Tottenham Hotspur had been burned twice this summer transfer window by arch rivals Arsenal, who swooped in to sign Thomas Frank's player-coach Christian Norgaard and then broke Spurs hearts even worse by signing away Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze from right under their noses.
But in an act of revenge against their other big London rivals, Tottenham signed Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig after the Dutch international had been in talks with Chelsea for weeks with a move seemingly imminent. Maybe that was good karma for Tottenham taking Timo Werner off Leipzig's hands for a bit.
Digression aside, Tottenham landed a pretty big fish in Simons, and, all told, that actually means losing Eze to Arsenal wasn't a bad outcome. Simons is younger, more versatile, and just a better player overall.
Chelsea, though, are plotting a move for a long-term Tottenham midfield transfer target in an act of "revenge". According to a report from talkSPORT's Ben Jacobs and Alex Crook, Chelsea have added another Crystal Palace star midfielder, Adam Wharton, to their list of long-term transfer targets to watch beyond the summer 2025 window.
Tottenham will have to watch their 6 next year
As Jacobs writes, Wharton isn't likely to move this summer, as Palace already made it clear to Tottenham and a host of other suitors in the Premier League and beyond that Wharton isn't for sale this summer. He's too valuable, and when Palace do listen to offers next summer, he's going to, like Chelsea's current starting defensive midfield duo, cost more than 100 million euros.
Wharton is a deep-lying playmaker and a top-class, homegrown Premier League midfielder who is just 21 years of age and already one of the best in his role in the league. He is a dream target for Tottenham, Chelsea now, and likely clubs as big as Real Madrid, too.
Next summer, Wharton could be the next big transfer battle among the top clubs in London, so Tottenham had better be prepared for a fight for another 22-year-old midfield ace. Except Wharton will likely cost significantly more than Simons did at even 60 million euros, and even with their loaded defensive midfield, Chelsea just might put up a bigger fight for Wharton than they did for Simons.
In the end, it's not a bad thing that Tottenham are competing with the elite clubs in London for top transfer targets, because, well, they should be among the elite clubs themselves. Hopefully, winning Simons's signature off Chelsea galvanizes them to do the same for Wharton next year.