The i Paper

Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City face disappointment in their chase for Eli Junior Kroupi with Bournemouth having told their star names there is “no way” they are leaving this summer.

Tottenham are among the clubs ready to break the bank for 20-year-old Kroupi, who is on the radar of Europe’s top sides after hitting 13 goals in a breakout Premier League season.

But sources have laughed off the idea of a £100m move in this transfer window, insisting he is going nowhere and that his asking price will be significantly more in 2027 – when the club will listen to offers for him.

The i Paper can reveal Bournemouth have in recent weeks informed Kroupi – along with other wanted stars Alex Scott, Brazil forward Rayan and defender Adrien Truffert – that they will not be allowed to leave this summer as the Cherries prepare for their first ever European campaign.

Those conversations have also taken place with the player’s representatives and family members so that “everyone is on the same page” heading into a new era under Marco Rose on the south coast.

The stance – which reflects Bournemouth’s ability to comply with Uefa and Premier League squad cost ratio (SCR) rules after high-profile recent sales – comes from the ownership down and sources insist it “will not change”, even if offers are made for the players.

Over the last two transfer windows Bournemouth have made substantial sales, allowing Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez, Antoine Semenyo, Ilya Zabarnyi and Dango Ouattara all to leave in the last 12 months. That “housekeeping”, along with none of the players having active release clauses in this window, has allowed them to dictate their stance.

It will come as a blow for a clutch of clubs eyeing Kroupi. Tottenham in particular have put him near the top of their list of targets as they look to continue their spending spree by securing a top class forward.

Arsenal and City have also put out the feelers out about the France under-21 in recent months but all of his suitors will have to wait 12 months to test Bournemouth’s resolve. At that point the club do expect to make sales.

Even then, though, there’s a feeling that the trajectory of the transfer market will enable them to recoup closer to £125m or even more for Kroupi if he continues to progress at his current rate. As revealed in May, there is no release clause in his contract.

This summer prices for midfield and attacking talent have shifted significantly upwards and that has created a new benchmark for Premier League executives. With Elliot Anderson moving for £116m and Morgan Rogers set to complete a £117m from Aston Villa to Chelsea, the £130m release clause for Rayan that becomes active in January now looks fairly skinny.

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Meanwhile, Manchester United – who signed Youri Tielemans last week – will also face frustration if they attempt to revive interest in Scott this summer.

The i Paper understands Bournemouth will look to revive contract talks with the England midfielder in September after negotiations suddenly broke down earlier in the summer.

It was felt that an agreement – possibly with a considerable release clause – was close a few weeks ago but with talk of the Red Devils and others keen on Scott, conversations on a new deal abruptly stopped. There’s an expectation that those negotiations will begin again when the transfer window closes.

But there isn’t a single player in La Albiceleste’s international ranks with such a paradoxical reputation at club level. Romero has never let Argentina down, best demonstrated by the four trophies he’s won with them in the last five years.

What is perceived as a reckless style in the Premier League is encouraged when he dons the famous blue-and-white stripes of his home country. His dastardly shithousing reached new heights in Wednesday’s semi-final win over England, goading familiar faces and being part of the squad that held up an offensive banner referencing the Falkland Islands (or ‘Malvinas’, in verbatim).

The great Lionel Messi often heralds Romero as the best defender in the world, though that’s almost certainly because he’s blissfully ignorant to what goes on at Tottenham Hotspur.

Last summer, Romero was appointed Spurs club captain, succeeding the legendary Son Heung-min. It was a choice that made sense in the moment, with the centre-back stepping up to claim Player of the Match for his performance in the Europa League final against Manchester United while he was also part of Ange Postecoglou’s leadership group before the Australian was sacked.

It is not a decision that has aged particularly well. The appointment of Thomas Frank as head coach, coupled with the arrival of Vinai Venkatesham as CEO, was meant to signal a cultural reset. Romero taking on the captain’s armband went directly against that ethos.

Club sources claim that Spurs’ most recent superstars – Son, Harry Kane and Hugo Lloris – set the standards at Hotspur Way. They were self-aware, very receptive to the idea they were leaders as much as players and carried themselves accordingly. Everyone fell in line, and maybe more importantly, nobody wanted to let them down.

Romero, to this point, has shown no such qualities as captain. His punctuality has been a persistent issue, no more so than when it emerged he was late to training one day after Spurs were battered 4-1 by north London rivals Arsenal last November.

