Tottenham Hotspur have been the busiest Premier League club in the transfer market this summer. They have spent nearly £250million ($337m) on six players, breaking their transfer record twice in the process, and are showing no signs of slowing down.

Spurs are working hard on their pre-season tour of Australia and New Zealand and head coach Roberto De Zerbi has teased supporters that something exciting is about to happen.

“But the transfer market, it’s not finished for sure,” the Italian told a group of reporters including The Athletic. “We have completed 60 per cent of our project in the transfer market. Now we have another ‘bomba’.”

The initial reaction to De Zerbi’s comments was that he was talking about Savinho. Spurs tried to sign the Brazilian winger from Manchester City last year and are confident they can finally complete a deal this summer.

However, the “bomba” signing De Zerbi referenced is actually expected to be a different attacking addition.

Last summer under then head coach Thomas Frank, Spurs missed out on Bryan Mbeumo, Eberechi Eze, Antoine Semenyo and Morgan Gibbs-White before signing Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons. Their window was defined by rejection, but everything around the club feels different now. Fans will be dreaming of who this mystery player could be and, crucially, will have genuine belief sporting director Johan Lange, director of football operations Raphael Moersen and chief executive officer Vinai Venkatesham can pull the deal off.

The Athletic has considered the needs of the squad and crunched the numbers to draw up a shortlist of potential “bomba” signings. Due to a lack of quality and a long injury list which includes Dejan Kulusevski, Wilson Odobert, Simons and Kudus, we have looked at possible targets across the entire forward line.

Let’s start things off by quickly defining what a “bomba” signing actually is.

We will use Mateus Fernandes’ £85m move from West Ham United to Spurs at the beginning of July as an example. West Ham were relegated last season but Fernandes was one of their standout performers and, at 21, should have the best years of his career ahead of him. Manchester United were considered the frontrunners for his signature so there was an element of surprise when Spurs emerged victorious.

So to break it down, there needs to be a significant amount of money involved for a player already operating at a high level with the potential to become elite. And bonus points for any added drama around the deal.

An elite winger

Bradley Barcola would tick all of the above boxes.

The versatile winger has had to share game time with Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia at Paris Saint-Germain over the last couple of seasons, but has still demonstrated his quality on multiple occasions. The 23-year-old’s finishing needs to be refined but his lightning-quick speed would offer Spurs a threat on the counter.

Bradley Barcola has two years to run on his contract at PSG (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)

Barcola has scored 39 times in 152 appearances for back-to-back Champions League winners PSG and popped up with three goals for France at the World Cup, too. He has only two years left on his contract at the Parc des Princes and has made it clear he will not sign a new deal. The Athletic reported earlier this week that Liverpool were preparing to make an opening offer for him and were looking to do a deal around £100m.

That would not deter Spurs as they fought off competition from Manchester United to sign Fernandes and spent a similar fee on Sandro Tonali.

Barcola predominantly plays off the left so the big question around this deal would be whether it is necessary to sign him and Savinho. It would also put Mathys Tel in a precarious position.

Abde Ezzalzouli should have been a breakout star at the World Cup but he suffered a knee injury in Morocco’s final warm-up game which ruled him out of the entire tournament. The 24-year-old is a mazy dribbler who can create space for his team-mates by drawing multiple players towards him or stretch opposition defences with runs in behind.

Brahim Diaz received a lot of plaudits for his performances at the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year, but Ezzalzouli played a crucial role in Morocco’s run to the final. Along with Ismael Saibari, the trio freely interchanged positions which would be fun to see replicated with Xavi and Kudus.

Real Betis’ Moroccan forward Abde Ezzalzouli (Miguel Riopa/AFP via Getty Images)

Ezzalzouli’s career has reignited at Real Betis after he spent a couple of years hardly playing for Barcelona. The biggest concern for Spurs would be his end product — he scored 10 goals in La Liga last season, but he has not always been consistent in the final third. Across the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns, he only scored three times in 60 appearances.

He would be a cheaper alternative to some of the other names on this list. De Zerbi has spoken about the need to sign “maybe a couple more players” before the window closes, so Spurs need to be conscious of not spending it all on one target.

A new centre-forward?

Every summer Richarlison is linked with a move away from north London. The 29-year-old has entered the final 12 months of his contract so Spurs need to act quickly if they want to sell him for a decent price.

Richarlison’s international team-mate Endrick would be an exciting prospect. The 20-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan at Lyon from Real Madrid and scored eight goals. He did not cross paths with De Zerbi as the Italian left Marseille by mutual consent a couple of weeks before Endrick recorded two assists for Lyon in a 3-2 defeat at the Stade Velodrome.

