How Roberto De Zerbi’s terrifying new-look Tottenham will line up next season.
Here’s how we see Tottenham’s strongest available XI shaping up for next season, based on business already done and business that’s realistically close: Kinsky in goal, Udogie and Porro at full-back, Van de Ven and Van Hecke or Senesi as the centre-back pairing, Fernandes and Tonali screening in midfield, an attacking three of Kudus, Kroupi or Simons, and Leao, with Solanke leading the line.
Two of those names are confirmed, not projected, and that’s worth being precise about. Fernandes and Tonali have both signed. Fernandes arrived from West Ham for £85m, Tonali completed a club-record £100m move from Newcastle, and between those two deals plus Van Hecke, Robertson, Senesi and Dubravka, Spurs have already spent north of £237m this window, beating the previous club record set in 2023. This is not a hypothetical rebuild. It’s already happening, and De Zerbi has publicly stated intent to keep going in attack.
That’s exactly where the honesty needs to kick in, though. Kudus is not new but would feel so. Leao, as per Football Italia, stands willing to make the move, with Milan open to selling for somewhere in the £51m to £60m range, but nothing on paper. Arsenal, Barcelona and Manchester United all still continue to monitor the situation. Kroupi, meanwhile, looked like a real possibility a week ago and now looks considerably less likely after Bournemouth publicly ruled out a sale at anything below an “astronomical” figure. Put that XI up as fact right now, and you’d be overselling two-thirds of finished business as complete.
POTENTIAL!
The bigger question, even once names are locked in, is whether this collection actually functions as a team. Fernandes and Tonali both arrive with genuine ball-winning and progression numbers, which should finally give this midfield the control we have not seen for two seasons of relegation scares.
But stacking Kudus, Kroupi or Simons and Leao in the same front three assumes De Zerbi has settled on what shape he wants, when the reality is Solanke’s own starting spot does not come across as nailed on either, with the club still needing to eye at least one more forward.
We also feel the need to address a straightforward value question underneath all the ambition. £280 million and counting, after two straight 17th-place finishes, is the kind of spend that should, A: Get you all guns blazing OR B: Remind you why we seem directionless even after so much spending. We won’t know which until pre-season actually starts.