Tottenham's Summer Plans: Gakpo, Savinho, and Balogun
Tottenham’s quiet summer might be about to detonate.
With a week to go before the new season, the club’s attack – so often the talking point since Harry Kane’s departure – is again at the centre of the story. This time, though, there’s a clear plan. Roberto De Zerbi has circled two names in red: Cody Gakpo and Savinho.
Both would change the face of Spurs’ forward line. One might not even be the biggest statement.
De Zerbi’s wide reboot: where Savinho and Gakpo fit
Savinho first. The Manchester City winger has been on Tottenham’s radar for months and is viewed inside the club as the likelier of the two to arrive before the deadline. At 22, left‑footed and fearless, he drops into a squad that has been stripped of wide options.
Randal Kolo Muani’s unhappy loan spell is over. Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert are still some way from returning to full fitness. The flanks, once a strength, suddenly look thin.
That’s where Savinho walks in. In the short term, he profiles as the natural stand‑in for Mohammed Kudus on the right. Kudus has missed pre-season entirely, only recently stepping back into training, and Spurs cannot afford to start the campaign with a hole on that side.
Yet Savinho’s long-term role may be different. Those who have tracked him closely, including analyst and Como scout Ben Mattinson, have praised his work cutting in from the left, drawing comparisons to Gareth Bale’s driving, diagonal finishes from that channel. De Zerbi likes his wingers to attack the half-spaces aggressively; Savinho off the left fits that picture perfectly.
Then comes the Cody Gakpo question.
At Liverpool, the Dutchman has spent most of his time off the left. He is not the classic touchline winger – not a player who lives on beating full-backs with raw pace or a flurry of stepovers. His game leans towards end product: movement in the box, timing, finishing.
That’s why there’s a growing belief he could be used as a false nine in north London. The numbers back it up to a point. According to Transfermarkt, Gakpo has scored 18 goals in 66 appearances as a striker or false nine for Liverpool. Not elite, not poor. Solid. The kind of platform a coach like De Zerbi might feel he can refine.
Yet that stat line also hints at something else: if Gakpo arrives, he may not be the final answer through the middle.
Centre-forward shake-up: Richarlison, Solanke and the Balogun card
Tottenham’s current centre-forward department feels fragile. Inside the club, there’s an acceptance that one of Richarlison or Dominic Solanke could move on before the window closes.
Richarlison’s situation is the most pressing. He has just a year left on his deal, and De Zerbi has been open about the Brazilian weighing up his future. Earlier this summer, Football FanCast reported that Spurs are preparing to cash in. For a 29-year-old whose form has fluctuated, this might be the last chance to secure a meaningful fee.
Solanke is different. At 28, he is under less pressure to go, and an exit is not considered as likely. Yet there is interest. Nottingham Forest have been linked, and his record – 12 league goals across two seasons in north London – is hardly enough to make him untouchable.
The calculation from ENIC is simple: move one on, then go hard for a new number nine.
That is where Folarin Balogun enters the frame.
TEAMtalk report that Spurs have emerged as frontrunners for the Monaco striker, with a fee of around £51m expected to be required. The former Arsenal forward is understood to be keen on a Premier League return and, crucially, open to the idea of joining Tottenham.
Talks are still at an early stage. Nothing is advanced, no agreement in place. Yet if Spurs pull it off, this could be the signing that defines their window – and perhaps even overshadows moves for Gakpo and Savinho.
Why Balogun feels like the real statement
Gakpo’s time at Anfield has divided opinion. He has never broken the 10-goal barrier in a Premier League season since arriving from PSV Eindhoven, and while his versatility is valued, he has not yet fully convinced as a top-tier finisher in England.
Savinho, for all his potential, is still waiting for his breakout. He finished the 2025/26 league campaign with just one goal and one assist, a reminder that he remains a project rather than a ready-made star.
Balogun’s recent record tells a different story.
In Ligue 1 last season, the United States international scored 13 goals and added four assists for Monaco. For comparison, Gakpo managed seven goals and five assists in the Premier League over the same period. Balogun also delivered on the biggest stages: three goals in four World Cup appearances, leading the line in Mauricio Pochettino’s attack and looking every bit the modern, mobile No 9.
He carried that form into Europe, scoring five times in ten Champions League games. Those numbers echo his explosive loan at Reims in 2022/23, when he hit 21 Ligue 1 goals and announced himself as one of Europe’s most intriguing young strikers.
Injuries have interrupted him since, and that is part of the risk baked into a £51m valuation. But the talent is not in doubt. Nor is the narrative.
If Balogun walks into the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and starts scoring, Arsenal will be watching. They sanctioned his sale. Spurs would be the ones reaping the reward, just as they once did when another London club let a certain Harry Kane slip through their grasp as a youth player.
That edge, that sense of turning a rival’s decision into your own advantage, is exactly the kind of statement Daniel Levy has rarely managed in the centre-forward market since Kane left.
For Richarlison and Solanke, the message is blunt. A new nine is being lined up. Gakpo and Savinho could reshape the wings. Balogun, if he arrives, could reshape the entire attack – and possibly the balance of power in north London’s forward lines for years to come.