Dominic Solanke should be Spurs’ first-choice striker if he can avoid the injury problems which prevented him from playing consistently last season. Endrick is a youthful alternative who could be developed to replace Solanke long-term. It would be a challenging deal to pull off, though, as Endrick is expected to stay with Real Madrid to provide back-up to Kylian Mbappe with Gonzalo Garcia heading towards Fulham.

Endrick played for Brazil at the World Cup (Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images)

With a number of quick, high-volume dribblers linked on the wings, Spurs could be in the market for a back-up No 9 who can hold up the ball and feed runners beyond him, much like Solanke can at full flow.

Using The Athletic’s player style pizza wheels, we have filtered for strikers who rank highly in goal threat and box presence, but also those who are strong at attacking crosses in the air and retaining the ball under pressure with their back to goal.

Alongside the unrealistic options of Erling Haaland, Benjamin Sesko and the recently transferred Goncalo Ramos (who has moved from PSG to Milan), Bayer Leverkusen’s Christian Kofane leaps off the page. Still just 20, the Cameroonian has already grown into a sturdy 1.89m (6ft 2in) frame that allows him to battle with defenders and protect the ball well.

In addition, Kofane is quick and mobile, happy to run the channels and press from the front, while the variety of finishes on show from his first season in the Bundesliga shows that there is an eye for goal and ball-striking technique to hone.

International team-mate Etta Eyong, of Levante, also passes the stats test — another bustling striker with great upper-body strength and flashes of two-footed finishing and neat hold-up play. But both would need time to adapt to the pace of the Premier League, even if they are promising prospects for the future.

Levante’s Etta Eyong (David Ramos/Getty Images)

De Zerbi could be in the market for more tried-and-tested players, in which case reuniting with Amine Gouiri would make plenty of sense.

In his prime years at 26, the Algerian forward scored 14 league goals in just over 18 full games under the Italian at Marseille, hitting double figures in his last six top-flight seasons in France.

Gouiri would offer versatility and technical quality, a player happy to drop into deeper positions and dribble his way out of pressure. He played more as a left winger at former club Rennes, but still managed to time his movements into the box where his one-touch finishing helped convert crosses and cut-backs from the opposite side.

He thrives when the game opens up, able to turn away from pressure and glide forward with the ball; the kind of player who can exploit the spaces that De Zerbi’s highly-structured build-up looks to create.

World Cup winner Ferran Torres is another player who ranks highly under our link-up filter. The Barcelona forward is a different option to Solanke with his ability in tight spaces and desire to stretch the defensive line with darting runs in-behind.

As we can see from SkillCorner’s off-ball run profile below, Torres frequently attacks the space behind the opposition defence, a valuable profile against tired legs or in tandem with wingers who can get to the byline and cross. He would also bring an underrated eye for goal, racking up 16 La Liga goals last season with a series of intelligent runs and finishes.

Out of contract next summer, and with Barcelona looking for cash, Spurs could do worse than to test the waters and unite Torres with his international team-mate Pedro Porro.

A No 10 with some punch?

Spurs boast a number of tidy, technical players in the front line but this summer’s spending spree feels an opportunity to add some punch to the No 10 position.

Using our scouting tool once more, we are looking for attacking midfielders with a high creative threat, but also comfortable linking play and shooting from distance.

A familiar name rises to the top in last summer’s target Nico Paz. The 20-year-old has developed rapidly at Italian side Como, a dependable source of attacking inspiration on the way to qualifying for the Champions League for the first time. He takes great responsibility when it comes to demanding the ball and driving his team up the pitch with surging runs, and is not shy around the penalty area, with only Mbappe, Haaland and Deniz Undav taking more non-penalty shots last season.

As we can see from his goal contribution map below, he can pop up with a moment of magic from range, and likes to float into spaces and sweep passes across the attacking third.

However, Como announced Paz was staying in Italy last month and that former club Real Madrid “retains the right” to re-sign him in the future. A deal looks complicated and unlikely for Spurs, which is exactly why it would qualify as a “bomba” if they managed it.

Our data search throws up an exciting alternative in Can Uzun.

Also just 20, the Eintracht Frankfurt winger can play across the front line, possesses a similarly devastating strike from distance, and is difficult to barge off the ball in tight spaces.

His player-profile dashboard below illustrates his creative ability from outside the box, maintaining a strong goal threat while moving the ball forward with his passing.

While De Zerbi can rely on James Maddison next season in the absence of Xavi, a deal for an expansive, ambitious attacking midfielder like Uzun would provide excellent cover and allow Spurs to get ahead of the market while he develops at the club.

Whatever happens with this mystery potential signing, it is becoming increasingly clear that Spurs are building their strongest squad in a long time under De Zerbi.

David Gray has gone from being slated to serenaded by Hibernian fans in the space of seven days.