Instead of leading in the dressing room and on the pitch, most of Romero’s talking has come on social media, uploading a number of Instagram posts calling out the club’s board for their injury crises and lack of transfer market movement over the last couple of years.

Plenty of disgruntled Tottenham supporters backed Romero when he last took aim at the club hierarchy in January, but the sentiment has radically swung in the opposite direction since.

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Daniel Storey:

Daniel Storey:

It was often speculated Romero cared more about playing for Argentina than Spurs. He has always dismissed this notion out of hand, but actions speak louder than words. When he fled England to train with boyhood side Belgrano on the week Tottenham’s Premier League relegation could have been confirmed, choosing to focus on rebuilding fitness for the World Cup after injury, he was effectively cyber-bullied by fans into returning to London.

It is now a fairly open secret that Tottenham simply want out of the Romero business. They would rather take the chance he pieces everything together elsewhere than be the fall guys for his shenanigans for another year. Should he indeed leave this summer, he will go down as one of Spurs’ worst-ever captains.

And despite everything, Romero stands on the brink of greatness. He is a god among Argentinians, yet viewed in the country where he plays his club football as a villain so cartoonish it now borders on parody. There have rarely been more Jekyll & Hyde players than Romero in history. That, in itself, is a fitting legacy.

NEW YORK – Mask-clad, marauding down the left, Djed Spence was an unlikely hero to emerge from England’s World Cup summer.

Rarely has there been so late a scramble for plane tickets as when Thomas Tuchel announced his 26-man squad in May, Spence’s family quickly following him to the United States. Jordan Henderson aside, his was the least predictable name on the list.

In the absence of sufficient forward-thinking down the middle and the lack of the edge in the wide areas, debates over Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Adam Wharton will rage on. After the briefest of glitches in the set-to with DR Congo, it is telling that nobody is any longer hankering for Myles Lewis-Skelly or Lewis Hall. On the other side, there is little Spence could do that would ever wholly justify Trent Alexander-Arnold’s surprise exclusion.

Tuchel’s thinking, so impenetrable to a nation learning to trust him, was this. In the very early days at youth level in Peckham, south London, Spence started life as a winger. A right-back by trade, he has been forced onto the opposite flank more often than not at Spurs this season, through an injury crisis that wiped out Ben Davies, Destiny Udogie and an unfamiliar left-back in Souza, who played just four times.

The fluidity of the Tottenham Hotspur full-back is such that it makes him the ideal candidate for Norway, a quarter-final by the end of which you would be hard-pushed to explain who was playing where.

In the summer of 2025, before Thomas Frank’s project quickly disintegrated, Spence was even used in a front three. That flexibility is a double-edged sword, the typical criticism being that he is too right-footed to play on the left. Against Mexico it allowed him to slot into a back five when it was backs-to-the-wall time.

Certainly there is an argument that if Spence has been a late developer, he has been as much a victim of circumstance as anything else.

Released by Fulham just shy of his 18th birthday, an alternative path might have kept him at Middlesbrough for another year, had the relationship with Neil Warnock not broken down.

He was sent on loan to Nottingham Forest, almost immediately finding himself under another change of manager. On the bridge over the Trent outside the City Ground, a graffiti tag still reads: “Djed Spence, we miss you.” That should give a feeling of where Steve Cooper took him to.

In Antonio Conte, he found no such ally. Days after joining Tottenham, his manager used a press conference to dismiss him as a “club signing” rather than a player he wanted. In reply, Spence said the revelation “shattered his confidence”. Conte awarded him a total of 43 minutes. Over his next full season at Spurs after loans at Rennes, Leeds and Genoa, he played an hour of football between August and mid-December 2024. He studied French and Italian but never fully settled.

In Yorkshire, it was a knee ligament injury that sent him packing after seven appearances; in Italy, the Serie A side’s refusal to stump up £8m to make the deal permanent. Daniel Farke would complain of his lateness to Leeds’ training sessions. It meant little prospect of a north London renaissance, where it would take him two-and-a-half years to start a game. Four years on, he has played under five Spurs managers.

Under Roberto De Zerbi he is still not guaranteed to start, with Udogie and Pedro Porro ahead of him on the left and right respectively. Andy Robertson has arrived too, while Micky van de Ven can yet play at full-back. The make-up of the squad is closer now to Spence’s age bracket, and he has forged friendships; still, his future is uncertain with Everton waiting in the wings.

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The other contradiction lies in Tuchel himself, so often berating him from the sidelines in both the warm-ups and the group stages. Tuchel’s England reign will stand or fall on divisive decisions like Spence’s ticket to the US – so far they have been proven right. England are in the semi-finals for just the fourth time ever.

