How could Tottenham line up after the January transfer window? Realistic and wildcard options
Tottenham Hotspur limped into 2025 after an injury crisis that has wiped out half of their first team squad. And they desperately need signings to give them any chance of having a successful season.
Ange Postecoglou’s side are now 15th in the Premier League table after a horror season that has seen them lose 11 games already, most recently a demoralising 2-1 defeat to bitter rivals Arsenal in the North London Derby. But despite crippling fitness problems, the Australian coach has refused to relent on his attacking philosophy, which has resulted in some damaging losses – such as 3-4 and 3-6 home defeats against Chelsea and Liverpool respectively.
Postecoglou has complained that he doesn’t have enough squad depth to rotate his side, leaving his players exposed to injury and exhaustion. You only need to look 18-year-old Archie Gray, who has played the last ten games in all competitions at centre-back despite not being a natural defender.
Before Christmas, the coach said he had a wishlist for Santa to bolster his stretched squad. He has already been gifted one present in new goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, who Spurs desperately needed after losing No 1 goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and back-up Fraser Forster.
Kinsky initially looked like a solid addition after producing a man of the match display to keep a clean sheet in his first appearance against Liverpool to help Spurs win 1-0 in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg, and then impressed again away at non-league Tamworth.
However, he looked far more shaky in the 2-1 loss to Arsenal and Postecoglou will be keen to secure some more experienced defenders to play in front of him with Mickey van de Ven and Cristian Romero still injured.
Whether or not Postecoglou gets a few more gifts in the January transfer window is up to Daniel Levy. The Australian has repeatedly claimed the club are hard at work behind the scenes on new signings, with a new forward said to be the priority, along with a centre-back, left-back and central midfielder.
Spurs have been linked with a handful of players in January, though some may be seen as unrealistic given how difficult it is to bring in players in January. Squawka has taken a look at those options and how Spurs could line up with them after the window.
Realistic targets: David Hancko and Rayan Cherki
Centre-back and left-back are two areas Tottenham need urgent depth in after losing Udogie to a hamstring injury for the second time this season, as well as Van de Ven, Romero and Davies.
Djed Spence has had to cover at left-back in recent games, despite Postecoglou having Sergio Reguilon at his disposal – though clearly trusts Spence more out of position.
Feyenoord defender David Hancko is a solution to this problem – considering he can play at both centre-back and left-back. Just like Van de Ven, he has proven he has real quality when it comes to his passing attributes.
No left-sided centre-back in the Eredivisie has averaged more completed passes into the final third than Hancko this season, with 10.11 per 90. Hancko has also won 21 tackles and made 47 clearances, with 19 interceptions.
His versatility is also evident, having played 11 games at left-back. His presence would give Spurs a vital lift, knowing he could fill in for both Van de Ven and Udogie when needed.
If Spurs are looking for a new winger to play alongside Dominic Solanke, Lyon’s Rayan Cherki could be a great option. The 21-year-old is one of the brightest prospects to come out of the club’s academy in recent years and he’s been heavily involved in Lyon’s goals this season, registering five goals and seven assists, despite not being a regular starter.
He is highly rated at the club but could be a player offloaded given Lyon’s financial difficulties. It was reported in November that Lyon have total debts of over £400million and that they could be relegated to Ligue 2 if they can’t rectify the situation.
Cherki, who has a transfer value of around £25m, has created eight “big chances” in Ligue 1 this season, which ranks him third in the division behind PSG’s Lee Kang-In (10) and Ousmane Dembele (9) of all wide players. His three goals in Ligue 1 have come from just seven shots on target, showing that when he’s on the pitch, he makes it count.
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Dream targets: Oliver Boscagli and Bryan Mbeumo
In order to take the workload off Gray and allow the teenager to play in his more natural position of midfield, Postecoglou could do with a more experienced centre-back to play alongside Radu Dragusin until Romero and Van de Ven return.
Ideally Spurs would bring in a left-sided centre-back and Oliver Boscagli could be a good option to play with Dragusin. The PSV defender has been linked with Tottenham in the past and this season he has excelled with his Dutch club to help them top the Eredivisie table.
Boscagli has started all 18 of PSV’s league games, scoring once and assisting four times. He’d certainly fill the criteria Postecoglou is looking for as someone who is good on the ball and likes to play passes around the back. This season he has averaged the most completed passes into the final third across all centre-backs in the Dutch top flight (15.85).
He has a forward passing accuracy of 76.63% and he’s completed 294 passes into the opposition half, also the highest in the division. Defensively, he’s made 22 interceptions and won 24 tackles.
Spurs are also in need of firepower, of course, after watching forward players like Son Heung-min and Timo Werner struggle on the left flank. On the right, Brennan Johnson has scored seven goals in the Premier League but creatively he’s not offered enough, creating just 14 chances and only three considered “big chances”, while he has completed just 14 take-ons and has registered an expected assists ratio of 0.07.
A man who could provide more quality in this position is Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo, who is having a far better season with 13 Premier League goals and three assists.
Mbeumo has created 42 chances in total, including 10 big chances, attempting 52 take-ons and completing 27 of them. He’s been lethal in front of goal too after scoring seven of his “big chances”, with a shooting accuracy of 57.89%. He averages 0.62 goals per 90 minutes, with an xG of 0.31.
The 25-year-old has three Premier League goals in as many games and has also been linked to Spurs’ bitter rivals Arsenal – though his manager Thomas Frank swiftly shut down speculation he could leave in a blow for his suitors.
When asked if there was any chance Mbeumo could depart, Frank replied: “No. So, very easy to answer that question!”
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