Make no mistake, the head coach was under pressure after his side’s torrid display in Kosovo last week.

Supporters who had travelled to eastern Europe made it abundantly clear what they thought of their team’s 2-0 first-leg defeat by Malisheva with their Conference League hopes on the brink.

The head coach stressed the result – and the manner of it – were unacceptable, but the only way to answer doubters is on the park.

In the second half at Easter Road on Thursday, with Hibs four goals to the good on the night and on their way to an aggregate victory, Gray’s name was sung to the rafters.

His iconic status is untouchable. That’s what a winning goal in a Scottish Cup final win does, but these chants were not for his Hampden heroics as a player, rather for the way his team had responded to adversity.

They flew out of the blocks, led by the evergreen Martin Boyle, and had wiped out the two-goal deficit within 15 minutes.

By the time Boyle danced past several bewildered defenders and made it 4-0, it seemed as though Hibs could do no wrong.

Yes, there was a drop-off in the last 20 minutes and Malisheva got a goal back, but Gray wanted to focus on the positives post-match.

“We spoke about the intensity we want to play at, the intent from the start to play forward, run forward and get the crowd behind us,” he said.

“I saw it in training and they fully deserved to win tonight. We should have been out of sight, we hit the woodwork a couple of times and missed three or four big chances.

“That goal at the end made it a little bit edgy but at the same time, the players deserved what they got tonight. Delighted for them.”

Gray was asked if there was a sense of relief after last week and he admitted the enjoyment he takes from winning is only fleeting.

“It’s different for a coach winning games to being a player,” he said. “Relief kicks in and then it’s the next game.

“You enjoy it for two minutes and then on to the next one.”

The Premier League looks set to welcome another young head coach.

Matthias Jaissle, 38, is set to take over at Newcastle United after Eddie Howe’s departure, as reported by The Athletic. That would make him the second-youngest manager or head coach in the English top flight behind Brighton & Hove Albion’s Fabian Hurzeler (33), and one of nine aged 45 or under.

Jaissle will leave Saudi Pro League side Al Ahli, who, like Newcastle, are majority-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), after three years at the helm. The German has won trophies there but is better known in Europe for a successful two-season stint at Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg from 2021-23.

The Athletic breaks down what we can expect from Jaissle once he is in situ at St James’ Park.

Jaissle’s managerial career began in 2014 with assistant roles for German side RB Leipzig’s youth teams and at Denmark’s Brondby. That was followed by spells in charge of Salzburg’s under-18s and with sister club FC Liefering before he was named Salzburg’s first-team coach in 2021.

He had an immediate impact. Salzburg won the Austrian Bundesliga that season, in which their Champions League campaign turned heads. Jaissle’s side beat his former team Brondby in the qualifiers before home wins against Sevilla, Lille and Wolfsburg helped them make the round of 16 for the first time. There, they held their own against Bayern Munich in the first leg, drawing 1-1, but were beaten 7-1 in the decider in Bavaria.

Jaissle had laid down a tactical marker, though. Across that Champions League campaign, Salzburg ranked third among competing clubs for possession wins in the midfield third, with 28.5 per 90 minutes. They also ranked first for sequences of two or fewer passes at 104.3 per 90. Counter-pressing and direct play were at the heart of their success, and that has carried over following his move to Saudi Arabia.

“I want stress on the opponent as soon as possible,” Jaissle said in conversation with The Athletic in January, two and a half years into his time with Jeddah-based Al Ahli, where he has won successive Asian Champions League titles in 2025 and 2026. “And when we win the ball, I want to go as quickly as possible towards the opponents’ goal. I’m very vertical in that approach.”

Al Ahli often line up in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-1-2 shape, and their midfielders stay close to win back possession immediately after they lose the ball. We see this in their 2-0 loss to Al Nassr in April, after a turnover in possession creates the chance for a line-breaking pass.

The pass is completed, but Al Ahli (white dots) instantly have two men moving to pressure the opponent in possession. He passes, but that triggers two more Al Ahli players to push up onto its intended receiver.

Al Ahli instantly try to close down the player now in possession…

… and when he passes to a team-mate, two more push up to do the same.

Al Nassr manage to complete two more passes but a foul stops them going any further.

Bold jumps from defence and work rate in midfield are keys to this approach — one that Newcastle executed brilliantly in their best stretches under Howe.

Against more settled build-up play, Al Ahli use a mix of man-marking and jumps to crowd the player in possession and force teams wide — another tactic with which the Newcastle squad will be accustomed.

In the example below from that same match, Al Nassr try to build from the back using a midfielder dropping deep but are forced out to the flanks by Al Ahli’s compact shape, with their midfielders man-marking their counterparts.

