There is no question that Tottenham Hotspur need to be in the market for multiple attacking signings in the summer 2026 and even winter transfer windows, as only Mohammed Kudus has worked out as a new addition to a front line that lost Son Heung-min last summer and was only good enough to finish 17th in the Premier League anyway under Ange Postecoglou.
Spurs need a new striker and a new left winger, but there are also needs elsewhere in the squad. The depth at the fullback positions is of concern, and Djed Spence's incompetence as left back cover for Destiny Udogie has further highlighted this as a need. And Spurs could use a top-class, deep lying midfielder of the Adam Wharton ilk, too.
Interestingly enough, when asked which player he would sign for Tottenham next year, The Athletic's ace transfer insider David Ornstein told Planet Futbol an answer that came entirely out of left field. His choice for Spurs as a January transfer is Everton center back Jarrad Branthwaite, stating that Spurs, for some reason, have been looking to make a defensive upgrade for quite a while.
Tottenham don't need to do this
That's baffling. Center back is the one position Tottenham don't need, and yet transfer insiders, not even just Ornstein, have been linking them to some pretty notable and expensive center back transfer targets like Branthwaite going back to the last summer and winter transfer windows.
No disrespect to Branthwaite, but he hasn't been playing particularly well over the past year, and nobody would put him above Cristian Romero or Micky van de Ven at this point. Heck, most Tottenham fans wouldn't rate him over Kevin Danso - and they certainly wouldn't want to spend upwards of 50 million pounds on Branthwaite just to have him block Luka Vuskovic's development after his sensational loan to Hamburg in the Bundesliga ends.
If Ornstein were to pick any transfer from Everton to Tottenham, winger Iliman Ndiaye would have made a lot more sense, and he's the Toffees star most Spurs fans have been fawning over during the 2025/26 Premier League season.
Maybe Thomas Frank wants a center back more than everyone thinks and is interested in playing a back three for Spurs, but he's only even used that formation a couple of times this season despite having the personnel to do it with Danso as a third center back. Whatever the case, this sounds like a misfire from Ornstein.