Tottenham have already signed six new players in this summer’s transfer window, but they are still in the market for more.
Transfer News Blitz writer Dylan Grady looks at how these new signings can help Spurs become a serious outfit ahead of Roberto De Zerbi’s first full season in charge of the North London club.
Midfield mayhem
Tottenham, in the last two seasons, have finished seventeenth consecutively in the Premier League, which, for their standards and as one of the biggest clubs in the country, they know this cannot happen for a third year running.
Sporting Director Johan Lange, and newly appointed in January of this year, Carlos Raphael Moersen, Spurs’ Director of Football Operations, worked closely together at the start of the window and evidently set their sights on two high-priority midfielders.
Spurs, in the space of four days, made it clear they meant business this season, spending £85 million on Mateus Fernandes, who was relegated with West Ham last season.
They also spent an initial £92.5 million on Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali, which could eventually rise to £100 million with add-ons.
While quickly reported throughout the media, this faced backlash due to the price of the two midfielders, more so with the amount for Fernandes due to him being relegated last year.
These two have shown over the last couple of seasons that they both can be regarded as two of the best in the league.
Sandro Tonali
Tonali, now being 26 years old and entering his prime years, has spent the last three seasons in the North East for the Magpies.
While the first season for him didn’t go to plan due to him being banned for the season for breaching Italian betting regulations, he returned for the 2024/25 season.
The Italian was integral in that season for Newcastle, with them securing their first trophy in nearly 70 years, beating Liverpool at Wembley 2-1 to win the Carabao Cup.
Tonali’s partnership for Newcastle with Bruno Guimaraes is surely what the Spurs fans are looking forward to seeing with Mateus Fernandes.
Mateus Fernandes
The 22-year-old Portuguese, in the last couple of seasons, can be said to have been in two teams which showed a lack of quality, desire and fluidity.
On the other hand, Fernandes himself showed an abundance of attributes to his game with a pinpoint passing range, agile movement in the centre of the pitch and a clear eye for goal.
Last season saw him and West Ham relegated on the final day of the season.
However, Fernandes saw himself pick up personal accolades by winning West Ham’s player of the year.
Fernandes played 36 games for the Hammers last year, earning himself 3,016 minutes across the season with three goals and four assists.
While some critics may say that for that price you would expect a higher output, on the eye Fernandes is certainly one of the best and is not far from breaking into a tough midfield for his national side of Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha and Joao Neves.
READ MORE: Why Premier League clubs value defensive midfielders
Injury issues
While Tottenham on paper do have a very good back line consisting of Destiny Udogie, Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Pedro Porro, you could make a case that all four of them are liabilities in different ways.
Udogie is one who has had many injury issues over the years, and while he does show why he is one of the best in his position, we don’t see that enough with him only playing 20 games out of a possible 38 last season.
Last season, Van de Ven showed what he’s capable of even with Spurs having another poor season, with him playing 35 league games and eight in the Champions League.
The Dutch international has suffered many setbacks with his time at Spurs, with many recurring hamstring injuries happening for him.
It can be argued that Romero’s the biggest liability of the lot, with him receiving four red cards in the Premier League during his time at the club, joint with Younes Kaboul.
With these frailties at the back and it seeming that Romero is off to either Inter Milan or Atletico Madrid for a reported €40 million package deal, Spurs needed reinforcements at the back.
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Backline reinforcements and RDZ influence
Tottenham have gone for Premier League-proven players, with Brighton’s Jan Paul van Hecke joining his Dutch team-mate Van De Ven for £50 million, alongside the free signings of Marcos Senesi and Andy Robertson.
Both Van Hecke and Senesi are real Roberto De Zerbi signings, with both centre-backs being able to play out from the back and progress the ball up the pitch in the way the Italian wants his team to play.
Evident during his time at Brighton, De Zerbi used Lewis Dunk and Adam Webster, also Van Hecke, to tame attackers into pressing his defence and then capitalising by quickly going through the centre of the pitch through the likes of Alexis MacAllister and Pascal Gross.
De Zerbi’s two-year stay on the South Coast opened many people’s eyes to his philosophy and system, with many regarding the 47-year-old as having his teams play the ‘right’ way.
This saw him and Brighton secure European football for the first time ever in their history, playing in the Europa League 2023/24 campaign.
While De Zerbi has had problems with the English press and internally with higher-ups at football clubs, he hopes to transform Spurs’ chances of being among the elite once again.
