Although the majority of Tottenham's focus is on the current season and making an outside charge at the Premier League title while upgrading their stock in European competition now that they are back in the Champions League, any well-run big club always needs to keep an eye peeled keenly on the horizon and future transfer windows.
Current performance on the pitch and tracking future signings go hand-in-hand, and that couldn't be more true for the player Tottenham could try to sign first when the summer 2026 transfer window opens up next year.
Tottenham acquired defensive midfielder Joao Palhinha on loan from Bayern Munich this past summer, bringing the top-class No. 6 back to the Premier League, where he was arguably the league's best ball-winning midfielder while at Fulham. Palhinha was stuck rotting on the bench in Bavaria, but like Ryan Gravenberch, he's been a top midfielder away from Bayern.
Spurs like their chances of finishing in the top four this season, and Palhinha has a ton to do with that. And Palhinha seems to be loving his time at Tottenham. According to a report from Give Me Sport's Ben Jacobs, Palhinha would like to obtain a permanent transfer to Tottenham at the end of the 2025/26 Premier League season.
Tottenham have an easy route to this transfer
Tottenham's loan agreement with Bayern Munich includes a 27 million pound option to buy. While Palhinha is 30 years old now, he is in such great shape and covering so much ground as a midfield monster that age, for him, is nothing but a number - as former Tottenham icon Luka Modric likes to say about his own success near the age of 40.
Palhinha is no Modric, but he's not far off from being a world-class midfielder. He's certainly playing around that level so far for Tottenham, opening so much for the other players on the team like Xavi Simons, Lucas Bergvall, and Rodrigo Bentancur.
If Palhinha keeps playing like this, Tottenham will, for the second season in a row, pick up an option to buy on a Bayern Munich player in the summer transfer window. The Portuguese international has been everything Thomas Frank could have hoped for from the defensive midfield position, and there are many Spurs fans who are already smitten with both his defensive quality and attitude, seeing him as a perfect fit for the club over the next few seasons. Palhinha would be an easy enough deal to complete for Spurs, too.