Photo: MichaelEmilio / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0

Tuesday marked the end of the summer transfer window, and with it, English football fans finally exhaled. Nowhere was that exhale louder than in North London.

Tottenham Hotspur endured possibly their greatest overhaul of personnel in one summer to date, making 10 additions, moving on plenty and spending over 300 million pounds.

Roberto De Zerbi has insisted with so much change it will take time for Spurs to get to their very best which, frankly, has been evident in his side’s opening two Premier League games.

But, a window of a magnitude that Tottenham fans have never seen before has soared expectations and De Zerbi will have to get things in order soon enough before pressure begins to mount.

So, without any further ado, here’s all of Tottenham’s major summer signings and departures graded.

Summer Arrivals

Andy Robertson

Position: Left-Back

Age: 32

Former Club: Liverpool

Fee: Free transfer

Grade: C

Andy Robertson undoubtedly adds some much needed experience and a winning mentality that Spurs have so sorely missed in almost all of their modern existence. The Scotsman won it all at Liverpool and of his time was amongst the best full-backs in world football.

The key phrase there, however, is ‘of his time’.

There were concerns amongst Liverpool fans and management that Robertson’s legs had started to go over the course of the past one ot two seasons. In fact, Milos Kerkez was brought in to replace him in the summer of 2025.

Whilst it certainly isn’t a bad signing, it can’t be lauded as a good one. A great asset to the dressing room - yes. A great asset on pitch at his age - not so much.

Free but mediocre, hence C.

Marcos Senesi

Position: Centre-Back

Age: 29

Former Club: AFC Bournemouth

Fee: Free transfer

Grade: A

Senesi won Bournemouth’s player of the season last time out and in all honesty eyebrows were raised across the Premier League when he chose Tottenham over other offers in England.

Last season the Argentine ranked amongst the highest in the league for line-breaking progressive passes even grabbing 5 assists alongside 11 clean sheets.

It’s a signing that won’t necessarily excite fans but it represents astute business for an extremely solid, Premier League proven, ball-playing centre-half who will provide genuinely capable cover in defence.

A real coup for Spurs - A.

Jan Paul van Hecke

Position: Centre-Back

Age: 26

Former Club: Brighton and Hove Albion

Fee: £52 million

Grade: B

Cristian Romero’s exit was always inevitable this past transfer window and Spurs will have known prior to its opening that they had to replace him with quality.

With Roberto De Zerbi essentially given full control to dictate every Tottenham signing this summer, in defence he turned to one of his former stars, Jan Paul van Hecke.

Van Hecke is another defender who enjoyed an excellent campaign last season. Like Senesi, his numbers in terms of ball progression impress and he perfectly emulates a stereotypical De Zerbi centre-back.

The Dutchman is an ample replacement for Spurs’ former captain despite a few teething problems in his first few starts for the club. The fee seems a little over the top considering the player only had a year left on his deal at Brighton, so the signing cannot really be graded higher than a B.

Martin Dúbravka

Position: Goalkeeper

Age: 37

Former Club: Burnley

Fee: Free transfer

Grade: C

Making up Spurs’ third and final free transfer of the window is veteran goalkeeper, Martin Dúbravka.

The Slovenian was released by Burnley at the end of the season following the club’s relegation and subsequently signed by Tottenham to add cover for Antonin Kinsky. Seemingly, the pair have struck up a very friendly relationship already.

Dúbravka has previously played for Newcastle and Manchester United and probably won’t feature all that much for the Lilywhites - C.

Mateus Fernandes

Position: Central Midfield

Age: 21

Former club: West Ham

Fee: £85 million

Grade: A*

Far and away Tottenham’s finest bit of business of the summer, Mateus Fernandes has been a shining light in early dark performances and looks as though he can be a real superstar.

It was a fee that many initially gawked at considering Fernandes had suffered back-to-back relegations but looking at fees paid for Ayyoub Bouaddi and co, the price seems fairly reasonable.

