The longer Tottenham Hotspur wait to address the biggest need in their squad before the 2025/26 Premier League and Champions League season starts, the more likely they are to sign someone sub-standard or overpriced...or simply nobody at all.
Tottenham have ostensibly brought in a duo of established Premier League attacking stars with the upside to become superstars, as Mohammed Kudus has already been sealed and No. 10 Morgan Gibbs-White should be forthcoming as shiny new toys for incoming manager Thomas Frank to work with.
But Frank knows as well as all the Spurs supporters that no matter who the team signs up front, they cannot have a prayer of success at the top-five level of the Premier League - let alone in the Champions League - without a sturdy base to build upon.
Ideally, Tottenham would make a double-swoop in the midfield, signing an expensive and ambitious star to lead the way as a No. 6, such as Adam Wharton, as well as a more undervalued defensive midfielder who can work with the likes of veteran Rodrigo Bentancur and young gun Archie Gray as part of a rotation.
Tottenham lose another quality depth option
Yet another quality option has fallen off the table for Tottenham this summer, as Fabrizio Romano gave his fabled "Here We Go" to Leeds United, as the returning Premier League side managed to snag underrated Bundesliga standout Anton Stach from Hoffenheim for a meager circa 20 million euros.
Stach has been one of the Bundesliga's best 6's over the past couple of seasons for Mainz and Hoffenheim, drawing looks from bigger clubs in Germany like Borussia Dortmund. A starter for Spurs? Probably not, but he showed that he has the physical tools, tactical awareness, and overall skill-set to be a rotational option - and he's undoubtedly better than the vacuous black hole of players Spurs have behind the main options.
If players like Stach are getting into Premier League teams and coming off the market at reasonable fees, others like Richard Rios will soon be flying off the shelf, leaving the cupboard of options relatively barren for Tottenham. Defensive midfielders are in scarce supply, and the very best options that Spurs supporters are dreaming of, like Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton, probably aren't going to be available at all this summer.
Reasonably priced and well-established in Germany, Stach is in the prime of his career at the age of 26 and coming off a Bundesliga campaign in which he averaged 3.7 combined tackles and interceptions per game with just 0.5 dribbles completed allowed, 1.1 fouls drawn per match, and nearly a key pass per game. Defending as a midfielder about as well as a center back, Stach could have been a quality, inexpensive depth option for a Spurs side begging for better options than the, hopefully, outgoing Yves Bissoma.