Tottenham Hotspur have been very active over the past few months, moreso than usual, and to this early point in the 2025/26 Premier League season, it's already fair to say that they have made three of the best summer moves out of any club in England.
Xavi Simons and Mohammed Kudus are real long-term building blocks for Tottenham and already vital to how this team plays. Joao Palhinha, signed on loan from Bayern Munich, has been even better, winning games with goals and playing jaw-dropping defensive like he never left Fulham.
But not every move Tottenham has made is the most ambitious, and their most recent transfer decision is one that Spurs fans could come to regret in a couple of years. According to the official website, Tottenham, as was heavily rumored these past couple of days, have agreed to sign center midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur to a contract extension.
Both Bentancur and fellow veteran midfielder Yves Bissouma came into the 2025/26 season on expiring contracts, and while Bissouma's was never going to be renewed - Spurs actively shopped him in the summer market but found nobody willing to bite - Bentancur was expected to put pen to paper.
Tottenham have four better players in the same position
The thing is, Bentancur hasn't been very good in recent weeks, and Tottenham fans are increasingly pushing for the more impressive, more positive, and more talented Archie Gray to get those starts instead. Plus, with Palhinha balling out, Pape Matar Sarr improving markedly under Thomas Frank, and Lucas Bergvall shining as a No. 8, Spurs may very well have four center midfielders better than the mediocre Bentancur.
There were months left before the winter transfer window when Bentancur could leave on a free contract expiry to another club. So Spurs had more time to wait for Bentancur to step up to the challenge and turn it around, rather than reward him with what is presumably a well-paid, multi-year contract.
At the age of 28, Bentancur has far less upside than Gray, Bergvall, or Sarr, who are all young players. And even though Palhinha is 30, he is playing with more energy and much more quality than Bentancur.
This contract extension is yet another case of Tottenham rewarding a mediocre veteran player, which they have done time and time again, including this past summer with defender Ben Davies, who should be nowhere near the pitch this season anyway with all the quality at center back. The same can be said of Bentancur in a meritocracy if Gray and Sarr continue to outplay him, too.