The former West Ham man is an all-action midfielder capable of playing a number of positions in the centre of the park and massively raises the bar for a midfield that was too often overrun last campaign.

Fernandes will make up the spine of a Tottenham team for years to come at just 21 years of age - an incredible buy, A*.

Sandro Tonali

Position: Central Midfield

Age: 26

Former club: Newcastle

Fee: £100 million

Grade: A

Tottenham laid down a marker of intent when they broke their transfer record for the second time of the summer window to land Sandro Tonali amid interest from both Manchester City and Arsenal.

De Zerbi was key in bringing the Italian to the club as one of his priority targets and Tonali is certainly a calibre above the likes of Connor Gallagher, Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Bergvall.

He will be tasked with the role of sitting in front of the back four, making plenty defensive actions and progressing the ball forward with quality. Whilst his first few performances have been pretty forgettable, his portfolio of work at Newcastle suggests he will become a highly important player for the Lilywhites

I do wonder, however, if Spurs could have shopped around a bit more and potentially picked up a Lamine Camara of AS Monaco or Mamadou Sangare now of Brentford who may have been able to emulate Tonali’s role to at least the same standard for half the price.

Nonetheless a top-class player and a definite floor raiser so an A.

Sávio

Position: Right-Wing/Left-Wing

Age: 22

Former club: Manchester City

Fee: £75 million

Grade: B

The whole Spurs fanbase breathed a deep sigh of relief when this deal, which was over a year in the making, finally got over the line deep into August.

Just a few days later, Sávio grabbed a goal and assist on debut against Charlton Athletic and Tottenham fans felt they might have just unearthed a genuine world-beater.

Just a few days after that he was ruled out of a home game against Newcastle with injury. The life of a Spurs fan hey?

All that aside, the Brazilian does have the potential to be an excellent signing for the club especially with the lack of spark in a forward sense since the departures Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son.

At Girona Sávio lit LaLiga alight, registering 19 goals and assists and earning a move to Man City. There have been glimpses of that form in England but his overall body of work in the Premier League is not strong enough yet to grade him higher than a B.

Omar Marmoush

Position: Striker/Left-Wing/Attacking Midfield

Age: 27

Former club: Manchester City

Fee: Loan (with obligation to buy at £60 million)

Grade: B

To complete the double swoop from City, Spurs completed the signing of Marmoush just days after Sávio for a fee that seemed very reasonable in the current market.

Whilst, like Sávio, Marmoush hasn’t been able to replicate form shown at his former club, the Egyptian is another certain upgrade in attack. The 27-year-old can play a number of positions across the frontline and has shown he can score goals in the Premier League.

His directness, ball-striking and willingness to shoot is something Tottenham have sorely missed and De Zerbi will hope the goals will begin to flow.

Another improvement but again, he needs to prove himself. B.

Mykhaylo Mudryk

Position: Left-Wing

Age: 25

Former club: Chelsea

Fee: Loan (with £75 million buy option)

Grade: E

After losing out on Ndiaye, Tottenham pivoted quickly and scoured the Premier League, as they did all summer, for an alternative winger option. They landed on Roberto De Zerbi’s former prodigy, Mykhaylo Mudryk. De Zerbi had nurtured the then-young, talented Ukrainian at Shakhtar Donetsk and Spurs acted decisively to bring him to the club on an initial loan.

It’s not a move that has really inspired any of the fanbase.

Mudryk hasn’t played a competitive match having been banned for 2 years following forbidden drug usages. Before that, he failed quite miserably to impress in England.

Maybe De Zerbi can re-unlock his talent, but quite honestly I think the fanbase would have much rather had Mikey Moore stay or Luca Williams-Barnett been given a greater role in the squad.

All feels a bit Timo Werner or Randal Kolo-Muani to me - E.

Tosin Adarabioyo

Position: Centre-Back

Age: 28

Former club: Chelsea

Fee: £10 million

Grade: D

The end to Tottenham’s transfer window did slightly tarnish all the good work they had done in the months before.

