Tottenham Hotspur’s summer transfer talks have been very exciting so far, but the Lilywhites won’t be going anywhere fast unless a major upgrade is made up front.
Almost every senior attacker was hampered by injury in 2025/26, but only Richarlison, who was the Premier League’s top scorer with 11 goals, left with some sort of credit.
High expectations were placed on Randall Kolo Muani, who arrived on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, but the Frenchman has largely failed to perform all season, scoring just one goal in the league.
Even £65 million man Dominic Solanke isn’t sure of his place after a season in which he suffered his second injury in N17. Roberto De Zerbi desperately needs more power to make Spurs competitive again.
So signing Rafael Leao from AC Milan might be a good starting point.
How Leo fared in this summer’s World Cup
Leo, who by all accounts should have been dumped at San Siro with the arrival of Ruben Amorim, is thought to have said yes to joining Tottenham this summer after seven years in Italy.
In 291 appearances for Milan, the 27-year-old scored 80 goals, 64 of which came in Serie A, often wreaking havoc in the left channel.
On the international stage, Leo hasn’t always been a regular starter for Portugal, but he shone at this summer’s World Cup, where his speed and power seemed at odds with the aging and unwieldy frame of fellow player Cristiano Ronaldo.
Although he usually played off the bench, before his country’s defeat against Spain, he made his presence felt almost every time, tearing apart defenders at will on the left flank.
In addition to his strong finish against Uzbekistan, the former Lille star also registered one assist and averaged an impressive 2.2 successful dribbles per game, ranking him tied for seventh in the entire competition in terms of total successful dribbles.
He is a strong forward, a player who can single-handedly win games when needed, and the Spurs side are looking for a true world-class batsman who can quickly raise the bar.
Leos can certainly do that, but they’re not the only option worth considering.
How can Spurs sign a talent bigger than Leo?
It is understood that Leo will be allowed to leave Milan because he does not fit into Amorim’s preferred 3-4-2-1 set-up, with the Portuguese manager sticking to that approach at former club Manchester United.
Leo – Serie A Records | ||
|---|---|---|
season | game | Goal (assist) |
25/26 | 29 | 9(3) |
24/25 | 34 | 8(8) |
23/24 | 34 | 9(9) |
22/23 | 35 | 15(8) |
21/22 | 34 | 11(8) |
20/21 | 30 | 6(6) |
19/20 | 31 | 6(1) |
One man who knows all about this is Marcus Rashford. He is an Englishman who was ousted by the former United manager 18 months ago, despite actually scoring three goals in Amorim’s first two Premier League games.
Rashford has since joined Aston Villa and then Barcelona on loan, but a reintegration at Old Trafford could be on the cards for next season, with the Catalan side set to sign fellow England international Anthony Gordon in his place.
According to TEAMtalk, the 28-year-old is set to rejoin Michael Carrick and others as is, but agents are still making offers to potential suitors, including Spurs.
Indeed, the North Londoners appear to be one of a string of elite clubs approached about a move for the Carrington School graduate, suggesting talks have taken place.
Given Rashford’s woes at United in recent years, this might seem like a deal to avoid, especially given the forward’s high salary.
Still, as Gordon praised, there is no doubt that he is “one of the best players in the world” when he is at his best, and he stood out by scoring off the bench in England’s first group stage match against Croatia.
This comes after he scored 28 goals and provided assists in all competitions at the Camp Nou last season, significantly surpassing Leo’s record of just 13 goals during his time at Milan.
In the Champions League, for example, Rashford scored nine goals and provided an assist in just 11 games, taking his total in the competition to 29 goals and assists in 48 games. As for Leo, he only has 13 goals and assists in 30 games at that level.
Of course, life at Old Trafford hasn’t always been kind to ‘Lassie’, but when he’s fit, energetic and confident, he can be almost unstoppable, as he showed by scoring 30 goals and providing 12 assists in all competitions in 2022/23.
Despite his caliber, Leo has never come close to such a peak, making his best return of the season with 31 goals and assists across all competitions, well below Rashford’s career best of 42 goals.
Rashford has scored goals for every club, in every competition and at every level. He may not have become the true superstar he was when he burst onto the scene as a teenager in 2016, but he’s the kind of player any team would be lucky to sign.
This feels like a no-brainer as the reported fee is also just £40m.