For now, the defender retains the role of cult figure, strapping holding together a broken jaw, unfortunate not to win a penalty against Norway. The refusal to shake hands with Thomas Partey against Ghana. He is the first Muslim to play for England at a World Cup and raises his hands in Du’a on the pitch – those close to him say his faith is central to his career.

England are being dragged towards history by the most obvious heroes in Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane. None have come from the peripheries quite like Spence to become quite so important.

My Sporting Life is The i Paper’s look behind the curtain at what drives sports stars to greatness. This week, we speak to Jermain Defoe, one of English football’s most prolific strikers, about feeling invincible at Tottenham Hotspur, how Simply Red connects him to his departed loved ones, and the move to Juventus that never was.

It’s so hard to say when I was happiest

I made my debut at West Ham when I was 17, and I finished at 39. I played nearly 800 games.

There were so many periods I thought I was playing my best football and years later you think “hmm, I enjoyed this other period a lot more”.

My favourite season

The 2009-10 season at Tottenham. We qualified for the Champions League that year, and I went to the World Cup. I was playing some of the best football of my career, in terms of goals and how I felt physically. I scored five goals against Wigan Athletic.

As players and athletes, you know when you’re in the zone, when you feel invincible, like it doesn’t matter who you play against, you always fancy yourself and back yourself. I was in that mode.

Making my debut a year out of school, at 17, was a massive achievement

I was only a kid. The League Cup with Tottenham was also a big achievement. We should have won a lot more. At Rangers, winning the league title, arguably the biggest league title in such a big club’s history. But I think playing for England was the biggest of all. Because when the World Cup is on, the world is at a standstill.

Ian Wright was my sporting idol

The goals that he scored, him being a centre-forward, his movement – just everything about him, really, the celebrations – I felt like I could relate to Wrighty, even though he’s south London, I’m east London.

That West Indian background, how tough it was to come from humble beginnings and become something with hard work.

I cry when I listen to Simply Red

When I listen to certain music, it reminds me of my nan or my dad. My mum had me at 18 when she was still at home with her parents, my nan and granddad, so it was like it was like I had two mums, and I was really close to my dad.

So sometimes if I listen to certain music, I feel myself getting emotional just thinking about all the good memories that I have with my nanny. Simply Red – “Holding back the Years.” That tune. It’s such a good tune. Growing up, West Indian culture, music was such a big part of my life. Proper music. That song – I’ve always loved it.

It’s nice when you have those moments. With my nan, when I have moments like that, it’s comforting, because I feel like I still can feel her presence. I’ve got my nan tattooed on my arm. I love those moments where she can just come into my head, when songs come into my head, it’s nice.

Grief has helped shape me in a positive way

It’s well documented, the stuff that I’ve been through, with my nan, my brother, my dad, my cousin, obviously Bradley Lowery, of course.

Sometimes in life I just believe that things happen for a reason, it does make you stronger, it actually makes you appreciate life more. It makes you appreciate people around you.

The people around you that you love, it’s important to actually show them that you love them with your actions and the things you say, and how you carry yourself, not just family members.

I could have signed for Juventus

I got a call from an agent in, I think it was 2008, when I went back to Tottenham about Juventus. But because I already told Harry Redknapp and Daniel Levy I was going back to Tottenham, I was just waiting for the deal to get done.

I think it was just principle, really. If you shake hands with someone, say, “Okay, then I’m coming back to Tottenham”, then you should.

I know players do it, but to change my mind at the last minute and say “OK, I’m going to Juventus,” I just don’t think I could have done it at the time.

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I don’t regret anything about my career

My life could have been a lot different. Of course, there’s moments I’d change, like for example that first half against Germany at the World Cup, where Frank Lampard scored, and if there was VAR – but really, I wouldn’t change anything.

Growing up in the East End, when I was at school, if someone would have said to me I would go on and do what I have done, I’ve been like, “wow, really?”

What football has done for me and my family, I think you just have to be grateful.

At this point Aston Villa and Newcastle United supporters are shouting at the clouds, knowing complaints about a broken system laughing in their face are futile.

The Magpies specifically are being pickpocketed in plain sight, a club with the richest owners in world football selling to a team who have finished 17th in back-to-back seasons.

“Cry more” is the Big Six response, for it is easy to laugh from this position. As in The Sims, the ladder has been removed from the swimming pool, and the powers above are watching those below them tread water.

