Tottenham Hotspur shocked the Premier League with the signings of Sandro Tonali and Mateusz Fernandez.
Never the bride, always the bridesmaid, Spurs have spent £100m on Tonali and £85m on Fernandes, threatening to finally join the elite ranks of English football.
This is not usually how white lilies behave. It would be wrong to say they are pinch-hits, but they rarely sign the best players in English football. However, after nearly being relegated, something had to change.
That said, while it’s still early days, Tonali looks more like the new Tanguy Ndombele than the new Moussa Dembélé. The club’s recruitment has once again been questioned, particularly in attack. They are yet to score any goals in the league this season.
What makes Dembele so special
After joining Tottenham Hotspur, Tonali and Fernandez hope to follow in the footsteps of Dembele. The Belgian is a wonder in north London and is undoubtedly the finest midfielder to grace Tottenham’s midfield in the past decade.
What makes him so special? Well, we’ll let some of his colleagues speak here. Kyle Walker even previously described him as “the best ball carrier I’ve ever seen.” Eric Dier, meanwhile, claims “he’s a monster and he has ballerina’s feet.”
Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere is also a fan, saying the former Tottenham midfielder’s “dribbling is a joke”.
In this respect, he is one of the best players in England’s top flight. In the 2016/17 season, Dembele averaged 2.6 dribbles per game. For context, only five players have completed more; Alexis Sanchez, Wilfried Zaha and Eden Hazard are all among them, so he’s in good company.
During his time at Tottenham, he made 249 appearances, scoring 10 goals and assisting 11 times. He never got too far forward but his performances in midfield were outstanding.
However, all good things must come to an end.
Why Spurs replaced Dembele with Ndombele
In the winter of 2019, Dembele left Tottenham for China. Their replacements arrived the following summer. This player is Ndombele.
He signed for a then-club transfer record fee of £55 million, but it’s safe to say he never lived up to the hype.
On paper, he looks like the perfect replacement for Dembélé. Strong, aggressive, confident, technically elegant, the Frenchman looks like another Paul Pogba. This is exactly the kind of midfielder Spurs need to support the midfield.
Sadly, his time in north London was marred by inefficiency and a bad attitude. Jose Mourinho once outlined: “We [Spurs] It has to start with him as a No.10. He doesn’t have the discipline, strength or stamina to be a midfielder. ” These are indeed damning words.
His time at Spurs was so bad that he was loaned out three times, first to his former club Lyon, then to Napoli and Galatasaray. None of these spells allowed him to regain his form and he eventually left on a free transfer in 2024.
Why Spurs face a repeat of Ndombele
From one of Tottenham’s best ever midfielders to one of the worst signings in their history, it’s safe to say that this transfer didn’t go well. In fact, it was a disaster.
Of course, replacing a cult hero isn’t easy. They are icons for a reason. They are very rare players. Seven years after leaving White Hart Lane, Dembélé is arguably still missed.
Today, a similar situation is playing out, and it’s happening at the top of the pitch.
In 2024, Tottenham finally said goodbye to Harry Kane. Like Dembélé, he is an icon in these areas. In fact, he is much more than that. He is a legend. No player has scored more goals for Spurs (280). He was 14 years ahead of the great Jimmy Greaves.
It’s impossible to replace this level of output. Even so, Dominic Solanke is not the man they need. This is arguably the biggest relegation since Dembele’s move to Ndombele.
To take the pressure off the forward, he enjoyed a productive first season in the capital, scoring 16 goals after joining from Bournemouth for £65m.
The similarities to the Ndombele deal are obvious. Spurs needed to replace a great player and they did it by breaking their transfer record. That’s the problem.
Solanke’s goals this season | ||
|---|---|---|
season | game | Target |
2020/21 | 43 | 15 |
2021/22 | 48 | 30 |
2022/23 | 35 | 7 |
2023/24 | 42 | twenty one |
2024/25 | 45 | 16 |
2025/26 | 20 | 6 |
2026/27 | 5 | 1 |
Solanke hasn’t been a disaster, but his £65m transfer fee now looks too low for the level of performance seen. The center did miss a lot of games last season due to injury, but he still only scored 6 goals in 20 games. This is not a record for a highly-priced striker.
The problem with this terminology goes deeper. The former Chelsea and Liverpool man did score against Charlton, but like many of his colleagues, he is yet to score in the Premier League this season. His performance against Everton on Saturday signaled their relegation.
Solanke only played 63 minutes. During that time, he touched the ball just 20 times and completed 12 passes. While he’s happy to play deep and link up play like Kane, his work on the ball is unparalleled. He failed to complete a key pass or complete a dribble against the Toffees.
Furthermore, to sum up Tottenham’s woes in the final third, he didn’t have a single shot on goal. For a player worth so much, the number of times he has been missing from games is unacceptable.
The hierarchy did sign Omar Mamouche in the summer and over time they hope he can replicate Kane’s numbers better than Solanke.