Tottenham fans have to enter the summer 2025 transfer window with an air of cautious optimism, because as sour as it was for Spurs to fire Ange Postecoglou in the way that they did after he brought them a historic Europa League title, Brentford manager Thomas Frank was easily the best of the realistic replacement options available.
Frank has done more with less and has been one of the best Premier League managers since taking over for Brentford, unearthing some of England's best attacking talents like Yoane Wissa and, of course, Tottenham transfer target Bryan Mbeumo.
But as Tottenham fans dream of the likes of Mbeumo or Nathan Collins joining Spurs from Brentford this summer, they have to be legitimately worried about losing two even bigger stars in 2025, as Son Heung-min and Cristian Romero have even more uncertain futures at N17 after the departure of the beloved Big Ange.
Romero has always been close to Postecoglou, and before Tottenham won the Europa League title, he was already linked with a potential move to Atletico Madrid. Meanwhile, Son is the final year of his contract and will be 33 next season. Saudi Pro League sides are circling, and chairman Daniel Levy has always been known as a guy who is eager to cash in, no matter how popular or valuable the player is to the team.
Thomas Frank will have more say over sales than purchases
Per Gary Jacob of The Times, one of Frank's first tasks as Tottenham manager is expected to be sitting down with both Son and Romero and discussing their futures. While there's nothing inherently earth-shattering about this from Jacob, it is a very important nugget for Spurs fans to think about going forward.
While Levy is eager to say "no" to Tottenham managers when they come with him with a list of players they want to buy (because ENIC don't like to invest into the club), he is more receptive to feedback from managers on players they are willing to sell. Because if the manager isn't fighting for that player to stay and that player is of value to Tottenham on the transfer market as a potential revenue-generating sale, then Levy will take that as a green light to sanction a transfer.
Frank will have to judge his footballing reasons to keep vs. sell Son and Romero, and the latter is in the prime of his career and the reigning Europa League Player of the Tournament whereas the former still led Tottenham in goal contributions in the Premier League last season despite having a career down year at the age of 32.
So there are valid footballing reasons to keep both players, and Frank will also have to weigh the human side of the game. Son is the captain and Romero vice captain, and the latter is becoming a bigger voice in the locker room.
When Frank talks to Son and Romero, he'll judge how much these two veterans are buying into his system and ideas, as well as getting a sense on how they will vibe or fit with what he wants to do at Tottenham. That's important, and Frank can't make any sweeping decisions without having a talk first.
In this situation, Frank actually has a lot of power. He can be the final say that nudges Levy in the direction of a sale - and for what price to accept a sale. Levy and Spurs as a club will always hold more power than the manager, but Frank will have received some level of assurances regarding his standing in those decisions. And in the case of sales, you have to think Frank holds a lot of cards over both beloved stars Son and Romero this summer.