It is now five years since the Saudi Arabia-backed takeover and Newcastle remain far behind Tottenham Hotspur in the pecking order because the restraints in place may never allow them to get ahead.

At this rate, Newcastle are even going backwards. Sandro Tonali joining Tottenham after Anthony Gordon departed for Barcelona means £169m to reinvest, but it will be be difficult to attract players who view joining them as anything but a stepping stone to bigger things – or even Tottenham.

That Tonali was desperate to join the north London club, as The i Paper reported, is a damning indictment on the Newcastle project, which has stalled on the pitch and is struggling off it.

A horrendous summer transfer window last year did not help, but going into a new season fishing for Gordon and Tonali replacements is a sorry starting point for a club with ambitions of winning the Premier League by 2030.

And while Spurs take their summer spend north of £230m – having also signed Mateus Fernandes for £85m from West Ham and Jan Paul van Hecke for £52m from Brighton – recent rule changes and fines suggest both Newcastle and Villa cannot spend anywhere near as freely.

Uefa fined Newcastle £5.2m for breaching its financial rules, while Villa were fined £19.4m, with £12.9m of that amount suspended provided they decrease their squad cost ratio (SCR) going forward.

SCR is the new three-letter acronym for Newcastle and Villa fans to roll their eyes at in the Premier League, as it is replacing profitability and sustainability rules (PSR).

It also explains Spurs’ ability to dig deep into their pockets. “They’ll be outspending, you’d imagine, every team from at least eighth down,” football finance expert Rob Wilson, professor of applied sport finance at the University Campus of Football Business, told The i Paper this week.

Wilson also said in May that Villa are not as desperate to sell as they have been in recent years, but there is no chance, like Spurs, of them spending £100m on one player – let alone £177m on two.

All this despite, in the last three seasons, Villa picking up 199 league points, the fourth-most while Newcastle are sixth with 175 and Tottenham are down in 13th with 145.

Flip that around for net spend since 2023-24, where Spurs top the lot, their £528m ahead of the other Big Six clubs while Newcastle are 11th (£110m) and Villa, remarkably, are down in 21st (£14m).

Villa have therefore won 54 more points and spent £415m less on incomings than Tottenham in the last three years.

In that time West Ham, Brighton and Nottingham Forest are also among the clubs to have spent more on players than Villa, who continue to fight in the face of these restraints thanks to head coach Unai Emery.

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Another Champions League campaign awaits, too, but the sense they have reached their ceiling under the Spaniard – especially after finally ending their trophy drought in Istanbul – is difficult to shake given they have been flying close to the sun for three-and-a-half seasons.

A drastic drop-off would be a surprise, but sustaining this level is difficult. In Emery they trust, but losing Morgan Rogers – whom they want £130m for this summer – would put them in a similar situation to Newcastle.

And whether it is this summer, next summer, or the summers to follow, the Big Six will only continue to poach from those below them even if they are above them. That is just how it works now. Newcastle and Villa know their place, and are at pains to fight it.

Tottenham have reached an agreement with Newcastle United for midfielder Sandro Tonali in a deal that will smash their transfer record.

The Italy international is expected to move to north London for a fee of £92m – more with add-ons – as Roberto De Zerbi’s side ramp up their summer plans.

The Tonali breakthrough comes shortly after pipping Manchester United to £85m midfielder Mateus Fernandes.

It signals a major shift as Spurs prioritise getting business done early – and ensuring they no longer miss out on those “big ticket” deals after the humiliation of seeing Eberechi Eze and Morgan Gibbs-White go elsewhere.

It is a particular feather in their cap that Manchester City were still pushing for Tonali and he has opted for Tottenham despite their absence of European football, having finished 17th and narrowly avoided relegation last season.

Where is the money coming from?

Spurs have been highly active in the market, albeit some of their transfers have been free – Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi, Martin Dubravka. Jan Paul van Hecke joined for £52m from Brighton, which will be partly offset by Luka Vuskovic going the other way for around £10m less.

As for Tonali, it is possible to amortise the outgoing fees, so that for Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) Spurs could split the fee over five years.

“They’ve never been in any way, shape or form close to the PSR threshold,” says Rob Wilson, football finance expert at the University Campus of Football Business.

“So they’ve got all of that in the bank. We’ve got this interesting point this year where PSR is changing to squad cost ratio (SCR). The squad cost ratio will work out as a percentage of their income, and their income is significant in the context of the Premier League – so that’s why they’ll be outspending, you’d imagine, every team from at least eighth down.

