At long last, Tottenham Hotspur closed a deal for a new defensive midfielder, agreeing to terms with Bayern Munich to bring No. 6 Joao Palhinha back to the Premier League from an underwhelming and brief tenure in the Bundesliga.
Palhinha, once a star for Fulham, will join Tottenham on a loan deal with an option to buy, and while he is a good start to bolstering an oft-overmatched midfield from the 2024/25 Premier League season, Spurs should really be looking into another midfield player, too.
Tottenham still have needs in other places in the squad. A few weeks ago, they thought they had a transfer for Nottingham Forest star Morgan Gibbs-White all wrapped up, but Forest blocked Spurs from completing the deal and eventually took MGW off the table entirely by signing the 25-year-old attacking midfielder to a surprising contract extension.
According to a report from Gary Jacob, Peter Rutzler and Paul Joyce of The Times, Tottenham are interested in signing another forward after the collapse of the Gibbs-White transfer. They are also interested in nabbing another left back to fill out their squad, as Destiny Udogie has been in need of some cover. They discussed the negotiations for Joao Palhinha, which have since been successful, and the interest in Juventus and PSG striker Randal Kolo Muani.
Tottenham need more attacking firepower
It's obvious that if Tottenham were after a 60 million pound Premier League star attacker, then they should be after a similar caliber of player to bolster the front line if that same attacking star didn't actually end up arriving at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer.
But it's interesting to note that Tottenham haven't forgotten about their need for defensive depth, specifically at left back. They've been mulling center back options, mostly as emergency plans in case Cristian Romero were to leave, but since the World Cup hero isn't exiting Spurs, the focus will likely be on a left back.
Aside from Mathias Olivera of Napoli, there haven't been any top options linked to Tottenham at left back this summer. With Palhinha on the way, perhaps more left backs will be mentioned going forward as Spurs move ahead with left back listed as a secondary transfer need behind another attacking game-changer.
The need for another forward is quite obvious to Tottenham fans, especially if Spurs, as many expect, decide to sell club legend Son Heung-min off to LAFC or another MLS club this summer.