Tottenham Hotspur have been one of the biggest winners of the summer 2026 transfer window thus far, landing three proven Premier League starters in Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, and Jan Paul van Hecke to vastly upgrade a team that has finished 17th in back to back seasons.
But if Spurs are to actually go far and compete in the top five of the table again to seal a Champions League place for the 2027/28 campaign, Spurs are going to need to score goals. They were so poor in that regard that center backs Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero were two of their biggest sources of goals, while veteran striker Richarlison was the only player withe double digit goals in the Premier League for the Lilywhites.
Richarlison's future at the club remains murky, and the only other striker Spurs have at their disposal is Dominic Solanke, who, aside from one 19 goal season in 2023/24, has been the furthest thing from a goal scoring threat throughout his career.
Tottenham have always skimped on forwards
Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur do not have a single goal scoring winger. Mathys Tel could be that player in the future, but he is nowhere near that caliber of player yet. Mohammed Kudus, Dejan Kulusevski, and Wilson Odobert are talented but all have more creative profiles.
Johan Lange nearly lost his sporting director job this summer with Spurs strangely interested in Sebastian Kehl, and while there have still been whispers of a bigger hire coming into replace him, those have quelled with Spurs supporters mostly happy with the star players Roberto De Zerbi has urged Lange and Vinai Venkatesham to bring in.
But Tottenham also did sign big players last summer, too, specifically Xavi Simons and Mohammed Kudus. Both men panned out very well for Spurs in the 2025/26 season despite dealing with major injuries - and Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor as their managers.
The thing is, Johan Lange still has something huge he needs to address head on and stop a disturbing trend that has plagued Tottenham for decades. Spurs have always, always taken the cheap route with signing goal scorers, and it has become an even bigger problem in recent years.
Tottenham have lost Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, and their only major left wing or striker addition was Dominic Solanke in 2024. Spurs paid a record 65 million pounds for Solanke, but he was only their record signing as a reflection of how frustratingly cheap Spurs have been over the years.
Because Solanke for 65 million pounds was a budget signing, in the sense that Spurs signed him, an inferior player, to skimp on paying market value for what a title contender - or title hopeful, at least - should be paying for a No. 9. Spurs lost a 100 million pound player in Kane and another player who was worth that much in his peak years in Son, and all they have spent is well under 100 million pounds for Mathys Tel on the left and Solanke in the middle. That thinking has to change this summer.
Remember, signing Solanke and Richarlison for 120 million pounds combined ended up being more expensive than signing one truly great striker. Sometimes, the "cheap" strategy is really just a lot more expensive - not to mention all the winnings lost by ranking lower in the Premier League.
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