“It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if they spent £200-250m as a gross spend – and then you’ve got players they might sell to bring the overall outgoing budget down.”

Both PSR and SCR will be calculate over a three-year period, further allowing Spurs to spend.

They do not tend to make losses, which means in theory, Wilson says they could “almost throw the kitchen sink at it in one summer, knowing that they would then be in almost a breach position, you can then recover that over that three-year period assuming your sporting performance is really good”.

The club is also benefiting from its commercial revenue – the concerts, the NFL, boxing and go-karting. Much-maligned as those activities are by some fans, in 2025 Spurs’ commercial revenue was £277m – bigger than 40 per cent of the revenue budget for other clubs in the Premier League.

That will allow them to withstand missing out on Champions League football, which has cost them £80m.

Latest on other targets

Other pursuits are less concrete. Marcus Rashford is a player on their list, particularly as he is seen as a player who would solve the headaches on the left and at No 9 all at once. Rashford is valued at around £40m by Manchester United after a successful loan spell at Barcelona. Savinho is an alternative still being monitored with the winger expected to leave Manchester City.

Who could leave?

Guglielmo Vicario has moved a step closer to the exit with a return to Serie A the most likely destination. Dubravka’s arrival means there is now another back-up goalkeeper ready, with De Zerbi impressed enough by Antonin Kinsky that he considers him capable of being No 1.

Yves Bissouma has already been released and there are talks ongoing over the futures of Radu Dragusin. Manor Solomon is likely to leave after spending the season on loan at Fiorentina, despite being offered brief hope of a long-term future last summer.

Lucas Bergvall is understood to have expressed a desire to leave after just 11 league starts in 2025-26.

A call will also be made on Richarlison as he enters the final year of his deal, with a new contract still possible. Richarlison and Dominic Solanke’s fitness issues, together with Randal Kolo Muani’s loan coming to an end, leaves them light for striker options.

With two high-profile midfield incomings and Rodrigo Bentancur having signed a new deal, there is now significantly more doubt over Joao Palhinha’s long-term future after his loan.

One more transfer headache

One area Spurs do need to tread carefully over is homegrown players. Premier League clubs require eight of a club’s 25-man squad list to be homegrown with a maximum of 17 non-homegrown allowed. They have eight currently, including Ben Davies (who does not qualify in Europe because he is Welsh) and Kevin Danso, an Austria international but who grew up in England.

Robertson (Scottish) does not count because he did not grow up in England or Wales and none of their major targets would count towards the quota either.

Who is calling the shots?

De Zerbi has a large say in transfers, but Spurs are still searching for a second sporting director after the move for Sebastian Kehl, formerly of Borussia Dortmund, fell through. Johan Lange remains in place for now.

In the hierarchy there is an understanding that a summer of stagnation could not be allowed to happen, lest it appear that the threat of how close Spurs came to relegation had not been taken seriously enough. The £100m extra investment from Enic a year ago gives further wiggle room.

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While both Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven have attracted interest there is a huge note of caution attached to selling both at the same time even after Van Hecke’s arrival.

“Spurs are fairly unique in that they could get away with not selling big,” Wilson adds.

“They might sell a couple of fringe players just to top up cash flow, but they could get away with waiting through the summer and seeing if they get the right bid for some of those players.

“But unquestionably, when you have a squad like they’ve assembled over the last few years that has delivered the on-field performance that they’ve delivered over those last couple of years, they will be looking at reshaping that squad without question. They’ve got some fairly decent saleable assets.”

Can any man on the planet match the swagger of Bad Bunny? For three hours on Saturday night he thrusted through the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with such easy energy and louche, gum-chewing braggadocio, I was convinced his charisma alone was enough to have made him a phenomenon.

At last, the UK has joined the Bad Bunny party. For the past few years, there has been no artist as exciting as the 32-year-old Puerto Rican sensation, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio. His fusion of trap, rap, reggaeton, salsa, hip hop, bomba and pop has made him the most-streamed artist in the world year after year. In February, his album Debí Tirar Más Fotos became the first Spanish-language record to win the Grammy for album of the year; the same month, his Super Bowl half-time show, a staggeringly impressive celebration of Latino joy, was the first not in the English language.

In north London, his first of two shows marked the biggest Spanish-language concert in British history. It was an explosive, relentlessly uplifting fiesta. In a cream suit and sunglasses, he opened with salsa song “La Mudanza”, an affirmation of pride, a tribute to his family and an outcry about gentrification. His superb backing band Los Sobrinos sparked the night’s frenzy of guitars, brass and Puerto Rican folk as Benito announced the plan for the rest of the evening: to love and dance “sin miedo” – without fear.

