombele to end his contract early just to get his big wages off the books and he departed with only 91 games for the club under his belt, with 10 goals and nine assists as well as three loan spells to attempt to move him on earlier.

Either the scouting behind the move was dreadful when all of his former coaches spoke about issues with desire and drive, or Pochettino just felt he could be the man to change Ndombele. The Argentine didn't really get the chance to do so before being sacked and then Mourinho for a spell was the only one to get a tune out of him.

Ryan Sessegnon

This was purely down to injury rather than ability or drive. Sessegnon was signed as a 19-year-old for £25million from Fulham with Josh Onomah heading in the opposite direction in that costly summer of 2019.

Unfortunately the teenager arrived with a hamstring injury and never really shook them during his time at Spurs, in fact a successful loan away at Hoffenheim was probably his most pain-free period. Sessegnon played 57 times for Tottenham in all, scoring three goals and recording four assists, and it was heart-breaking to watch the constant breaking down with new hamstring injuries.

It got to the stage where the club didn't even take up the final year option on his contract and allowed him to leave for nothing last summer. Following surgery on the hamstrings in both legs, Sessegnon went back to Fulham and thankfully enjoyed a better season without any real injury concerns and hopefully he is on the right road now again.

Jack Clarke

Another part of that infamous summer of 2019, Spurs signed Jack Clarke as an 18-year-old for around £10million only for Pochettino to say the player wasn't ready for his team, so they had to send him back to Leeds, who had too many loan players to actually use him much.

That mess pretty much summed up the teenager's time at Tottenham with further loans at QPR and Stoke before the move to Sunderland that finally ignited his career.

Clarke left Spurs in 2022 for a permanent move to Sunderland and thankfully his career has continued on a mostly upward trajectory since with a move to the Premier League and Ipswich, albeit the Tractor Boys swapping places with Sunderland in the Championship next season. Clarke would play only four matches for Tottenham during his time in north London.

Ex-Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, who was shown the door less than a month ago, may not be out of work for long as interest from Major League Soccer emerges. Despite being linked with positions in the Saudi Pro League, it's looking increasingly likely that an American adventure could beckon.

Postecoglou guided Spurs to a commendable fifth-place Premier League finish in his inaugural season and went on to claim the Europa League trophy the next year. However, this impressive stint wasn't enough to cement his place at the helm, leading to Thomas Frank taking up the reins as they eye Champions League action.

BBC Sport reveals that LAFC are mulling over the idea of bringing in the seasoned manager to succeed Steve Cherundolo. Cherundolo has not had the smoothest of rides lately, notably struggling to make an impact at the Club World Cup where LAFC managed only a solitary point against powerhouses like Chelsea, Esperance, and Flamengo.

The American ex-international Cherundolo has been part of the LAFC set-up for four years, topping the Western Conference standings just last season. This campaign hasn't been as rosy with his squad trailing conference frontrunners San Diego by 10 points, despite having games in hand.

Cherundolo had already earmarked the conclusion of the current season as his exit point, planning a return to Germany, his home throughout his playing career primarily with Hannover. Citing familial reasons, he states that moving back to Europe is "in the best interest of my family", reports the Mirror.

If Postecoglou secures a move to Los Angeles, it will see him link up again with goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who he cast aside at Tottenham in favour of summer signing Guglielmo Vicario. The veteran Frenchman's quest for an extended career led him to LA, where he currently plays.

The MLS outfit boasts an impressive array of former Premier League talent, including ex-Arsenal and Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud, as well as Tottenham great Gareth Bale, who completed a brief stint at the club in 2022 before hanging up his boots.

Speaking to the media following the managerial change at Tottenham, Lloris commented: "No, nothing surprises me in football," Lloris said. "But at the same time, it is hard to say something because I am on the other side. I don't know what happened inside the club so it's really hard for me to judge.

"If they made this decision it is because they believe there is another option which is better for the future of the club. What Ange Postecoglou did was just remarkable. He brought this Europa League trophy, he brought a lot of joy to the Spurs community, a lot of pride as well and we all have to be thankful for that."

