Tottenham's Summer Transfer Plans: De Zerbi's Blueprint for Goals
Tottenham’s summer has rumbled along in low gear, but with the new season a week away, the calm is starting to feel like the pause before a storm.
Roberto De Zerbi has identified where the spark is missing. The focus is clear: more goals, more edge, more threat. Cody Gakpo and Savinho sit at the heart of that plan.
De Zerbi’s attacking blueprint
Savinho has been circling a move to north London for some time. The Manchester City winger is understood to be keen on joining De Zerbi at N17, and with the deadline edging closer, he looks the likeliest of the two to arrive first.
Tottenham need him. Randal Kolo Muani has gone after a miserable loan spell. Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert are both out for an extended period. The wide options have thinned alarmingly.
In the short term, Savinho shapes as the natural stand-in for Mohammed Kudus on the right. Kudus has missed pre-season, even if his recent return to training offers some encouragement. A left-footer driving in from that flank gives De Zerbi a familiar, dangerous profile to work with.
Longer term, the picture shifts. Savinho has been praised by analyst and Como scout Ben Mattinson for his Gareth Bale-style, driven finishes when cutting in off the left. That opens up another lane entirely. If De Zerbi wants a winger who attacks from deep and rifles shots across goal from that side, the Brazilian fits the brief.
Which drags Gakpo straight into the tactical conversation.
The Dutchman has largely operated off the left for Liverpool, but there is a growing belief he could be retooled as a false nine under De Zerbi. Gakpo is not a traditional touchline winger. He doesn’t consistently burn full-backs with raw pace or dazzling dribbles. His game leans heavily towards end product.
The numbers back that up. According to Transfermarkt, he has scored 18 goals in 66 appearances when used as a striker or false nine on Merseyside. It’s not elite, but it’s solid – and crucially, it hints at a player who can live centrally rather than being locked to the flank.
Even so, that return raises a familiar question: do Spurs still need a true number nine to lead the line?
Balogun emerges as the statement striker
Inside the club, the sense lingers that the current centre-forward group is far from settled. One of Richarlison or Dominic Solanke could yet go before the window closes.
Richarlison’s future looks particularly fragile. He has just a year left on his deal, and De Zerbi has already admitted the 29-year-old is wrestling with whether to stay or move on. Football FanCast reported earlier in the summer that the Brazilian is expected to be sold.
Solanke feels a safer bet to remain, but not completely untouchable. Nottingham Forest have shown interest, and while the 28-year-old has worked hard, 12 league goals across two seasons is hardly the return of an undisputed first-choice striker.
That uncertainty has pushed Folarin Balogun to the front of Tottenham’s thinking. TEAMtalk report that ENIC would look to offload one of Richarlison or Solanke before turning up the heat in their pursuit of the Monaco forward, with Spurs described as “frontrunners” for his signature.
The price is steep – around £51m – but the player is willing. The former Arsenal striker is keen on a return to the Premier League and, as reported, has no issue with that being in Lilywhite.
Talks are still at an early stage. No deal is close. Yet if Tottenham can pull it off, this is the kind of signing that could redefine their window.
Gakpo would bring versatility and a different dimension to the front line. Savinho would inject pace and directness. But Balogun? He looks like a pure goalscorer on an upward curve.
Gakpo has split opinion at Anfield and has never hit double figures for league goals in a Premier League season since leaving PSV Eindhoven. Savinho’s 2025/26 league return – one goal and one assist – underlines how much development he still has ahead of him.
Balogun’s numbers tell a sharper story. The United States international hit 13 goals and four assists in Ligue 1 last season. For context, Gakpo managed seven goals and five assists in the Premier League over the same campaign.
On the biggest stages, Balogun has carried that threat with him. He scored three times in four World Cup outings, leading the line for Mauricio Pochettino’s side and looking a constant menace. In the Champions League, he added five goals in just ten appearances, hinting again at a striker comfortable at the highest level.
This is not a one-season wonder profile either. His loan spell at Reims in 2022/23 remains a benchmark: 21 Ligue 1 goals, a breakout year that turned heads across Europe. Injuries have complicated the picture since, but the talent is not in doubt.
Tottenham would be paying for that ceiling, that momentum – and for the chance to twist the knife in north London. If Balogun thrives in a Spurs shirt, Arsenal’s decision to sell him will look increasingly costly. They have seen this movie before with Harry Kane.
That narrative alone gives the move an edge Gakpo and Savinho cannot match. Balogun would not just be a signing; he would be a statement.
And if he walks through the door at Hotspur Way, Richarlison and Solanke will know exactly what that means.
