Sometimes the idea of a footballer outstrips the reality. The Portugal international Rafael Leão comes quickly to mind. A player of seemingly limitless potential, Serie A footballer of the year aged 22-23, who at 27 is on the bench at Galatasaray.
At AC Milan, people thought Leão could be anything, from the next Kylian Mbappé to the next Thierry Henry. Leão possessed speed and physicality and some of their skill. Defenders must have been overwhelmed by the mere thought of facing him.
Maybe those were misjudgments. Or maybe Leão will come again.
Galatasaray are in the Champions League after all. They lost their first fixture in the league system 3-1. It was at Sporting Lisbon, taking Leão back to his first club. He went on as a second-half substitute just after Galatasaray fell 2-1 behind. Next for them in the Champions League, it’s Barcelona. He will not think he has faded away.
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At Milan, Leão’s team-mate was Sandro Tonali. Like Leão, Tonali is a beautiful mover. There is an effortless assurance to Tonali’s stride. He combines pace, power and balance and those attributes can see him turn defence into danger in a second. Also like Leão, Tonali’s grace in possession makes him very easy to like, not just as a fan, but in recruitment departments and managerial dugouts.
Does it mean Tonali is the player certain teams need? Does that mean he merits an initial outlay of €100 million and more?
Tottenham thought so, and Roberto De Zerbi thought so.
Both he and Tonali are men of Brescia – De Zerbi by birth and later as a player on loan from Napoli, Tonali as a youth player entering Serie B. At 20, Tonali moved to nearby Milan and then on to Newcastle United where he became, on the good days, an impressive member of an Eddie Howe team functioning most effectively at Premier League and Champions League level. Even when Tonali’s form dropped a little, he was still so easy on the eye.
But does that make him worth more than €100 million? Does it mean he is the midfielder who can lift Tottenham out of this long trench of form to a place where the view is inviting?
Spurs finished 17th last season and scored 48 goals, 1.26 per game; Tonali played 35 league games for Newcastle and did not score once. Spurs have developed an obvious issue; Tonali (26) is not an obvious solution.
Nor is Mateus Fernandes. Fernandes is 22, so assessment should be considered, but he was relegated with Southampton in 2024-25, making 36 league appearances, and was then relegated with West Ham last season, making 36 league appearances. Across those two seasons Fernandes scored five Premier League goals. Spurs paid €100 million for him as well.
The €200-million idea of Tonali and Fernandes together in the Spurs midfield is one some can comprehend. Yet of the 100,000+ fans who attend Newcastle and West Ham home matches, barely any would say they got the wrong end of these transfers. They may not have wished to lose the players, but when clubs are being offered such sums, you take the money. Recruitment competence is something Tottenham had to address as an organisation; and here we are.
It would be different had the season begun promisingly. Instead, the obvious issue has continued. Tottenham are yet to score a goal in the Premier League after four games.
The last Spurs player to score in the league was Palhinha in May, and he now plays for Benfica. The previous scorer was Richarlison, who is still an employee, but estranged, omitted from the 25-man Premier League squad.
Richarlison was Spurs’ top scorer in the league last season with 11 goals. He is hardly Harry Kane, but Richarlison is an attacking presence of some energy. Motivated and in form, he would be of use.
As it is, the transfer window in Saudi Arabia remains open, so there could be a way out for both club and player.
That leaves Dominic Solanke as Spurs’ only traditional number 9. Solanke’s last league goal came on March 5th, one of three in an injury-ravaged season. He has appeared in each of the four games in this season’s Premier League but is yet to complete 90 minutes. There were six minutes at Nottingham Forest and 15 at home to Newcastle. It says he is not fit. When Solanke is 100 per cent, he is a force, but it is uncertain when that will be.
Spurs do possess other “strikers” and attacking players, signed under De Zerbi and before him. Omar Marmoush, for example, has been brought on loan from Manchester City with an obligation to buy – for around €70 million. Marmoush scored three goals for City in 21 appearances last season. Iliman Ndiaye, a year younger than Marmoush, was bought by City for the same amount.
Marmoush is, again, lovely to watch and as a club Tottenham certainly appear to like the idea of him. As well as Marmoush, they have Mohammed Kudus, Xavi Simons, James Maddison, Savio, Mathys Tel, Wilson Odobert and have collected Mykhailo Mudryk on loan – eight players who are a variation on a theme.
You could add Dejan Kulusevski. He is slightly different, and has been out for 16 months. Tottenham have been unlucky with injuries, there is no doubt about that.
None is a centre-forward, though, in the mould of Kane or a poacher like Jermain Defoe. Their last player to score more than 15 Premier League goals in a season was Son Heung-min in 2023-24.
A team does not always need to be free-scoring – Spurs once finished fifth under Martin Jol scoring 1.39 goals per game and third under Mauricio Pochettino in 2015-16 averaging 1.8 goals per game.
They have just had goalless draws at Forest and home to Everton, not great results, not terrible either.
But, back in their familiar 17th place, they need a goal.
On Saturday, Aston Villa visit. They have scored once in four games to sit 19th. A concern must be the shellacking on the opening day at Brentford has not just bitten into Spurs confidence but eaten it, and the stadium will gulp should Villa take a lead. When Liverpool went 1-0 ahead in the League Cup on Tuesday night a statistic popped up – if Spurs did not recover, it would be for the 46th consecutive game they had failed to overturn such a deficit. Sure enough, they did not, though Conor Gallagher did score a goal. How they need another.
A three-week international break looms. All at Spurs will dread dwelling on deflation, and De Zerbi is a thinker, an ideas man.