Tottenham need more departures this summer to fix a bloated squad while also bringing in some quality players to take on the challenge of Champions League football.

But what of those who left Spurs in the past 12 months? With a new head coach walking through the doors in the shape of Thomas Frank some might naturally wonder how those departed players of all ages might have performed under a different manager with different ideas and techniques.

It's time to take a look at how those 15 players who left the club in the past year have got on after heading out of the Hotspur Way exit. Many were big name stars, some among the most expensive Tottenham have ever bought, while others were long-serving stars and others academy prospects that just could not break through properly.

Let's start with the most expensive of them all and a player who divided opinion until the end.

Tanguy Ndombele

Tanguy Ndombele left his mark on Tottenham but not really in the way he would have liked, as the club's biggest ever flop after arriving from the now-relegated Lyon for a club record fee worth more than £60million in all. The Frenchman, who had all the talent in the world but not the other components to be a Premier League success, played just 91 times over half a decade at the north London outfit before having his contract mutually terminated last summer.

Nice signed him on a two-year contract and it was all going reasonably well in the first half of his season back in France with 25 appearances, scoring twice and laying on two assists across 1,407 minutes of football.

Even during that time, as was the case for Ndombele at Spurs, little injuries caused him problems and he was constantly playing through muscle and hip problems and then in March came a nightmare sports hernia issue that ended his season prematurely. Now 28, Ndombele has just been pictured back in early pre-season training with Nice, who finished fourth in Ligue 1 last season and will now take their place in the Champions League qualifiers in early August.

Ndombele will be hoping to finally get his career back on track after showing some glimpses of that in the first half of last season back in his home country.

Giovani Lo Celso

Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso did their utmost seemingly last season to prove that muscle problems were not just exclusive to those playing at Tottenham.

After returning to Real Betis, the Argentine enjoyed a great start to the season with goals in four consecutive La Liga games - five scored in total across those games. Then he missed much of October with a hamstring problem and then after a couple of months back in the team, including scoring in back-to-back La Liga games against Barcelona and Villarreal, Lo Celso, now 29-years-old, suffered an adductor injury.

Then another muscle injury, announced as "a moderate-grade injury to the middle third of the soleus muscle in his right leg" ensured he did not return to action until the final game in March.

Unlike Ndombele, Lo Celso did contribute in the final months of the season and helped Betis reach the final of the Europa Conference League but another muscle injury suffered the previous week restricted him to just the final five minutes of the 4-1 defeat, having missed the final La Liga game of the season.

In all, Lo Celso started just 15 La Liga games this season, playing 34 times across all competitions with nine goals and three assists and is yet to be name in an Argentina squad for their World Cup qualifiers this year due to those problems.

Emerson Royal

Keeping on the injury train and Emerson Royal is another who has had a season marred by a long-term injury as a calf problem kept him out at AC Milan from the end of January until May, when he was greeted by a line of team-mates slapping him on the back as he returned to training.

The Brazilian right-back had made the move from N17 last summer in a deal worth £12.6million plus add-ons but Emerson, now 26, struggled to impress either the supporters or the media and that injury reportedly scuppered attempts to sell him immediately in the January window after Milan signed Kyle Walker.

The England right-back has since gone back to Manchester City and Emerson returned for the final three games of the season, remaining on the bench for them all as Milan lost in the Italian Cup final to Bologna. He had won the Italian Super Cup midway through the season though so it was not a fruitless season despite that injury which restricted him to 26 appearances.

Troy Parrott

Troy Parrott was one of the biggest successes among the Tottenham departures last season after he joined AZ Alkmaar in a £6.7million deal with a 20% sell-on clause for the north London side.

The 23-year-old Republic of Ireland international hit 20 goals for the Dutch side last season across 47 matches and came up against his old team Spurs three times in the Europa League, causing them plenty of problems.

In that European competition Parrott racked up six goal involvements in 12 games and in the Eredivisie managed 16 goal involvements in 28 games. Parrott ended up as the joint third top scorer in the Dutch flight across the season.