Neither Benito nor the crowd was still again: he leaned all the way back, clutching the microphone, during the lovelorn “Baile Inolvidable” with all its trumpets and drums. There can’t have been anybody, when the beat dropped to his thrilling ode to New York and its Latin communities “Nuevayol”, who was not screaming the words as he flexed his muscles and waved his arms to conduct.

The stages were so alive with motion, instruments and life, yet no matter the commotion or dancing (merengue, bachata, urban, salsa) around him, nothing can distract from Benito and his deep, commanding voice, on just the right side of nasal, or all that entrancing charm. You can’t take your eyes off him.

Bad Bunny’s influence is so great that many credit him with making Latin American music mainstream – as if his gift is in creating something that transcends language barriers because it is palatable to listeners so long turned off by Spanish-language music. What struck me, in this crowd of 50,000 predominantly Spanish-speaking fans, was how deeply that misses the point.

His popularity does not lie in crossing cultures but in galvanising them: he is uncompromising in honouring his Puerto Rican heritage, in singing about his own community whether in rejoice or lament, in exploring Latin American identity and unifying the diaspora. He is so important precisely because he will not concede.

It was tremendously moving to see so many men and women around me, overwhelmed and tearful, as he spoke of the feeling of being far from home, of missing his country, of Latino pride and unity. Many of them wore traditional “pava” straw hats, many wore football shirts, some were in shark costumes, and thousands bejewelled the crowd waving more bright, dazzling flags than I have ever seen, from more nations than I could count.

That was the message: pride, togetherness, resilience. There was no humouring fans who don’t speak Spanish, as he announced “we are all Puerto Rican”, and declared solidarity with Venezuela after this week’s earthquake. His plea was for everyone to enjoy the simple things in life, his message: these are what make life richer.

Given how outspoken and political he is – he has refused to perform this tour in the United States, fearing that ICE would target his shows and his fans – some might have expected his chatter to be punchy and critical. Instead, as with his Super Bowl show – which Donald Trump called “absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!” – the politics were implicit in his defiant celebration of his culture and all this shared joy.

The album and tour’s title track, “Dtmf”, means “I should have taken more photos”. It is an introspective, nostalgic song about regret, and not cherishing the right things when you could – and it was electrifying as its haunting opening bars chimed through the stadium and everybody jumped, sang, cried, and lost the plot.

No matter the homesickness, the pain, the longing, the language barrier – Bad Bunny’s great gift is in showing the world there is always a reason to dance.

Tottenham will embark on a major policy shift by getting transfer business done early and seeking to go toe-to-toe with Champions League clubs for “big ticket” deals.

Spurs have already signed Jan Paul van Hecke for £52m, determined to get that move over the line despite the defender only having had 12 months remaining on his Brighton contract.

Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Martin Dubravka have also arrived on free transfers from Liverpool, Bournemouth and Burnley respectively.

Four Tottenham targets

It is the other big-money moves that have piqued curiosity, however, with Spurs having had one £80m bid for Sandro Tonali turned down and preparing another. Newcastle initially slapped a £100m+ price tag on the midfielder but suitors are hopeful that will come down because of his desire to leave St James’ Park.

Other pursuits are less concrete. Marcus Rashford is a player on their list, particularly as he is seen as a player who would solve the headaches on the left and at No 9 all at once. Rashford is valued at around £40m by Manchester United after a successful loan spell at Barcelona.

Savinho is an alternative still being monitored with the winger expected to leave Manchester City and Mateus Fernandes is still on Spurs’ radar despite West Ham holding out for up to £80m.

How can they afford it?

One option is amortising the Tonali deal, so that for Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) Spurs could split the £85m over five years, should that improved fee be agreed and thus avoid making a loss. It helps that Tonali’s Italy did not qualify for the World Cup, meaning talks are continuing where other transfers have been interrupted.

It is no coincidence that Spurs are rejigging their pay structure while also prioritising high-profile “leaders” like Robertson, Senesi and Dubravka on free transfers, allowing wages to go up.

The club is also benefiting from its commercial revenue – the concerts, the NFL, boxing and go-karting. Much-maligned as those activities are by some fans, in 2025 Spurs’ commercial revenue was £277m – bigger than 40 per cent of the revenue budget for other clubs in the Premier League.