Tosin Adarabioyo was confirmed as a Spurs player on deadline day, like Mudryk, to fill the Kevin Danso-shaped hole following the Austrian’s move to Sunderland.

Adarabioyo, formerly of Man City and Fulham actually turned down an approach from the Lilywhites before a move to Chelsea, something the fanbase has been quick to mention since his arrival at Hotspur Way.

He seems like a downgrade on Danso but he is homegrown which is something Tottenham were clearly after - D.

Summer Departures

Alejo Veliz

Position: Striker

Age: 22

New club: EC Bahia

Fee: £7.7 million

Grade: B

Alejo Veliz’s Tottenham career never once got going.

The Argentinian striker joined from Rosario Central in 2024, featured 8 times in Lilywhite, scoring a single goal in that time and was sent out on loan thrice. He joined for a fee of around £12 million and Spurs seem to have recouped over half of that which is impressive seeing the player’s stocks have plummeted since his arrival.

It was time to move on, B.

Alfie Devine

Position: Attacking Midfielder

Age: 21

New club: Preston North End

Fee: £4.5 million

Grade: B

When Alfie Devine joined Spurs from Wigan Athletic in 2020 at just 16 years of age, there was real noise around him being one of the most exciting prospects in England. Alas, the Englishman was never really given a chance.

He did however become Tottenham’s youngest player and goalscorer in the FA Cup during a 5-0 win against non-league outlet Marine.

Devine was sent on loan 4 times, most recently to Preston North End who this summer decided they wanted to keep the player permanently.

It’s a fee albeit not a big one for an asset Spurs were not going to use, B.

Luka Vuskovic

Position: Centre-Back

Age: 19

New club: Brighton and Hove Albion

Fee: £50 million

Grade: F

I really do worry that this might be looked back on as a catastrophic mistake from the Tottenham hierarchy.

Luka Vuskovic was one of the most sought-after young prospects in world football at the start of the summer, having starred in the Bundesliga on loan at Hamburg. During his time in Germany he won the 2025 Bundesliga goal of the year, 4 rookie of the month awards, player of the season so far (mid-season), young player of the season and was named in the league’s team of the year.

Vuskovic signed for Spurs at just 16 and was yet to register a competitive appearance but the feeling was he would be integrated into the squad this season.

Pressure from agents and his entourage proved too much for the Lilywhites who sanctioned his sale in essentially a swap for Jan Paul van Hecke - something that they will come to regret.

Vuskovic has impressed early at Brighton and no doubt will be sold for well over double what they paid for him.

Spurs have lost potentially the best young defender in world football and had to do more to keep the Croatian - F.

Will Lankshear

Position: Striker

Age: 21

New club: Middlesbrough

Fee: £10 million

Grade: D

Another one that I think the club will come to regret, Will Lankshear has started his Middlesbrough career with a flourish with 6 goals in as many games.

Spurs really do lack goals especially through the middle and Lankshear, whilst unproven, is a born goalscorer. The Englishman impressed on loan at Oxford United last time out and considering Tottenham didn’t end up signing an out-and-out striker, it would have made sense to give the young talisman some game time.

Should Lankshear continue at his current rate, he’ll be worth quadruple what Tottenham let him go for in no time - D.

Manor Solomon

Position: Left-Wing

Age: 27

New club: West Ham

Fee: £5 million

Grade: B

It was time to go for Manor Solomon, that is not up for dispute.

The Israeli winger had been sent out on loan in successive seasons and was not part of Roberto De Zerbi’s plans despite featuring heavily in pre-season.

Spurs acquired Solomon for free following his impressive spell at Fulham and the winger is another who couldn’t get a consistent spell of minutes since his arrival.

It’s profit on a player whose time was up - B.

Radu Dragusin

Position: Centre-Back

Age: 24

New club: Fiorentina

Fee: Loan (with £21 million obligation to buy)

Grade: A

This was undoubtedly a good bit of business from Spurs. Radu Dragusin hadn’t impressed in Lilywhite, had fallen down the pecking order for defenders at the club and was not a part of Tottenham’s future.