"For me it just didn't happen [with Spurs]. I'm OK with that," Parrott said ahead of the quarter-final against his old side. "I look back with a smile. It's a place where I grew up. I moved away from home quite young, so when I went there I was in a phase of going from a kid to a teenager and then past that. It helped me become the person and player I am now, so I can only look back on that with good memories."

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is in this list even though he's on loan at Marseille and still registered to Spurs for another couple of days because he technically joined the Ligue 1 outfit with an obligation to buy.

The Dane, who will turn 30 this summer, played 32 times for Marseille, scoring three times and laying on four assists in a campaign in which the Ligue 1 side finished second behind PSG, albeit 19 points behind the Champions League winners. That still means Hojbjerg will be playing in that competition next season and could come up against his old side.

It was a campaign in which Hojbjerg captained Marseille on occasions and was also named the new skipper of his country. It's been a good year for the experienced midfielder and some might just wonder what might have happened if he did not have a permanent move lined up because the new Spurs boss Frank worked with Hojbjerg at youth level in the Danish international set-up and might just have had a place for him in his squad.

Oliver Skipp

One midfielder who did not enjoy such a happy season is Oliver Skipp. The 24-year-old only just managed to surpass the 24 matches he played for Spurs last season with 28 across all competitions for Leicester in his first year there, with just 10 Premier League starts.

Skipp left Spurs last summer after 18 years at the north London club and more than 100 first team appearances to join up with fellow academy product Harry Winks in a transfer that could eventually bring Tottenham more than £20million plus a sell-on clause.

The problem for Skipp was that while the manager who signed him, Steve Cooper, was keen on the midfielder, Ruud van Nistelrooy seemed less so across the campaign, preferring more physical midfielders as Leicester struggled for wins and were relegated from the Premier League.

That in itself could provide a restart for Skipp as he was excellent in the Championship in his last season in it with Norwich, playing an integral part of their title win that year so this coming campaign, five years on, could be the making of him at the Foxes.

Ryan Sessegnon

Everyone just wanted to see Ryan Sessegnon playing football again after years of hamstring injury hell and he pretty much managed that with 22 appearances, netting four times and providing two assists in his 16 Premier League games for Fulham.

One of those goals came against Tottenham in the defeat at Craven Cottage with a well-taken right-footed curling effort that brought no celebration.

"I spent five years at Spurs and I'm grateful for my time there. So that's why I didn't celebrate," the 24-year-old said after Sunday's game. "I'm feeling good, sharp and strong. I just want to play a little bit more. When I get the chances I want to prove I can play at this level."

When Tottenham decided not to take up the option of the additional year on his contract last summer, Sessegnon's return to Fulham meant that all of the club's arrivals in that now infamous 2019 window, including Ndombele, Lo Celso and even Jack Clarke went back to their previous side at some point after joining Spurs.

The most important thing for Sessegnon was that he had no injury woes to speak of and was either playing or on the bench for most of the season.

Joe Rodon

Joe Rodon had a year to remember for Leeds, helping them to the Championship title and missing only four minutes of football in the entire season in that competition.

After joining permanently as part of the deal that brought Archie Gray in the opposite direction to north London last summer, the Wales international played all 46 matches for the Elland Road outfit in the league and now he will return to the Premier League to show that's where he always believed he belonged.

The 27-year-old played a remarkable 4,136 minutes in the Championship last season, with just five yellow cards to his name despite being a tough-tackling centre-back.

Japhet Tanganga

For Japhet Tanganga, as it was with Sessegnon, there was a need to continue to show that he was free of the injuries that dogged his years at Tottenham.

Thankfully that was pretty much the case as Tanganga, now 26, played 43 times for Millwall last season, scoring twice, and helped them rise up the table as the season wore on to an eight-place finish.

As with Sessegnon, Spurs did not take up the option last summer to extend Japhet Tanganga's contract by its final year. Instead he signed on a free transfer for Millwall after impressing for the Championship side on loan last season.

It proved to be the right move with 3,823 minutes of football at a club where he looked very much at home. However, there has been plenty of interest in Tanganga from Premier League clubs and those abroad, so he could be on the move this summer.

