Tottenham Hotspur surprised everyone by signing Mykhaylo Mudryk on loan from rivals Chelsea, swiftly recovering to snag the left winger after their transfer for Iliman Ndiaye from Everton fell apart with Richarlison rejecting a move to the Toffees and Ndiaye instead wanting to go for Manchester City, who themselves also struck out on long time Spurs forward target Cody Gakpo from Liverpool.
The Mudryk signing clearly has Roberto De Zerbi's thumb prints all over it, and so much of this summer's business has been about giving the manager exactly what he wants. And that's mostly great. He demanded Mateus Fernandes, agreed with Savio and Marcos Senesi, pushed extremely hard for Omar Marmoush, and made Sandro Tonali and Jan Paul van Hecke ultimate necessities before making this plunge on Mudryk.
While Mudryk is not the first former player of De Zerbi's that the Italian manager is bringing to Tottenham Hotspur this summer transfer window, he is the most controversial. Spending 60 million euros on a Van Hecke with just one year left on his contract remaining when it meant losing top prospect Luka Vuskovic for good after he was a Bundesliga Player of the Season candidate at Hamburg in 2025/26 was certainly diffucult enough.
Mykhaylo Mudryk was not the best option
And while the loan signing for Mykhaylo Mudryk does not come with the same risk or extra stuff, Tottenham are taking a flier on a player who has not played in years and was really terrible for rivals Chelsea, who were all too desperate to get rid of him this summer.
De Zerbi is willing to sign anyone he wants and with whom he has had a close affinity or a previous working relationship. While that is not earth shattering, it is a red flag and falls in line with his behavior in the past that got him in trouble of playing favorites and either being all in on certain players or all out on them and ostracizing them.
It is normal for managers to like certain players and profiles, and in the case of the Jan Paul van Hecke signing, it made sense for Tottenham to sign an established Premier League starter. But Mudryk is a massive transfer bust with character concerns, and there were better emergency options on the left wing in the case of the Iliman Ndiaye deal falling through, including young Malick Fofana, who moved to Sunderland a day later.
De Zerbi tying his wagon to Mudryk is the first big red flag, because it shows that merit and player recruitment are not a bigger priority for him than personal favorites.
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