That will allow them to withstand missing out on Champions League football, which has cost them £80m.

“They’ve never been in any way, shape or form close to the PSR threshold,” says Rob Wilson, football finance expert at the University Campus of Football Business.

“So they’ve got all of that in the bank. We’ve got this interesting point this year where PSR is changing to squad cost ratio (SCR). The squad cost ratio will work out as a percentage of their income, and their income is significant in the contex of the Premier League – so that’s why they’ll b outspending, you’d imagine, every team from at least eighth down.

“They’re talking about buying lots of players – and it’ll be interesting to see if they execute it because they certainly can’t afford to buy all the player that the headlines say they’re being linked with. It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if they spent £200-250m as a gross spend – and then you’ve got players they might sell to bring the overall outgoing budget down.”

Both PSR and SCR will be calculate over a three-year period, further allowing Spurs to spend.

They do not tend to make losses, which means in theory, Wilson says they could “almost throw the kitchen sink at it in one summer, knowing that they would then be in almost a breach position, you can then recover that over that three-year period assuming your sporting performance is really good”.

Who could leave?

Guglielmo Vicario has moved a step closer to the exit with a return to Serie A the most likely destination. Dubravka’s arrival means there is now another back-up goalkeeper ready, with Roberto De Zerbi impressed enough by Antonin Kinsky that he considers him capable of being No 1.

Yves Bissouma has already been released and there are talks ongoing over the futures of Radu Dragusin. Manor Solomon is likely to leave after spending the season on loan at Fiorentina, despite being offered brief hope of a long-term future last summer.

Lucas Bergvall is understood to have expressed a desire to leave after just 11 league starts in 2025-26. Brighton are expected to come in for Luka Vuskovic again, with De Zerbi unable to promise him a starting place, with the Seagulls’ initial £35m bid knocked back.

A call will also be made on Richarlison as he enters the final year of his deal, with a new contract still possible. Richarlison and Dominic Solanke’s fitness issues, together with Randal Kolo Muani’s loan coming to an end, leaves them light for striker options.

Making Joao Palhinha’s loan permanent is also seen as crucial by De Zerbi.

One more transfer headache

One area Spurs do need to tread carefully over is homegrown players. Premier League clubs require eight of a club’s 25-man squad list to be homegrown with a maximum of 17 non-homegrown allowed. They have eight currently, including Ben Davies (who does not qualify in Europe because he is Welsh) and Kevin Danso, an Austria international but who grew up in England.

Andy Robertson (Scottish) does not count because he did not grow up in England or Wales and none of their major targets would count towards the quota either.

Who is calling the shots?

De Zerbi has a large say in transfers, but Spurs are still searching for a second sporting director after the move for Sebastian Kehl, formerly of Borussia Dortmund, fell through. Johan Lange remains in place for now.

In the hierarchy there is an understanding that a summer of stagnation could not be allowed to happen, lest it appear that the threat of how close Spurs came to relegation had not been taken seriously enough. The £100m extra investment from Enic a year ago gives further wiggle room.

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While both Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven have attracted interest there is a huge note of caution attached to selling both at the same time even after Van Hecke’s arrival.

“Spurs are fairly unique in that they could get away with not selling big,” Wilson adds.

“They might sell a couple of fringe players just to top up cash flow, but they could get away with waiting through the summer and seeing if they get the right bid for some of those players.

“But unquestionably, when you have a squad like they’ve assembled over the last few years that has delivered the on-field performance that they’ve delivered over those last couple of years, they will be looking at reshaping that squad without question. They’ve got some fairly decent saleable assets.”

Marcus Rashford is the next target on Tottenham Hotspur’s transfer wish list this summer.

Free-spending Tottenham are determined to get their business done early after signing Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton for £52m last week and making an opening £80m bid for Sandro Tonali, which was rejected by Newcastle United.

Proven Premier League players are top priority over younger, more inexperienced starlets from abroad for Spurs. Rashford fits the bill perfectly. He has taken his good form into the World Cup, and is affordable.

The i Paper understands that while Tottenham would not be willing to match the £40m release clause Manchester United and Rashford have agreed upon, relating to the price Aston Villa were required to meet to make their loan permanent last year, they are exploring a lower offer.

At this stage, Rashford’s preference would be to move abroad again – preferably back to Barcelona, or to Bayern Munich, who are also monitoring the 28-year-old’s progress – or return to United and resurrect his boyhood dreams. Moving to another Premier League club is currently not on his radar.

