Rating Tottenham's seven summer transfers out of ten, with Xavi Simons the 'standout signing' - Opinion

The transfer window is now over and Tottenham Hotspur have made some strong signings, but there are still areas of the squad where quality is lacking.

Tottenham Hotspur supporters have been put through a rollercoaster of emotions this summer. It initially looked like Spurs would spend more money than usual after the club faced heavy criticism for the previous two transfer windows.

Spurs were linked with some high-quality players. However, some talks never really escalated, while others resulted in agreement, only to break down at the last minute. 

In the end, the Tottenham first-team squad was strengthened with some solid signings, but the window was far from perfect. Here we take a look at every signing and rate them out of 10:

Rating Tottenham Hotspur’s summer signings

Kevin Danso – Danso technically counts as a summer signing, although he was brought in on loan at the start of the year with an obligation to make the move permanent. The Austria international is unlikely to give Thomas Frank any selection headaches, but he can do a job for Tottenham as a backup defender. His £21m transfer fee is reasonable and the club have got themselves a decent player in a position where depth was severely lacking last season. 8/10

Mathys Tel – Giving Tel’s signing a rating very much depends on the angle taken. On the one hand, Spurs have signed a youngster with potential for a heavily reduced fee compared with the one in the loan-to-buy agreement. On the other hand, Tel has barely had a good game in a Tottenham shirt and despite being the only natural left winger at the club, Brennan Johnson is starting ahead of him. He could go on to be a solid eight or nine, but at this point in time, it is too early to say. 6/10

Kota Takai – Tottenham have not been able to hand Takai his debut at the club because he has been injured since July. He did well in Japan and has clearly been scouted for a reason, but as someone who does not regularly tune into J-League 1 matches, it is tough to make a judgement. Ultimately, Takai is just 20 years old and only cost £5m. If the move works out, brilliant, but if it does not, Spurs have not exactly risked a large sum of money. 7/10

Mohammed Kudus – At £55m, Kudus should be performing at a high level, but that has not always been the case when Spurs have spent that kind of money. He has already impressed with his dribbling ability, but he must show that he possesses an end product. Kudus did get two assists on his first Premier League appearance for Tottenham, but he looked less creative against Manchester City and Bournemouth. On top of this, Kudus is yet to score for Spurs, including pre-season matches. Still, he looks a very good signing. 8.5/10 

Joao Palhinha –  Palhinha stole the show against Manchester City, but he was less impressive against Bournemouth. Tottenham needed a new defensive midfielder, and he is definitely an upgrade on Yves Bissouma. However, Palhinha must show that he is useful in the games when Spurs are looking to be on the front foot, not just against the best teams in the league. He is already 30 years old, but in the two seasons combined when he was at Fulham, he completed 109 more tackles than any other player. Tottenham have the option to sign him permanently for £27m, which is quite a good price considering what he has to offer. 8.5/10

Xavi Simons – This is surely Tottenham’s standout signing of the summer. It makes you wonder why so much time was spent on Morgan Gibbs-White and Eberechi Eze when Simons was a possibility all along. The 22-year-old did very well at RB Leipzig last season, showing he knows how to get himself a goal and create chances for his teammates. Spurs badly needed an attacking midfield and other than Morgan Rogers, Simons was the most exciting player linked with Tottenham. He cost less than Gibbs-White and Eze would have done too. 10/10

Randal Kolo Muani – Spurs should have been looking to sign a proven goalscorer, and Yoane Wissa would have been an excellent addition to the squad. Unfortunately, the decision was made not to bring in a new centre-forward. However, Dominic Solanke picked up an injury, and that meant a new signing was necessary. Muani has been brought in on loan with no option to buy, but he can still be of use while he is in North London. His record at Juventus during the second half of last season was pretty good, and he possesses a bit more flair than Tottenham’s current centre-forwards. Time will tell if Muani can be the goal machine Spurs need. 8/10

Spurs are still short in some positions

Tottenham are now worse off on the left wing than before the transfer window started. Tel was already on loan at the club and Heung-min Son was still around. Son was sold and yet no replacement has been brought in. Simons could play on the left, but then Spurs are no better off in attacking midfield. It is a position which needed to be strengthened, not weakened.

There were also talks about the possibility of signing another centre-back. Spurs do already have options in the position, but are Ben Davies and Radu Dragusin really up to the task? It would have been good to bring in another defender like Danso who may not challenge Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, but would be a useful backup option.

Another position where another signing would have helped is the full-back position. It was discussed earlier in the window, but talks went quiet. If Frank wants to play Archie Gray as Palhinha’s understudy rather than as a right-back, Spurs should really have brought in someone who could cover for when Pedro Porro becomes unavailable.

Djed Spence can play on the right, but Frank is likely to use both him and Destiny Udogie on the left when the fixtures begin to stack up.

Tottenham could have offloaded players more effectively

Bryan Gil is finally gone, but Spurs have failed to get rid of Manor Solomon on a permanent transfer. A loan move may take him off the payroll, but he was surely likely to bring in more money this summer than in a year’s time when his contract is shorter.

Yves Bissouma is perhaps the biggest failure of them all. He was supposedly on his way to Turkey, but now he will remain at Tottenham until his contract expires and Spurs will lose him without earning a transfer fee.

Our verdict on Tottenham’s transfer window

Spurs score a 7/10 overall for their business this summer. The players who have been signed are a good mix of young and more experienced and three, or even four of them, are likely to be named in most starting lineups.

However, the fact that a second left winger was not signed when Johnson is having to cover there is unacceptable. Spurs were supposed to be willing to spend around £70m on Savinho. Could half that fee not have been used to sign an alternative? A decent enough player should be accessible for £35m. 

Waiting until the last minute to get rid of the deadwood was also a fundamental failure. Spurs were sitting around refusing to pay a few million pounds extra to sign Eze, while there were players who had no future at the club who were being held onto.

Hopefully, Frank will show he is worth backing, and Tottenham will use the January window to add depth where it is required. For now, he still has a pretty decent squad at his disposal. 

READ MORE – Thomas Frank reveals exciting thing Xavi Simons can bring to Tottenham after flat Bournemouth defeat