Tottenham Hotspur's active summer 2025 transfer window is only looking better now that the players are on the pitch, because all three of their big signings - Mohammed Kudus, Xavi Simons, and Joao Palhinha - look like absolute home runs thus far.
Kudus and Simons are obviously the headliners as two of the three most expensive Spurs transfer signings ever, and they are going to be foundational pieces for the attacking core for the foreseeable future. It's honestly hard to imagine the Tottenham attack without them, and it's merely been a matter of weeks.
But for everyone's money, the best signing Tottenham made was the loan acquisition of Joao Palhinha, who was already established as one of the best defensive midfielders in all of European football during his time in the Premier League with Fulham.
He fell off the radar a bit at Bayern Munich whilst being stuffed on their bench, but now that he's back in the spotlight and starting every week, Palhinha has been a weekly Man of the Match candidate for Tottenham and has completely stabilized this team's previously jelly-like spine.
All signs point to a Tottenham transfer
According to reporting from Ben Jacobs and Alex Crook at talkSPORT, Tottenham Hotspur are already having serious conversations about activating the 27 million pound option to buy clause in Joao Palhinha's loan deal from Bayern Munich. In fact, they are reportedly "inclined" to agree to keep Palhinha permanently.
Even though Palhinha is 30, he is in such great shape athletically and is covering so much ground defensively that his advanced years won't scare off Tottenham. We are seeing more and more midfielders aging well into their 30s, and Palhinha has the profile of someone who can play effectively until he is around 35.
Palhinha is fitting the Tottenham culture wonderfully, and he even already wants to be a part of the team permanently, too. Spurs need guys who want to be a part of a project, fit Thomas Frank, tactically, and are willing to work their socks off for the team. Not only does Palhinha do all of that, he is also playing at close to a legitimately world-class level since joining Tottenham this summer.
Tottenham have to feel like 27 million pounds is a great price to pay for a player who went for close to double that from Fulham to Bayern just a year ago, and there isn't a better player Spurs could sign for less at the position.