Spurs Have Already Sealed £8.5m Transfer Better Than Fernandes

Tottenham Hotspur's owners are putting their money where their mouths are and backing new head coach Roberto De Zerbi in the summer transfer market.

Spurs have finished 17th in the Premier League in back-to-back seasons, failing to live up to the 'big six' billing. They only survived in the top flight on the final day of last season, beating Everton 1-0 to stave off relegation to the Championship and condemn fierce rivals West Ham United to the second tier instead.

De Zerbi rescued the club in the final two months of the campaign, saving them from what looked like a perilous position.

Now the plan is clear - for a season like that to never happen again.

The Lewis Family, who own the club, made a statement to the fans after the final game of the season, saying: "We take responsibility for rebuilding Spurs. Our ambition is to recapture the spirit of the club and bring back the excitement, the fearlessness and the bold football we have always felt defined us. That means football comes first. The board and executive team have laid out their plans to meet this ambition.

"This will require investment - in our teams, the academy, our backroom functions and more - and we are fully committed to this. We are not selling the club. We are all in. We are investing in it. You will see more of this in the coming months."

That vow has already bore fruit with three defensive signings arriving at the club early in the transfer window. Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke have already joined the De Zerbi revolution in N17 and more signings are set to follow.

After addressing the defence - Spurs have conceded 246 goals in the last four Premier League seasons combined - the Italian has turned his attention to the midfield department.

They have seen one bid of around £75million rejected by Newcastle for Sandro Tonali, while there are talks over bringing Mateus Fernandes to the club from West Ham. Spurs face a battle with Manchester City for Tonali and Manchester United for Fernandes, with reports suggesting it is not one or the other, but that the Lilywhites would be keen to add both to their ranks.

But with a new plan to bring in big-money signings and change to a more 'win now' approach, there are sure to be some painful decisions to be made with current members of the squad.

And that is already being seen, with talk of two talented youngsters wanting to leave the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in search of more game-time elsewhere. Nineteen-year-old defender Luka Vuskovic has been the subject of two bids from Brighton & Hove Albion, having impressed on loan with Hamburg in the Bundesliga last season. He is a highly-rated centre-back reportedly keen to leave having never made an appearance for the Lilywhites.

There is a feeling that Vuskovic, who started Croatia's World Cup opener against England, could go on to become a £100million player if nurtured the right way.

And then there's Lucas Bergvall, the 20-year-old Swede whom Spurs beat off competition from Barcelona to sign in 2024 for just £8.5million.

Bergvall got perhaps more game time than he would have expected in the 2024/25 season due to a wealth of injuries to first-team stars, but did not look out of place at all, becoming a firm fans' favourite in Ange Postecoglou's second season and winning all three of the club's end of season awards.

Three different managers and Spurs battling relegation stunted his opportunities in 2025/26 and with big-money signings being touted and having only played 113 minutes under De Zerbi in the final seven games of the season have led to the 20-year-old seeking pastures new too.

As Mauricio Pochettino alluded to in 2019, before he was sacked, a painful rebuild was required and seven years later it looks like that is finally happening and supporters may have to come to terms with some decisions that, on the face of it, look very strange and disappointing.

Bergvall falls into that category. Signing Tonali, a ready-made, 26-year-old midfielder makes a lot of sense. Signing Fernandes, while letting Bergvall go, however, does not.

The Hammers star has two years' experience in the Premier League - like Bergvall - and is aged just 21, a year older than the Swede.

Fernandes also has two relegations to his name, having gone down with Southampton before making the move to the London Stadium last summer and then suffering the same fate.

Now that is not all his fault, of course, but does Fernandes, offer anything better than Bergvall, given they both play in the same position and both prefer to be an 8 rather than a 6?

True, we've probably seen more of what Fernandes is capable of, but Bergvall being buffeted around the pitch, playing as a 6 a 10 and even wide does him a disservice. We really need to see what he can do in his favoured position on a regular basis before just discarding him.

And then there's the price tag. West Ham want around £80million to sanction a deal for Fernandes. Spending that kind of money on Tonali again makes complete sense, but doing it twice, for a player who may or may not be better than what you already have, who cost just £8.5million is confusing.

Ask any Spurs fan and they will tell you they have been waiting a long time for the club to truly invest and embrace a win now approach rather than being in transition and 'building for the future'. Bergvall may well be for the future, but he has already shown he is for the here and now too and is probably just as good, if not better, than an £80million Fernandes and that is why his exit will really hurt.

Spurs signing Tonali could come at a greater cost than a giant fee alone