It has been a nightmare of a 2025/26 Premier League season for Tottenham Hotspur, who are sliding further into the relegation battle after a second 4-1 humiliation to Arsenal in the North London Derby, but all the losing may have a positive consequence so long as Spurs don't get themselves relegated; they may be breaking up their stringent wage structure.
According to a new report from The Guardian's Matt Hughes, Tottenham are planning on ripping up the wage structure that they were notorious for under Daniel Levy, who was fired after the summer 2025 transfer window. So long as Spurs are not demoted this season, they will change their approach and have reportedly acknowledged internally that they have routinely underspent on player wages for years.
For their revenue generation, Spurs are indeed woefully underinvesting their squad, and that has largely priced them out of the biggest transfers. Although Atletico Madrid signing Conor Gallagher is no superstar, his addition in the winter transfer window is pointed to as evidence early on of Spurs new wage plan, as he is now the club's top earner at 200,000 euros per week.
Tottenham are ready to spend on player wages
Now, Spurs supporters can debate until the cows come home about whether or not Gallagher is worth either the wages or the transfer fee the club has paid for him, and Spurs really should have signed more than just Gallagher this summer - including another midfielder and a better forward so that the "what if?" relegation questions would not be as frightening or palpable.
But if The Guardian's information proves to be true and Spurs actually follow through on yet another ambitious promise - and, again, Spurs don't shoot themselves in the foot first by getting sent packing to the EFL Championship - this could be the tangible bit of progress the club needs to right the ship.
You can't sign players like Antoine Semenyo, Savinho, Omar Marmoush, or even Ademola Lookman if you aren't going to pay dynamic attacking talent, and if you can't sign one of these players, it makes you less likey to sign two or three.
Positive momentum builds on itself in the transfer window, and Tottenham are going to have to start paying more folks hundreds of thousands of euros per week and take real risks on the transfer market with all they generate financially from their massive stadium, fan base, and global reach. It's time to follow through on the commercial success Levy built up.