Tottenham need to make some major signings in the summer 2025 transfer window after finishing a lowly 17th in the Premier League. That finish comes with the caveat that Spurs didn't push hard in the league towards the end of the season with the Europa League coming into focus as their clear top priority, but, even so, it's still embarrassing for a club of Spurs stature to finish that low in their league.
It's a sign of how far the standard and squad quality as fallen at Tottenham under Daniel Levy, and only astute scouting and calculated expenditure on the transfer market can appropriately back whichever manager sits on the sidelines for Spurs as they compete in the Premier League and Champions League in 2025/26.
Spurs need midfield help above all else to compete at the highest level, and Postecoglou wanted to bring in experienced players to help Tottenham win immediately in the Champions League. Bayern Munich's Joao Palhinha has thus come into the focus of fans as a possible option at the base of the midfield, given his lack of importance and expendibility in Bavaria, as well as his past performances in the Premier League for Fulham.
But Palhinha is also going to be 30 when the 2025/26 season opens. He makes 10 million euros per season at Bayern, which is the max amount Tottenham pay for attacking stars Son Heung-min and James Maddison, and he initially cost Die Roten 56 million euros. Tottenham want experience, but they may want to sign players who are cheaper and with a stronger track record of success at the top level than Fulham star and bench fodder in Bavaria.
Juventus have two options worth Tottenham's time
Fabio Paratici could return to Tottenham, and he loves to bring former Juventus stars to Spurs. Dejan Kulusevski, Cristian Romero, Rodrigo Bentancur, and Radu Dragusin are all in North London, and there are two midfielders in Turin worth considering bringing to the Premier League.
The first is Manuel Locatelli, one of the best controlling midfielders in world football. A former star at Sassuolo, Locatelli was a national team level player and one of the best midfielders in Italy before joining Juventus, where negative football and a carousel of managers have prevented Locatelli from showing his world-class qualities as a passer, covering defender, and leader.
Spurs want to sign deep-lying playmakers with technical class in midfield. Locatelli is a prime bounce-back candidate waiting to happen.
As is another Juventus midfielder, Teun Koopmeiners. Like Locatelli, Koopmeiners was arguably the best midfielder in Serie A of the season for an underdog team, Atalanta, before making an unsuccessful move to a woefully mismanaged Juve where he has played out of position.
With 22 goals from midfield in back-to-back seasons in Bergamo, Koopmeiners is a unique threat in the middle of the park and someone who can add something special to a Tottenham midfield that is, again, pretty low on technical quality and invention at the base of it.
Currently, Atalanta's best midfielder is Ederson, who joined forces with Koopmeiners in the 2023/24 season to win a historic Europa League for La Dea. Ederson was the best player on the pitch in the final against a previously undefeated Bayer Leverkusen, blanketing the Werkself machine in a 3-0 victory that had the whole world talking and clubs like Manchester United and Tottenham themselves interested in the Brazilian defensive midfielder.
The best fit for Spurs could be a two-time Serie A champion
An elite box-to-box defender and man-marker, Ederson is ready to make a big step in his career and could be a great fit for the Premier League with his athleticism and ability to come up and make plays in the attack.
Yet another Serie A star in midfield worth monitoring, Frank Anguissa is fresh off his second season in three years as an important part of Napoli winning the Scudetto. Anguissa previously had success in the Premier League as a box-to-box midfielder for Fulham, and he's even succeeded in LaLiga with Villarreal.
One of the most underrated midfielders in world football, Anguissa wouldn't be as splashy of a signing as the other three, but he's the most consistent and well-rounded with the best overall track record. Tottenham need someone with work rate, on-the-ball quality, winning experience, and leadership. Anguissa could be perfect.
Finally, Aleix Garcia is a little bit out of left field, but if Tottenham's priority are playmakers, then the guy who took Girona from a second division team to 2023/24 LaLiga title contenders before joining German giants Leverkusen wouldn't be a bad pick on the cheap. Garcia is younger than Palhinha at 27, and while he's less athletic and dynamic, which raises concerns about a fit in the Premier League, he clearly has more to give as a passer and goal-scorer.