The days of Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min and Gareth Bale tearing teams to shreds on the wing are long gone. It may seem like the days of real quality at Spurs are long gone.
It may seem a little harsh, but the Lilywhites have been in turmoil for the past two seasons, having been involved in back-to-back relegation battles.
Unfortunately, things have improved under Roberto De Zerbi. After bringing Matheus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali to north London for a combined £185m, they are looking to spend a similar sum to strengthen their front line.
Bournemouth’s Eli Junior Crupi is a key target despite being worth around £90m, but he is not the only forward player they are keeping an eye on.
How can Spurs improve up front?
Both the defense and midfield have been strengthened. Now is the time to invest heavily on the front lines.
That means a new talisman must be found to spearhead the De Zerbi project in the English capital, although it will be difficult to find players on par with Bale and Son.
Crupi would be a truly amazing catch. He has elite potential. You can’t score 13 goals in the Premier League at the age of 19 unless you’re a bit good at soccer.
His versatility to play as a top, wide or second striker will be a huge boon for De Zerbi. But the Spurs have other hot irons, and Crupi’s price could be prohibitive.
Portugal’s Rafael Leao is also an option. Negotiations are underway with the player’s camp and a reduced price deal could be agreed as the player wants to leave AC Milan.
Another option is Liverpool’s Codi Gakpo, but this seems unlikely given his importance to the Anfield side. Still, Rio Ngmoja is set to play and he may be willing to move on if he is not guaranteed a starting spot.
Manchester City’s Savinho and Omar Marmouche have also been mooted as options, but feel they are less convincing choices than the more proven Gakpo and Leao.
The Spurs haven’t been too keen on saving pennies this summer, but there are solutions internally if they do.
How the Spurs could save millions on signing Rafael Leao and the team
Given the state of Tottenham’s forward line in 2025/26, it’s hard to really argue against signing a new winger or striker. They should really make an effort to do so.
After all, Richarlison was followed in Spurs’ scoring list last season by defensive players such as Joao Parinha, Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero. Therefore, strengthening the front line is absolutely necessary.
Spurs – Premier League top scorer 25/26 | |
|---|---|
player | the goal |
Richarlison | 11 |
straw | 5 |
Romero | 4 |
van de ven | 4 |
telephone number | 4 |
Solanke | 3 |
In the wide areas, Leo and Gakpo would be great signings. The former has averaged 13 goals a season over the past five years. Gakpo has been equally impressive on the wing, scoring 18 times in all competitions, especially as Liverpool won the Premier League in 2024/25.
What makes Leo and Gakpo such exciting wide players is not just their ability to score regularly, but their speed and directness. As it happens, De Zerbi may already have a player with a similar skill set. Mikey Moore.
It feels like a long time since Moore burst onto the scene under manager Ange Postecoglou in the summer of 2024, scoring and providing an assist against Hearts in a pre-season game against Queens Park Rangers. Since then, much has been expected of the 18-year-old, who made 19 appearances for the first team in 2024/25, scoring one goal and providing two assists.
These aren’t remarkable numbers, but he seriously turned heads. Scouts Jacek Kulig and James Maddison have already compared Moore to the Brazilian great, with the former hailing Moore’s direct style of play as “the English Neymar”.
In essence, he is very similar to the aforementioned Leo and Gakpo. Like Spurs’ two transfer targets, he can play as both a striker and a winger and is extremely dynamic, quick and difficult to deal with.
The teenager, who was on loan at Rangers last season, scored seven goals and provided a further four assists for Scotland. Attesting to Leo’s tricky nature, Moore ranked in the top 9% of players in similar positions in last season’s Scottish Premiership with 2.12 successful dribbles per 90 minutes. To put this number into perspective, Leao was only 1.26 and Gakpo was 1.11.
High expectations are placed on Moore, who is one of the best players to emerge from Spurs’ academy in recent years.
Although he has yet to become a ruthless commodity at first-team level, he was a consistent goal scorer in the youth team, scoring 19 goals in 24 games for the Under-18s. So, just like Leo and Gakpo, he also knows where the back of the net is.
The 18-year-old is expected to be loaned out again in 2026-27, but if he stays here, De Zerbi could find himself saving millions by investing heavily in a wide range of options.
