Tottenham Hotspur are not desperate for center back help this summer transfer window, since they already have a world-class trio of defenders in Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, and Kevin Danso. Although the Spurs defense did not look world-class over the weekend against Bournemouth, these three have been stalwarts in most games and were crucial to their Europa League triumph under Ange Postecoglou.
Frank has been unsurprisingly confident about these three, and he's also discussed Radu Dragusin being part of his plans in the future as a fourth center back. Plus, there's also veteran Ben Davies in the squad.
However, Tottenham have shown a significant amount of interest in Manchester City star Manuel Akanji, even scaring off AC Milan in the transfer bidding process due to their interest in the well-established Premier League starter.
According to a new report from Ed Aarons of The Guardian, the optimism of a potential Akanji transfer may be fading fast. Per Aarons, even though Akanji's representatives continue to talk with Manchester City about facilitating a transfer out of the Etihad Stadium, it is "increasingly likely" that the veteran center back will remain a Citizen for the 2025/26 Premier League and Champions League seasons.
Tottenham have another Premier League rival in the race, too
Aarons affirms that Galatasaray and Milan are involved with Tottenham in the race and adds that another London-based Premier League side, Crystal Palace, are interested admist the Marc Guehi to Liverpool transfer rumors.
Akanji is a highly intelligent footballer who reads the game well and contributes brilliantly to build-up play, which is why he's lasted so long with Pep Guardiola's Manchester City - and likely a big part of why City don't want to sell. Tottenham have found it difficult to get Man City to sell players this summer, as they've been stymied repeatedly in their efforts to land a bigger fish in winger Savinho.
So the logical play may be for Akanji to stay, especially given the results Manchester City have had to start the season. Guardiola's men were held down by Tottenham 2-0 in front of their own fans on Matchday 2, and then they followed that up by calamitously blowing the game against Brighton in the final minutes, falling 2-1 to the underdog Champions League hopefuls.
Akanji has a great track record of success at the Champions League level for multiple teams between Dortmund and Manchester City, but, honestly, Tottenham should be able to make do with what they have, and Akanji wouldn't be significantly better than current third-choice center half Kevin Danso.