Ivan Perisic

Ivan Perisic technically stopped being a Tottenham employee last summer, even if he had already joined Hajduk Split the previous January on loan until the end of his contract.

The Croatian's time at Spurs ended with that torn cruciate ligament and then his return to Croatia with Hajduk went in the wrong direction with the arrival of Gennaro Gattuso as the now 36-year-old's contract was mutually terminated.

That brought a move to add another new league in his remarkable career with a switch to Dutch side PSV Eindhoven and Perisic has not looked back with a brilliant second half to the season. He bagged 16 goals and 11 assists in 35 matches, including three goals in four Champions League knockout matches, including a goal at the Emirates Stadium.

From the mid-March until the end of the season there were only three games the experienced attacker didn't score in in the Eredivisie.

Eric Dier

Similar to Perisic, Eric Dier has been gone from Spurs for longer than a year but only officially left last summer after the option in his loan move to Bayern Munich was triggered in the second half of that season.

He wasn't always the first choice at the Bavarian giants in the first half of the season, but still played 28 times, with 21 of those in the Bundesliga as Bayern won the title and him a winner's medal, as he scored two twice and provided one assist.

The 31-year-old played all but four minutes of Bayern's Bundesliga matches from mid-February onwards and started in both legs of the Champions League quarter-final against Inter, scoring in the game in the San Siro.

In all Dier played 48 matches at Bayern and will now leave as a title winner for a new chapter at Monaco, where he has signed a three-year contract.

Jude Soonsup-Bell

Jude Soonsup-Bell struggled for game time after moving to Spanish second division side Cordoba in a deal that came with no fee but a 40% sell-on clause for Spurs instead.

The 21-year-old was handed a loan move to the Spanish third tier and Atletico Sanluqueno where he got more game time, with 13 appearances and one goal.

It remains to be seen what this summer holds for Soonsup-Bell, who will be remembered at Spurs after helping the development squad to the Premier League 2 title and play-off trophy in his final season.

Yago Santiago

Everything was going well in the Spanish second tier for Yago Santiago, another of the Premier League 2 title-winning squad, with the now 22-year-old enjoying a promising season at Elche with 20 appearances, scoring twice and registering three assists.

However, the winger then suffered a cruciate ligament injury in January and will be out for a considerable chunk of this year. He stopped by Hotspur Way during his recovery and spoke to the Tottenham staff, his old team-mates and current academy players.

Nile John

Another Premier League 2 title winner, Nile John made two appearances for Spurs after coming through the academy before leaving for Portugal with second tier side Feirense after spending eight years at Tottenham.

The 22-year-old midfielder was a regular performer in the league for his new side, playing 18 matches in Liga Portugal 2, scoring four times. However, he picked up a red card 11 minutes into added time in a 2-1 win in February at Pacos Ferreira, where ironically he made one of his two senior appearances for Tottenham.

John received a two-match ban for the incident, played in the following two games but then was suspended for the next eight games from March onwards which ended his season prematurely.

Charlie Sayers

Sayers departed Tottenham last summer after arriving from Southend in 2021. The centre-back was involved in the first team pre-season tour to South Korea three years ago before an eye injury and further injuries interrupted his progress and he was eventually released by the club.

Now 21, Sayers was signed up by Scottish Championship side Partick Thistle on a three-year deal. However, he only made eight appearances for his new Scottish side and parted ways with the club by mutual consent in January.

The defender returned to England and spent the final few months of last season in the National League with Woking, playing only the first 45 minutes of a match against Rochdale.

Bryan Mbeumo looks set to sign for Manchester United in the next week, football.london understands.

Mbeumo enjoyed his best goalscoring season in the Premier League in 2024/25 with 20 goals - a total that was only beaten by Mohamed Salah, Alexander Isak and Erling Haaland.

After six seasons with Brentford, the Cameroon international is now looking to make the next step in his career and has been heavily linked with a move away from west London during the summer transfer window.

