From Transfers Woes to Injury Worries: Can Spurs Still Compete This Season?

From Transfers Woes to Injury Worries: Can Spurs Still Compete This Season?

Arsenal’s hijack of Crystal Palace playmaker and Tottenham Hotspur target Eberechi Eze has added more insult to injury for Thomas Frank and leaves Spurs without a true playmaker in the middle of the park.

🚨 Arsenal are close to agreeing a £60M+ deal with Crystal Palace to sign Eberechi Eze.

The Gunners have HIJACKED Tottenham's move. The pursuit has been led by sporting director Andrea Berta.

(Source: @JPercyTelegraph) pic.twitter.com/sFC07axUmZ

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) August 20, 2025

This comes following James Maddison’s cruciate ligament injury, which leaves him out until at least mid February. The Lilywhites now have a number of injuries in key areas, leaving squad depth thin and their prospects of a successful season in turmoil.

With only a few weeks to go before the window closes, Spurs must look for a replacement for Maddison; after missing out on a number of targets already, it is a race against time for Frank’s side as they face a very busy schedule for the 2025/26 season.

Key Stars in Early

Following the departure of head coach Ange Postecoglou after winning the Europa League to salvage what was an otherwise dreadful 2024/25 campaign, Frank took over the reigns from Brentford and was backed from the first moment by Daniel Levy.

Within a fortnight of the Dane’s appointment, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium welcomed two familiar faces in Mathys Tel and Kevin Danso for fees of €35m and €25m from Bayern Munich and RC Lens respectively.

The two impressed during their short-term loans in North London, which led to Spurs willing to sign both players permanently following their continental success.

What followed a few weeks later was no doubt the signing of the window from a Tottenham perspective. They penned down West Ham United star Mohammed Kudus on a six-year deal which certainly adds some immaculate depth and quality on the flanks.

The now 25-year-old was a key figure in the West Ham lineup, as he formed a key partnership with Jarrod Bowen as they dominated top teams at times. The Ghanaian midfielder scored 19 goals and registered 10 assists while at the London Stadium and has already started his Tottenham chapter how he intends to keep it, recording two assists on debut on the opening weekend.

We are delighted to announce the signing of Mohammed Kudus from West Ham United, subject to work permit ✍️

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) July 10, 2025

Lastly, they looked at boosting their options in the centre, and found João Palhinha from Bayern, who was seeking a return to the Premier League. Spurs finalised this deal in early August for a season-long loan for the Portuguese defensive midfielder.

What happened in the fortnight before and after this deal, however, has left a sour taste in the mouth of many fans.

Transfer Blunders and Injury Strikes

Around mid July time, Spurs went in to attempt to prize Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest, just for the latter to accuse them of an illegal approach to sign the 25-year-old.

This left tensions at an all-time high between the clubs after Forest owners believed Spurs broke the confidentiality clause in Gibbs-White’s contract, and this included the prevention of any public release into the value of his buy-out clause.

The midfielder scored seven goals and registered 11 assists last season, and two weeks later, he signed a new contract keeping him at The City Ground until 2028, which left the Lilywhites rueing their missed opportunity. Levy would hope this would be their only mistake in the window, before disaster struck.

It was reported on August 7 that midfield playmaker Maddison would face a long spell on the sidelines after the 28-year-old had ruptured his anterior cruciate knee ligament during a pre-season match against Newcastle during Spurs’ tour in South Korea.

Maddison is expected to be out for a majority of the season until February, which would see him miss just over half of the Premier League season and also the entire league phase of the UEFA Champions League, and potentially even the play-off phase should Spurs finish the league phase between 9-24th place.

This has left Tottenham needing to find a replacement for the England international before the window closes at the start of September. Attention then turned to Selhurst Park, as Spurs ramped up their interest in Eze.

Spurs thought they had their man on Wednesday, August 20 after they believed to have had an agreement with both the club and the player. However, then North London rivals Arsenal swooped in speedily following injury to Kai Havertz.

Within the matter of only a number of hours, Arsenal had completely hijacked the move, as they had it completed by Wednesday evening, accompanied with Fabrizio Romano’s “Here We Go!” tag, all but confirming the move. Eze preferred the move to Arsenal, after youth connections to his boyhood club. This now leaves Spurs with just over a week to salvage this transfer window and their prospects for this season.

🚨❤️🤍 BREAKING: Eberechi Eze to Arsenal, here we go! Verbal agreement in place between all parties.

Crystal Palace to receive package in excess of £60m as Eze preferred #AFC over Spurs.

Arsenal win race over Tottenham, been in advanced talks for days but never sealed. pic.twitter.com/nUN2gXXjgY

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 20, 2025

How Will They Compete This Season?

Tottenham must now move quickly in this window to find some appropriate to replace and provide the quality required to make the most of this season. After how the last domestic campaign went for Spurs, they must look to head back towards the European places, but with Champions League football waiting in the wings, they must navigate the calendar very carefully, accumulating as little injuries as possible.

Frank will have to rely on second and third-choice options in key areas of the field, due to injuries to Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Yves Bissouma, Radu Dragusin, and Destiny Udogie. It will be really tough battle for the North London side to achieve success this season, and if they can’t find a replacement for Maddison, it is difficult to see them backing up last season with another trophy at the end of it.

These injuries will also hurt their quest to achieve to European football next season, with teams around them only growing stronger, Spurs will have to fight throughout the 38-game season, and the players will have to keep fit.

More work in the market may need to take place in January if Spurs are unable to tempt any suitable targets in time before the summer window closes, but it is definitely difficult to see the Lilywhites truly fighting for more silverware anytime soon.