Tottenham Hotspur have made brilliant signings so far in the summer 2026 transfer window, and even if not everything comes off for the club this year, fans are happy that they at least tried and went after actual marquee targets like Jan Paul van Hecke, Sandro Tonali, and Mateus Fernandes who can be massive stars for this club whereas their secondary players like Andry Robertson are risk mitigated for free.
The transfer strategy of Spurs under Roberto De Zerbi is bolder, more ambitious, and also more likely to yield the upside of future title success for this club. Tottenham fans were outraged by what the club used to do on the market. Out of five signings, two would actually be promising players of the future but the other three would be so called budget signings, which really meant Spurs were overpaying for players who are not good enough for the club instead of spending an extra 10-20 million pounds on someone actually great.
To wit, Tottenham Hotspur spent a record 65 million pounds on Dominic Solanke in the summer 2024 transfer window after a flash in the pan season as a goal scorer from Bournemouth. Instead of splurging on him, Tottenham could have spent that much or a little bit more on Desire Doue to convince his club to sell to them instead of Ligue 1 powers PSG.
A false Harry Kane replacement
A big difference between now and then, of course, is that Roberto De Zerbi has the vision of football and charisma to convince marquee players like Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes to join Spurs over powerhouse clubs like Arsenal, Manchester United, and Manchester City. Ange Postecoglou had charisma, but maybe not the same extent to convince Doue to join a Spurs led by Daniel Levy.
Even so, the consequence of that is Spurs are stuck with subpar players on bad contracts like striker Dominic Solanke, who has struggled to score goals for the club and is coming off a dreadful season, actually producing his very worst football when Tottenham needed him the most during the Premier League relegation battle.
While Spurs fans acknowledge he is their best overall striker by default, every fan knows that this 65 million pound transfer is not working, and with Solanke only a couple of years off the age of 30, coming off injuries, and coming off a bad season, the resale value and the chances of this deal becoming good are close to zero. Spurs need a new striker and need to spend on a top one, because the Solanke deal has not worked to solve their No. 9 issue. He is certainly no Harry Kane replacement.
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