Mbeumo has been tipped to join Manchester United almost since the season ended, but Thomas Frank's move from Brentford to Tottenham Hotspur set a cat amongst the pigeons when it came to his future.

United made a bid of around £55million that was initially rejected by the Bees, with Spurs then linked with upping that offer to try and hijack the deal.

Frank has had a huge impact on Mbeumo's career in England and the opportunity to stay in London with his former boss was seen as a positive.

But Mbeumo has always seemingly had his heart set on a move to Old Trafford and football.london understands that the transfer is all-but done with a medical set to take place in the coming days.

United may well wait until July 1 to announce the deal for Profit and Sustainability Rules purposes. Our friends at the Manchester Evening News reported on Thursday that the Red Devils were closing in on a deal to sign the 25-year-old.

Mbeumo will join Matheus Cunha as new Manchester United signings this summer, while Spurs will likely turn their attention back to Eberechi Eze, who was always seen as the first choice signing this summer, although they do now face competition from north London rivals Arsenal for his signature.

Tottenham and Son Heung-min seem to be coming to a crossroads. While the South Korean star became the first Spurs captain since Ledley King to lift silverware at the end of last season, he could be set to leave before the next campaign begins.

The 32-year-old has been in north London for a decade now, and rumours have been rife that he could leave. However, things are still up in the air after Ange Postecoglou's exit.

Despite inspiring his team to lift the Europa League in Bilbao, the Australian boss was replaced this summer by former Brentford head-coach Thomas Frank, and it's clear that the new man will need to have conversations with key personnel before any decisions are made.

One thing that seems certain is that Son will be present on the club's pre-season tour, which stops in South Korea. Due to sponsor commitments, Spurs are incredibly unlikely to sanction a sale before that tour is completed.

Rumours have linked the attacker with a transfer to Saudi Arabia, and with just a year remaining on his contract it could be the perfect time for him to leave the club after a year crowned by the Europa League success.

So, should he stay or should he go? Our football.london writers give their verdict below...

Sam Truelove

For me, it all depends on Son Heung-min. The Tottenham captain deserves to choose whether he remains with the club for a further year or departs after ten years service. In my opinion, the South Korean should stick around for one more year.

With Spurs in the Champions League, surely a season in Europe's elite competition appeals to the 32-year-old? If Tottenham want to get a fee for their captain, they could offer him a new one-year deal so he still has one year remaining come next summer. Then everyone wins.

His leadership in the dressing room should not be underestimated and with Ange Postecoglou no longer around and Thomas Frank the new head coach, Son's experience will be invaluable.

Tom Coley

A fresh start for Tottenham under Thomas Frank feels like a good time to move on from Son. If he is thinking about an exit then maybe it is right for all parties.

There is definite value to keeping him but financially, this is the last chance to get any sort of real fee for him. Surely someone will pay at least £30million for someone of his quality, even at his age?

It really is a tough one. Postecoglou had started to favour others at Spurs and it's clear to see why. He isn't the same force of a few years ago and Frank will demand energy and intensity in the press from his players.

It would be hard to say goodbye to Son, but it is better to be honest in these conversations than blinded.

Joe Doyle

There are pros and cons to each option. For me, it could be the ideal time to say goodbye. Or at least, it would have been, had the skipper been able to bid farewell to fans at the trophy parade after lifting the Europa League title.

Ultimately, I don't think you can argue that he has been as effective in attack in the last couple of season as he was previously, whether that be due to injuries or his general output declining. But at the same time, he offers so much to the club in terms of leadership and setting standards on and off the pitch.

For me, the issue in him leaving would be that, following a terrible season in the Premier League last year, the squad looked very light on experienced professionals who could carry the burden of leading the team. And there's no way that improves if Son is sold.

Ultimately, it should come down to whether Son wants to stay or not. He's put his time in and deserves the right to make up his own mind on whether he stays or moves on to a new project. But I have a feeling he leaves.

Matthew Abbott

Son staying a Spurs next season would be more valuable than any transfer fee they receive for their captain this summer. Coming off the worst individual season of his career, it is a surprise that there remains interest from elsewhere.

