Tottenham Hotspur signed Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid earlier this winter transfer window for 40 million euros in the aftermath of Rodrigo Bentancur's injury, but with an even better midfield player in Lucas Bergvall now also out for what will likely be several months of action, Spurs are still very much interested in another player at the position.
Even in the period between the signing of Gallaghar and Bergvall's latest significant injury, Tottenham were still in need of another star midfielder, specifically someone who could actually be what Bentancur was supposed to be in the Thomas Frank scheme.
Everyone knows that Tottenham are badly missing a deep lying midfielder who can create chances and make plays for the team to actually progress the ball forward, which is obviously not something that is a strength of Gallagher's or established midfielders in the team like Joao Palhinha.
Tottenham are in a bind at the 6
The dream options in that deeper role are all unachievable during the 2025/26 season and maybe won't even consider Tottenham Hotspur at all when they could potentially be available in the summer. The Adam Whartons of the world are expensive and have clubs interested in them that regularly beat Spurs to the punch on the transfer market.
So the name Ruben Neves has been an interesting one for Tottenham supporters to track on the transfer market, as the former Premier League star for Wolverhampton Wanderers is on an expiring contract with Saudi Pro League giants Al-Hilal. And with Premier League powers like Manchester United linked, Spurs fans were wondering about Neves as a playmaking option in the No. 6 role.
However, Fabrizio Romano is now reporting that negotiations are now at the "final stages" between Al-Hilal and Ruben Neves for a new contract that would take the midfielder off the table as a possible free agent pick up and therefore off the transfer board entirely for Tottenham. Per Fab, an "agreement" is "advancing" between Al-Hilal and the veteran defensive midfielder on a long term, three year deal.
It will be back to the drawing board, then, for Tottenham, though they never truly seemed to be significantly interested in Neves. At this point, everyone says Spurs are after another midfielder, but then the only player even remotely linked to Spurs is Leon Goretzka over at Bayern Munich, and he is both overpaid and has been quite terrible over the last few seasons - not to mention he cannot playmake to save his life.