Managing Tottenham as Mateta finally seals transfer and Champions League winner joins | Football | Sport

Tottenham find themselves in the midst of another relegation battle with their season going from bad to worse. The north Londoners made a strong start to the campaign under Thomas Frank but they’ve only registered one win from their last nine Premier League fixtures. Their dreadful run of form has ramped up the pressure on the Dane to turn things around or face the sack.

It has seen them slip to 14th in the table, just nine points clear of the drop zone, after finishing 17th last time around. Change is clearly needed at Tottenham if they are serious about returning to the Premier League’s upper reaches. With the current campaign essentially a lost cause, their focus will soon turn to preparing for next season.

Express Sport looks at what Tottenham should do to avoid a repeat of their ongoing struggles in 2026/27…

Sign some players!

It’s a simple objective but the bare minimum for Tottenham is simply to sign some players. Their current options are simply not good enough and they have nowhere near the strength in depth required to consistently win games over the course of a season.

A huge overhaul will be needed in the summer with room to improve in almost every position. However, the fact they are unlikely to be in Europe next season will complicate things when most players worth their salt will be targeting Champions League football.

It means Tottenham will need to get creative in the summer market to build a squad capable of fighting for a top-four finish. They will also need to splash the cash and potentially offer inflated wages to targets who are being chased by better teams.

Champions League winner joins

Tottenham could make a solid start to their summer recruitment drive by signing a Champions League winner without paying a single penny.

Leon Goretzka is leaving Bayern Munich at the end of the season, with the German giants having decided against extending his current deal.

While he is no longer the player he once was, he would bring a huge amount of experience to benefit the younger players in Tottenham’s dressing room.

Goretzka would also provide calmness and consistency in the middle of the park, which is something the north Londoners have lacked all season long.

Mateta finally seals transfer

Tottenham would also reap the rewards of signing a prolific striker to lead the line next season, with none of their current forwards doing the business.

They massively overpaid to sign Dominic Solanke two summers ago, while it’s been clear for some time that Richarlison isn’t the answer either. Randal Kolo Muani, meanwhile, will return to Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the campaign.

Spurs are in desperate need of a striker who knows where the onion bag is and they could do far worse than to land Jean-Philippe Mateta, who will leave Crystal Palace in the summer following his failed deadline-day move to AC Milan.

Tottenham could steal a march on their rivals by negotiating the terms of a deal immediately, although it won’t be finalised until the transfer window reopens in June.