It’s no exaggeration to say that last year was a roller coaster for Tottenham Hotspur.
Thomas Frank was hired a year ago, and since then two more managers have been added. The Igor Tudor era was a complete disaster and almost ended in relegation.
However, Roberto De Zerbi answered Spurs’ call and saved them from an unexpected situation. He currently has the freedom to be quite wild in the transfer market, but few can deny the quality of his signings so far.
Former Brighton & Hove Albion defender Jan-Paul van Hecke is the epitome of Italian football, but he was also instrumental in bringing the likes of Marcos Senesi and Andy Roberton to north London.
The next item on the agenda is to become fully active in the transfer market. Sandro Tonali, worth an estimated £100m, and Matheus Fernandes, worth an estimated £85m, could break the club’s transfer record and sign.
Why Spurs want to sign Tonali and Fernandes
Spurs had a lot of problems last season, but the one-dimensional nature of their midfield was a major hindrance, with James Maddison being brutally robbed of playing time with a torn ACL.
Tudor and Co. attempted to resolve the issue by bringing in Conor Gallagher in the winter. However, despite becoming the club’s highest earner, he never really set the world on fire.
Like the majority of Tottenham’s midfielders, he lacked the ability to drive play forward. You can never doubt Gallagher’s commitment to the cause, but he lacked speed, he lacked drive, and he lacked the ability to progress the ball between the lines.
The same goes for colleagues such as Yves Bissouma, Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Matar Sarr, João Parinha and Archie Gray.
Therefore, it is perceived as a major weakness towards summer windows. He explains his links with Newcastle’s Tonali and West Ham’s Fernandes.
The former has long been considered an elite player in the engine room, with his agent Beppe Riso hailing him as “one of the best midfielders in the world”. With an asking price of £100m, it’s hard to dispute that claim.
The 26-year-old Italian is in his prime, but the 21-year-old Fernandes is still a spring chicken in comparison. Acquiring both would make the Spurs a surprisingly balanced team.
Throughout the 2025/26 season, compared to under-21 midfielders in Europe’s top seven leagues, Fernandes was first in interceptions, possession wins and defensive duels won, and second in progressive passes completed. There’s a reason he’s already being compared to Declan Rice.
However, despite his potential arrival, it would not be good news for one of Tottenham’s brightest talents.
What Tonali and Fernandes transfers mean for Spurs’ future captain
Spurs haven’t done much in recent transfer windows, but to their credit, they’ve done well in terms of signing Europe’s top young talent.
In recent years, the Lilywhites have had two of the most promising midfielders in Lukas Bergvall and Gray, while also securing the signing of one of the best centre-backs of the future, Luka Vusković.
Since joining from Leeds in a deal worth £30 million, the English player has threatened to show off his elite potential but has been woefully inconsistent.
However, there are several reasons for this. The 20-year-old played regularly at Leeds as a right-back and has also featured at Tottenham, but was traded to become a midfielder and hasn’t played enough there.
Archie Gray’s position at Spurs | |
|---|---|
position | games played |
center back | 20 |
defensive midfield | 18 |
central midfield | 15 |
right back | 11 |
left full back | 7 |
right midfield | 3 |
As a result, Gray has struggled to find any momentum in a Spurs shirt. Still, that doesn’t stop Harry Redknapp from tipping off talented young players as the club’s ‘future captain’, but sadly it looks like that will never happen, even if Tonali and Fernandes are signed.
The former Leeds man was already at risk before those connections. In fact, after De Zerbi’s arrival, Gray hardly kicked a ball.
The England youth international was an unused substitute in four of his last five league games and did not play a single minute in games against Wolves, Aston Villa, Leeds and Chelsea. It will be interesting to see what Gray does next, although it’s clear De Zerbi doesn’t trust him during the most pressure-filled period of the season.
He was once hailed as a “young Declan Rice” by The Athletic’s Duncan Alexander, but unfortunately he struggled to improve.
There’s no doubt that Gray’s versatility is a huge boon for any manager, but he hasn’t lived up to the hype and it’s clear that De Zerbi doesn’t like him all that much.
He has struggled for game time during the business stages of the season, and even with the signing of two potential players in midfield, things are unlikely to get any easier. It seems extreme, but it appears that any hopes of him becoming a regular on the starting lineup are completely over.
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Tottenham Hotspur could be closing in on a major coup in the transfer market.