As such, it wouldn't be a case of cashing in and would be worth the gamble of keeping Son to see if the South Korea international can rediscover his form. Such a scenario could then see the forward sign a new contract, as Mohamed Salah has recently.

In a summer of transition from Spurs and some ill-will still existing from the coaching change, they could do worse than keeping Son around rather than opening up another leadership void in the team. It took him stepping up to fill that in the first place, and especially with any departure not happening until after pre-season, it is debatable whether there are characters already at the club who could command that respect.

Kieran King

As much as it would be a difficult decision to make, I think Tottenham might be better off selling Son and reinvesting the cash on a new left winger. Son, who is set to turn 33 in July, has been at Spurs for 10 years now and it might prove to be the right time to offload him.

Tottenham could do with a refresh in the squad and Son, despite the fact he managed 11 goals and 12 assists in 46 matches, would be one of the players that should be sold. Son's performance levels dropped throughout 2024/25 and I feel as though they would be better off signing a younger alternative.

Someone I would look at is Alejandro Garnacho. He is 12 years younger than Son and has the potential to replicate, or even better, what the South Korean has achieved during his career. Garnacho could be tempted to move to north London due to Champions League football and is expected to leave Manchester United.

Tottenham seem to be getting all their ducks in a row for next season. The club decided to part ways with manager Ange Postecoglou despite winning the Europa League at the climax of last season, with Thomas Frank now in place as his replacement.

Mathys Tel and Kevin Danso have had their loan moves from last season made permanent this summer, while a £5million deal has been agreed to sign Japanese star Kota Takai from J-League side Kawasaki Frontale.

There have been links elsewhere as well, with the likes of Eberechi Eze and Bryan Mbeumo of interest to the Tottenham hierarchy, while long-standing interest in Eze's Crystal Palace teammate Marc Guehi could be looked at again should Cristian Romero decided to depart north London - though there have been strong links to Liverpool for the Palace captain..

Meanwhile, there are other potential exits, with club captain Son Heung-min's future up in the air. Spurs may be looking at an incoming attacking player already, but what if the iconic Spurs hero decides to depart?

Below, football.london writers give their view on who the next man through doors should be at Hotspur Way.

Joe Doyle

I'm a big fan of Eberechi Eze, and I think he could improve pretty much every team in the Premier League, and Spurs are no outliers in that.

If he does have a £68million release clause, it would represent a big outlay for Spurs; but they have the Champions League boost to their coffers this season. At 26, he's a decent age and his game isn't one dictated too much by pace so he should retain a lot of value in his later years.

While he's perhaps not a priority, more of a luxury given the team's current attacking options, if Son is considering leaving then the club should be doing everything to get a deal in place for the Palace man.

Sam Truelove

For me, the next couple of weeks should be about Eberechi Eze. The 26-year-old is a class act and would be an upgrade on Tottenham's current options, should he arrive in north London this summer.

The Englishman is said to have a £68million release clause in his contract at Crystal Palace so Daniel Levy knows exactly how much the former QPR man will cost. Capable of playing in attacking midfield and on the left wing, Eze would give new boss Thomas Frank real added quality for the 2025/26 season.

Eze scored 14 goals and assisted 11 more in 43 appearances last season. In a decent but not spectacular Palace side, those are good numbers. With Spurs in the Champions League and hoping to push on after winning the Europa League, signing Eze could really help those ambitions.

Tom Coley

It's a south London takeover for Tottenham... That's how Crystal Palace supporters described their FA Cup matches at Wembley Stadium earlier this year and might end up being the culmination of this team.

It makes perfect sense for both Eze and Guehi to be standout targets for Spurs. Guehi is a defensive leader with experience at major tournaments. He can pass with both feet and is well settled in the capital.

As for Eze, he just makes things click. He can be a deluxe James Maddison if he was signed this summer. For Frank, both players fit the bill perfectly and would be an immediate upgrade in quality and depth.

Given how shaky the defence has been, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Frank try to improve that first, so Guehi should be a priority, especially with other clubs sniffing about.