Tottenham Hotspur have been busy building a new defense for Roberto De Zerbi in the hopes of avoiding another Premier League relegation battle. Veteran free agents Marcos Senesi and Andrew Robertson are already on their way, while the 25 year old Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton is a clear priority target for De Zerbi and a Spurs front office that wanted the central defender long before RDZ's arrival at N17.
But for many Tottenham fans, the defense is the least of their concerns. They want to know which forwards Spurs are planning on bringing in to add the fire power never replaced by the departures of legends Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, while they are also keen on adding more midfield quality so that De Zerbi's ideas can actually be executed.
While there are dreams of names like Adam Wharton, the first concrete midfield target for Tottenham Hotspur this summer is Middlesbrough gem Hayden Hackney, who could be another Archie Gray type signing for Spurs this summer.
Everton are potentially falling behind Tottenham
Hackney has quite a few Premier League clubs interested in his services. According to a report from Lyall Thomas of Sky Sports, Tottenham may have one fewer competitor to worry about in the battle for the 23 year old, as Everton were said to be nowhere close in their initial offer for the Middlesbrough midfielder. Per Thomas, there are no further talks between the Toffees and the Smoggies, though Thomas names Crystal Palace, Fulham, and Nottingham Forest as other foes Spurs must be wary of in this transfer battle.
Out of all these clubs, Everton are the most historic, so them falling back in the race is great news for Tottenham. That being said, local rivals Crystal Palace are coming off a European trophy, Fulham have been better for years, and Nottingham Forest were also better than Spurs last season.
So while Spurs are a massive club compared to the rest, they cannot let their guards drop. But cynical Tottenham fans will note that if they are competing with clubs like Crystal Palace and Everton for transfer targets and cannot compete with the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United for Antoine Semenyo and Bryan Mbeumo, then that really shows the real problem and the slippage of the standard at the N17.
Still, there are good deals to be found in young EFL Championship players like what Archie Gray and Wilson Odobert were for Spurs. It's just that Hayden Hackney can't be their only midfield addition; they have to sign him in conjunction with someone else.
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