When Al Nassr go wide, the full-back jumps to create pressure from both sides, while the midfielders continue to follow their assignments. Even if their opponents complete a risky pass into midfield, Al Ahli have four players in position to counter-press.

Al Nassr ultimately go backwards, triggering a press that sees their goalkeeper launching the ball long.

The verticality of Jaissle’s sides comes from having pacy forwards in positions to run in behind as soon as their team win possession.

Below, against Machida Zelvia of Japan in April’s Asian Champions League final, Al Ahli force a turnover in midfield and instantly have striker Ivan Toney and winger Galeno running beyond the back line. Both attackers are wide to force centre-backs into uncomfortable and large spaces, and the move ends with a shot at goal.

Jaissle has experimented with a couple of different shapes when building up from deep depending on the opposition.

Below, in the Champions League semi-final against another Japanese side in Vissel Kobe, he uses just the two centre-backs fanning wide and the left-back inverting to open a passing lane to holding midfielder Franck Kessie.

The pass to Kessie triggers a Vissel jump towards the right-sided centre-back, but that in turn creates a lane for him to pass to the right-back, who can then carry the ball forward unopposed with Al Ahli having taken five opposition players out of the equation.

Against teams who sit deeper, a holding midfielder often drops between the centre-backs to form a back three.

The focus remains the same: get the ball early to the wide players, who have the freedom to express themselves with the full-backs offering support.

Salzburg ranked fifth for take-ons in the penalty area in that 2021-22 Champions League campaign with 24, and first for low crosses into the box with 30. Karim Adeyemi, now of Barcelona, and current Leeds United winger Noah Okafor were effective on both counts for that team, with a combination of skill and well-timed runs in behind.

At Al Ahli, Jaissle has had Riyad Mahrez, Galeno and former Newcastle winger Allan Saint-Maximin to call upon to provide the same. Toney (and ex-Liverpool favourite Roberto Firmino before him) have attacked low balls into the box with purpose, while providing adequate hold-up play too.

Goals like the one below, with Mahrez setting up Toney, epitomise the vertical, direct play Jaissle loves.

Gabi Veiga ➡️ Riyad Mahrez ➡️ Ivan Toney ⚽

Al Ahli’s stars link-up 🤩 pic.twitter.com/vrKOJ0bGRB

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) February 17, 2025

Defending from the front has been a key feature of Al Ahli conceding only 61 goals in 68 matches across the past two Saudi Pro League seasons, the least of any team.

The strategy is not without flaws, though, and a second of indecision or a late jump can result in teams easily bearing down on their defence. Nasaf Qarshi of Uzbekistan do that in the example below, from a league-phase match in the Asian Champions League last September.

By positioning their midfielders higher up the pitch, Nasaf open a passing lane to their left-back, which creates indecision on Al Ahli’s right. Toney pushes onto the centre-back, but right-back Ali Majrashi now has two players to mark and is a second late to close down midfielder Oybek Bozorov.

Bozorov turns away and can thread a pass through the gaps in Al Ahli’s unsettled defence to send Khusain Norchaev in behind to score.

The preference for direct play in attack can come at a cost when they turn the ball over, too.

Below, once more from that match against Al Nassr, Al Ahli’s players are too far apart after a turnover, allowing for an easy switch of play from right to left in midfield. The move ends in a shot that goalkeeper Edouard Mendy saves as the defence drops deeper to protect the box.

A commitment to the mid-block and positioning wingers high up the pitch can leave Jaissle’s teams narrow in midfield and defence. That leaves them vulnerable to opponents who move the ball out wide at pace.

Al Ahli also struggled while defending set pieces at times last season. Their man-marking-heavy approach and instructions to guard the six-yard box meant lapses in concentration, and corners worked to the near post or penalty spot caused them issues.

Jaissle’s tactics should have some echoes of Howe’s style of play with Newcastle, especially in pressing strategies, albeit the German’s teams are more vertical in attack and daring in shutting down the midfield.

Anthony Elanga, who can beat full-backs on either side and is a good runner in behind, should be optimistic after a poor first season on Tyneside, as should summer arrival Bazoumana Toure and long-serving wide man Jacob Murphy. Nick Woltemade, who is better at hold-up play than being the target man he was at times required to be in his 2025-26 debut year, could benefit too.

A physical senior midfielder, regardless of whether Arsenal target Bruno Guimaraes departs or not, is a necessity for Jaissle’s counter-pressing style. New signing Ewen Jaouen, if given the chance, might be a better fit than Nick Pope in goal, due to his proactivity in sweeping up. Neither ’keeper is exceptional at building out from the back, but they should fit in if Jaissle prioritises a more direct style.

A new era awaits at St James’ Park, but one with some throwbacks to the previous regime.