Tottenham Hotspur absolutely have to sign a new forward in the January transfer market, as failure to do so would effectively doom Spurs for the remainder of the 2025/26 Premier League season. Even firing Thomas Frank alone would not rectify the major issues in the side, as Spurs are trapped in the bottom half of the league table not just because of their new manager's serious problems.
Simply put, Tottenham are not scoring enough goals, nor do they have enough star power in the attack. Obviously, Frank could be doing a lot more tactically to help Spurs offensively, and decisions like relying on Rodrigo Bentancur, Joao Palhinha, and Richarlison for starts while discarding Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel certainly are not helping.
But Spurs need more talent up front to help Mohammed Kudus, Xavi Simons, and Randal Kolo Muani - all three being new signings from the summer 2025 transfer window - out. There are a number of players Tottenham are still dreaming about signing in January 2026 even after Antoine Semenyo swiftly rejected them for Manchester City, and, in fact, two of those players are Man City players.
Tottenham are losing targets quickly
One of them is goal scoring left winger Omar Marmoush, and the other is a familiar transfer target in dynamic winger Savinho, who was already tabbed by Spurs as one of their dream winger targets in the summer window.
Trying to convince Man City to sell Savinho has always been difficult, and even this winter, David Ornstein and others have been warning Tottenham fans that despite Spurs still trying, it is highly unlikely and bordering on impossible for Man City to agree to sell the young Brazilian winger.
Now, it looks like Manchester City may be handing Tottenham a definitive blow in their transfer courtship of the former Girona man, but it has more to do with a recent turn of events than anything else.
Savinho had to leave a 0-0 draw with Sunderland with an injury, exiting the pitch for Jeremy Doku. And according to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, the injury to Savinho "does not look good", via Manchester Evening News reporter Simon Bajkowski.
Now, it is still too early to tell the nature of Savinho's injury, and Guardiola and Manchester CIty have not given concrete updates. But Savinho is indeed injured and could be out for some time, meaning he might be fully off the table for Tottenham Hotspur.
Savinho's injury may be the last straw Man City need to avoid selling him at all this winter, while Tottenham may not want to try to sign an injured player. Worse yet, the Savinho injury could also take Marmoush off the table on top of that - or even emergency option Oscar Bobb - because losing one key winger would make Man City less likely to sell the other players important to their depth.