Guardian writers’ predicted position: 6th (NB: this is not necessarily John Brewin’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips) Tottenham’s hopes for the season can be measured by what went wrong last season. And the season before that. This time last year, the arrival of a fresh, enthusiastic face in Thomas Frank gave considerable grounds for optimism.
Surely Spurs would not be as bad in the Premier League as they had been in 2024-25? Despite a decent enough Champions League group stage, European football did not provide salvation for an ill-fitting manager or the unconvincing hierarchy around him. That Frank is almost a forgotten figure owes much to the Igor Tudor interlude, a misadventure that resembled a disaster movie.
Tottenham were on the brink of relegation until the season’s final days, a saga that became irresistible to rubberneckers. Roberto De Zerbi’s appointment was a much-needed corrective, the change in direction Spurs supporters clamoured for during so many years of their club never paying top dollar, of cutting corners. The Italian’s high wages were not his only demands.
Fuller control than his predecessors, far more than he enjoyed at Brighton and Marseille, and a proper transfer spend on readymade players were also demanded. He has received them, though the lack of a top-level striker is glaring. Thus, the unusual sensation of Tottenham being among the transfer window’s biggest spenders.
Buying Jan Paul van Hecke, Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali, with Savinho and Omar Marmoush expected to also arrive from Manchester City, resembles the type of outlay rarely seen since Terry Venables was collecting Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker at White Hart Lane in the late 1980s or the influx of foreign talent in the mid-1990s – Jürgen Klinsmann, Ilie Dumitrescu and all that: a flash of glamour that is old-school Spurs. Andy Robertson’s addition as an experienced head is a further pointer towards a different Tottenham, one where success is expected and not promised, a very different form of optimism. Cristian Romero has departed, a player of talent whose foibles often betrayed his teammates, endemic of the Spurs era he played in.
Finishing 17th two seasons in succession is bad for the bank balance. The club’s 2025 accounts revealed that the £34.7m garnered from winning the Europa League was wiped out by a £38.9m shortfall in Premier League income. Champions League football last season will help, with £71.6m trousered, but there are no European funds to feed off this season.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