Despite all this, Spurs should recoup almost all of the fee they paid for the Romanian in 2024. A good sale - A.

Ashley Phillips

Position: Centre-Back

Age: 21

New club: Middlesbrough

fee: £7 million

Grade: A

Signed in 2023 for £2 million, Ashley Phillips couldn’t quite break into the Spurs squad despite doing well on loan in the Championship.

That’s where the Englishman will stay for now, joining Will Lankshear at Middlesbrough.

Spurs made a decent profit on the defender and the fee may even continue to rise based on performance-based add-ons.

Another sound piece of business from Spurs - A.

Djed Spence

Position: Right-Back/Left-Back

Age: 26

New club: Inter Milan

Fee: £26 million

Grade: E

This seemed a really strange one. The fee, the lack of desire to keep an England international who just shone at the World Cup, the lack of replacement - a lot doesn’t add up.

Firstly, £26 million is surely at least half of what the player is worth.

Secondly, he had just proved on the world stage that he can impress against the very best in football.

Thirdly, he was not replaced so Archie Gray, a natural midfielder, will again be thrown into an unnatural position should Pedro Porro succumb to injury.

A poor deal all round - E.

Cristian Romero

Position: Centre-Back

Age: 28

New club: Atletico Madrid

Fee: £34 million

Grade: D

Spurs continued to sell at a discounted price when they sanctioned a move for former captain Cristian Romero.

Jeremy Jacquet, £55 million. Maxence Lacroix, £52 million. Ezri Konsa, £51 million. Cristian Romero, £34 million? It’s another massive undersale of a player who, love him or hate him, would start in almost every team in world football.

The only upside of the deal is that Spurs managed to move on a player who had been quite disruptive in the dressing room and wanted fresh scenery.

It has to be a D.

Guglielmo Vicario

Position: Goalkeeper

Age: 29

New club: Juventus

Fee: Loan (with £8.5 million buy option)

Grade: C

When Roberto De Zerbi announced that Antonin Kinsky was set to be his number 1 for the 2026/27 season, Guglielmo Vicario’s departure became inevitable.

Frankly, Vicario had not impressed at Spurs, bar a decent first season, since his arrival from Empoli and it was time for a fresh face between the sticks.

That being said an option to buy at just £8.5 million seems below what the player is worth. What’s more, there’s a chance Juventus do not even exercise that option and the Italian returns to the club next year.

Right time to go but wrong deal to shake on - C.

Pape Matar Sarr

Position: Central Midfield

Age: 23

New club: Juventus

Fee: Loan (with £23.7 million obligation to buy)

Grade: A

I think it’d be hard to find a Spurs fan who doesn’t like Pape Sarr both as an individual and as a footballer.

The Senegalese became a fan favourite at the club during Ange Postecoglou’s spell at the club, serving as an all-action midfielder with a never-say-die attitude.

His minutes had been reduced in this past season and in all honesty he is not currently at the level where Spurs want to be despite his best efforts.

Sarr made it clear he wanted to leave and Spurs should be set to pick up a tidy profit on a player who, whilst young, has been a good servant for the club - A.

Kevin Danso

Position: Centre-Back

Age: 27

New club: Sunderland

Fee: Loan (with £22.5 million obligation to buy)

Grade: D

It’s fair to say this departure broke a few hearts amongst the Spurs fanbase. Kevin Danso, whilst not an immediate starter, had proved himself to be a really valuable asset to the club and also a genuinely likeable figure.

Roberto De Zerbi after Spurs’ loss to Newcastle announced that the Austrian had asked to leave and Sunderland acted decisively to secure his signature.

The structure of the deal is not necessarily bad, Spurs will earn £2.5 million in loan fees and £22.5 million if Sunderland stay in the Premier League meaning the deal becomes permanent.

But, the Lilywhites have lost a player who is not only a fan favourite but also very reliable when called upon and replaced him with someone who is, simply put, not as good - D.