However, it is understood that United’s position on the player, who they would prefer to move on to save on his astronomical wages, will force Rashford to reconsider his stance.

United sources are adamant the club will not engage with Barcelona over another loan deal, after the Catalan giants elected not to activate the £26m option to make his loan stay in Barcelona a permanent one.

Had it not been for Rashford’s wages, clubs would likely be queuing up for a player who was reborn at Barca last season. Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi is understood to be a huge fan and will push the club’s hierarchy to agree some form of deal.

Rashford will certainly have to take a substantial pay cut to secure his next move, something he is more than willing to do for the right step at a crucial juncture in his career.

United are set to have a busy summer too and could use the funds to reinvest into other areas of the squad.

A move for Atalanta’s Ederson is a matter of when, with the World Cup slowing matters. Attentions remain fixed on securing that second central midfield option. Talks are ongoing with West Ham’s in-demand Mateus Fernandes, but the fee being demanded for the Portuguese star is currently putting United off.

Elliot Anderson remains their top pick, but a move to Manchester City is expected to accelerate in the coming weeks, for what could be a British transfer record.

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Crysencio Summerville, who impressed for the Netherlands in their thrashing of Sweden at the World Cup on Saturday, is another West Ham player United are pursuing. Another winger remains one of their priorities this window.

The club’s hierarchy are determined to remain sensible in this transfer market and if the price tag gets beyond their means, they will look at other options.

Spurs, it seems, are more willing to loosen the purse strings and splash the cash this window. Rashford, should a wage structure be agreed, could represent good value for money.

Newcastle United will seek £100m to sell star midfielder Sandro Tonali after dismissing “out of hand” an opening offer from Tottenham Hotspur that fell “at least” £20m short of their valuation.

Newcastle have had a challenging start to what they hope will be a transformative summer, and after missing out on Victor Munoz – who joined Liverpool despite agreeing a deal with the player, his agent and Osasuna last week – they have to handle the Tonali situation skilfully.

The i Paper understands that – although he has not formally asked for a move – Tonali is seeking a fresh challenge and has interest from Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham.

Spurs’ approach, which was made on Thursday, represents the first club-to-club communication for the Italy midfielder.

Some at Newcastle are sceptical about the Spurs approach but Tonali appears ready to entertain it. He is yet to agree personal terms with Tottenham and their approach may prompt City to step up their own interest in the player.

Losing Tonali to Spurs ‘a major red flag’

From Newcastle the message is clear – there’s no decision for them to make because no club has come close to a valuation that is benchmarked against the amount that Nottingham Forest expect to receive for England international Elliot Anderson this summer.

Newcastle put Tonali in a similar bracket and, with issues around hitting Uefa’s squad cost ratio rules, they need to extract maximum value for any player they sell.

The optics of another major player leaving, just a few weeks after Anthony Gordon joined Barcelona in a deal worth around £85m, are certainly not good for Newcastle, who always acknowledged there would be some pain this summer.

Losing him to City or Arsenal would be one thing, but Spurs are one of the clubs that Newcastle hoped to pick off in their battle to be the “best of the rest” under majority owners PIF.

They have finished above them two years in succession and while Tottenham have bigger revenue streams – and a London location which many players seem to favour – it would be a major red flag for a project that supporters are increasingly beginning to doubt.

Lack of Europe costing Newcastle

Club sources dispute there is a lack of ambition and it is understood work is being carried out on multiple deals. Monaco’s Lamine Camara, for example, is one of the alternatives lined up if Tonali leaves but there has been difficulty in getting ambitious deals over the line recently.

They had worked for weeks on Munoz, securing an agreement from the player, his family and agent, and elbowing out Aston Villa. He had also assured them that he wanted to move to Newcastle over Liverpool – only for the Reds to gazump them at the last.

It is understood that the club are looking at what lessons can be learned from the collapse of the deal for a player who was allowed to meet Premier League representatives at Spain’s World Cup camp in Atlanta.

As for Tonali, it is not impossible that he stays but it’s difficult to see how he remains at St James’ Park given the noise around him now.

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Sources admitted at the start of the summer that a couple of big sales were likely to unlock their spending power in an important close season, but there had been hopes that they would have been offset by at least one outfield incoming deal.

There will be understandable – and correct – disappointment at Tonali looking to move on so soon after Newcastle backed him during his year-long ban for gambling offences. But a lack of European football is proving costly, with other players understood to be open to moves.

In that context Newcastle need to flex their recruitment muscles quickly to reassert their ambition.