No team in European football has been as busy as Tottenham Hotspur to start the January transfer window, and so maybe, just maybe, Spurs really are on a mission to better their club and revamp their fortunes after another embarrassing start to a season.
So far, though, Tottenham have not actually brought anyone in, but they have been making important moves to get players out. They found a new loan destination for forward Manor Solomon by sending him from Villarreal to Fiorentina. Then, they sold off Brennan Johnson to Crystal Palace for more than 30 million pounds.
In their latest transfer maneuver, Sky Sports Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg was among the top journalists to confirm the signing of Tottenham Hotspur center back Kota Takai on loan to Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach, who could very much use him in defense and have turned profiles like his into top players in German football.
Tottenham need this to work out
Takai had only just joined Tottenham as an out of nowhere prospect signing from the Japanese top flight. He has a lot of potential, but he has not featured much at all for Spurs in the 2025/26 season with no real path to playing time as Kevin Danso, Cristian Romero, and Micky van de Ven are all ahead of him.
It seemed like Takai could stay through the January transfer window despite loan rumors due to a lack of playing time, as Tottenham seemed more interested in trying to sell off expiring contract veteran Ben Davies - a beyond finished player - and the disgruntled Radu Dragusin instead.
With Takai headed to Gladbach on loan, there is a doubled edged sword for Spurs. On the one hand, Takai gets to go to a good club and actually play, which is great for his development and even his long term transfer value to Tottenham. But on the other hand, Spurs are less likely to sell Davies and Dragusin - two less appealing players to the club in the future - because they may not be able to take the depth hit at center back, especially with Luka Vuskovic not coming back from his own great Bundesliga loan to Hamburg this season.
Per Plettenberg, the 21 year old Takai is already set to begin training with his Gladbach teammates and has already joined his team formally at the facilities. When the Foals come out of the holiday break, he will be ready to shine. Although Spurs fans will hope the Takai move works out for him and still means the club can sell a defender they do not need at all, the likelihood is only the first of these may come true in 2026.