Tottenham Hotspur’s players are set to add some excitement to the World Cup this weekend, but they are unlikely to persuade anyone in the English side as the Three Lions succumb to Cristian Romero’s Argentina squad.
The polarizing centre-back will face Pedro Polo’s Spain in Sunday’s marquee game, but it will be a wasted third-place match for Jed Spence and others.
A somewhat surprising addition to the squad, Spence played a crucial role for much of Wednesday’s game, reminding Roberto De Zerbi’s side why they would be foolish to make money this summer.
The 25-year-old Inter target was the only member of Thomas Tuchel’s squad to come from the N17, but will any of his international colleagues end up in north London ahead of next season?
Real Spurs Goals for England World Cup Team
Although he started from the back to the front, Guglielmo Vicario is likely to leave the club, potentially opening the door for a move for James Trafford, who was Manchester City’s third pick after Dean Henderson and Jordan Pickford.
As far as City are concerned, he is not directly linked, but any Premier League or European elite team would be foolish not to take notice of 32-year-old John Stones, who left the Etihad last month and is now a free agent.
Like Spence, Stones is also thought to be attracting interest from Serie A, although clubs closer to home are not necessarily sniffing around. If the aforementioned Romero leaves after Luka Vuskovic, the Spurs may need to add depth at the defensive center.
England vs Argentina player ratings | |
|---|---|
player | evaluation |
GK – Pickford | 6 |
RB – James | 6 |
CB – Stones | 6 |
CB – Guehi | 6 |
LB – Spence | 7.5 |
CM – Anderson | 7.5 |
CM – Rice | 6 |
CM – Bellingham | 5 |
RW – Rogers | 6 |
ST – Kane | 5 |
LW – Gordon | 7 |
As for the midfield unit, the only realistic move could be Aston Villa’s Morgan Rodgers. The 23-year-old is said to be attracting interest from De Zerbi and others, but is likely to head to Arsenal instead.
There are some pretty bold claims that Harry Kane could return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but that seems a long way off as Marcus Rashford seems to be a more achievable target.
After an 18-month exile at Old Trafford, Rashford is set to return to Manchester United this summer, with Spurs also an interested party with a view to securing a move at some stage.
On the other side, Arsenal’s combination of Noni Maduke and Bukayo Saka is unlikely to end up in No.17 anytime soon, but could the Lilywhites secure a similar type of player to the Gunners’ No.7?
How Spurs sign their own Saka this summer
It’s hard to feel encouraged by anyone in De Zerbi’s front line at the moment, as almost all of their attackers have endured suffering on the sidelines over the past 12 months or so.
The right side is especially problematic after releasing Brennan Johnson in January, with Wilson Odbert suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury and Mohamed Kudus missing nearly the entire 2026 season so far.
An upgrade is needed for the 2026/27 season, as Randall Kolo Muani was unable to achieve that in their absence, and Spurs could well find it in the form of Sabinho.
As Fabrizio Romano stated on his YouTube channel, the City player’s contract remains keen for ENIC to continue, having been linked with the Brazilian from 2024.
“But let’s not forget that Tottenham want to sign Sabinho. The player they want in the winger position is Sabinho. So let’s see what happens there.”
Sabinho, who is only 22, has had a difficult season at the Etihad, having fallen down the pecking order under manager Josep Guardiola, but there are still players at the Etihad to be excited about.
The left-footer, who is worth around £60 million, scored one goal and provided eight assists in his debut season in 2024-25, after scoring just two goals and assisting in the Premier League last time out.
This campaign showed the true nature of the youngster, who is extremely lethal and creative when cutting into his favorite foot from the right, creating 11 ‘big chances’ while averaging 1.6 key passes and 1.8 successful dribbles per game.
For comparison, in the same season, the aforementioned Saka went slightly better with 10 assists, created 21 “big chances” and averaged 2.4 key passes and 1.6 successful dribbles per game.
Even if the Arsenal man is still at a higher level, it’s easy to see the similarities between the two, with Scout Lab pointing out that he was in fact the eighth most similar player to Sabinho among players in the position in Europe’s top seven leagues in the 2024/25 season.
Like Saka, he is fleet-footed and has blazing speed, so he is direct when facing opposing full-backs.
This was evident when he recorded 10 assists and created 14 “big chances” during his time at Girona in the 2023/24 season. Most impressively, he recorded the highest number of successful dribbles of any player in his division in La Liga.
Such natural dribbling ability is certainly typical of Saka, and Spurs are still waiting to find a consistent and reliable game-changer on the right flank.
It was expected that Kudus would become the player last term, but Savinho could take his place if the Lilywhites maintain interest.
