Tottenham's Summer Transfers: Gakpo, Savinho, and the Balogun Impact

Tottenham’s quiet summer may be about to detonate.

With the new season a week away, the club’s attacking rebuild is finally taking shape, and Roberto De Zerbi’s plans are coming into focus. Cody Gakpo and Savinho have been identified as the two marquee additions to jolt an underwhelming forward line back to life. Now it’s about how – and where – they fit.

Savinho the livewire, Gakpo the reshaper

Savinho looks the likelier of the two to arrive first. Long linked with a move to N17, the Manchester City winger is understood to be keen on working under De Zerbi, and Tottenham’s need out wide is obvious.

Randal Kolo Muani has gone after a miserable loan spell. Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert are both facing extended spells out. The wing options have thinned alarmingly.

In the short term, Savinho shapes as the direct stand-in for Mohammed Kudus on the right. Kudus has not featured in pre-season, even if his recent return to training offers a glimmer of encouragement. A left-footer cutting in from the right, Savinho would bring a different profile and some much-needed thrust.

Longer term, the picture changes. Savinho has been praised by analyst and Como scout Ben Mattinson for the way he drives in off the left and finishes with a Gareth Bale-like ferocity from that side. De Zerbi could easily flip him over to that flank once Kudus is fully back, using him as a more direct, goal-hunting wide forward.

That’s where Gakpo comes into the equation.

The Dutchman has mostly operated off the left for Liverpool, but he is not a classic touchline winger. He doesn’t live on raw pace or one-v-one trickery. His game is built around movement, timing and end product. That naturally nudges him towards a central role.

There is a growing belief that De Zerbi would use Gakpo as a false nine, dropping between the lines, linking play and arriving late in the box. The numbers back up the idea: according to Transfermarkt, Gakpo has scored 18 goals in 66 games when used as a striker or false nine at Liverpool – solid, if not spectacular.

Useful, yes. Definitive, no. And that’s the point. Those returns hint at a player who can operate centrally, but they also underline why Spurs are still eyeing a more orthodox number nine before the window shuts.

Richarlison, Solanke and the Balogun question

That brings the spotlight onto Tottenham’s current centre-forward stable – and the growing sense that one of Richarlison or Dominic Solanke could be moved on to make room.

Richarlison’s situation feels closest to a tipping point. The Brazilian is into the final year of his contract, and De Zerbi has openly admitted the 29-year-old is weighing up whether to stay or go. Earlier this summer, Football FanCast reported that Spurs were preparing to sell him. Nothing since has cooled that notion.

Solanke’s case is different. An exit is less likely, but not off the table. Nottingham Forest have shown interest, and while the 28-year-old has worked hard, 12 league goals across two seasons is hardly the return of an untouchable starter.

If one of them goes, the plan is clear. As reported by TEAMtalk, ENIC would look to cash in on either Richarlison or Solanke before accelerating their push for Folarin Balogun. Tottenham are described as the frontrunners for the Monaco striker, with a deal expected to cost around £51m.

The former Arsenal forward is understood to be keen on a Premier League return and, crucially, is willing to join Spurs. Talks are still at an early stage, nowhere near the finishing line, but the outlines of a potential statement signing are already visible.

And make no mistake, Balogun would be exactly that.

Why Balogun changes the conversation

Gakpo and Savinho would both lift Tottenham’s attacking quality, but neither arrives with the same sense of upward momentum as Balogun.

Gakpo has divided opinion at Anfield and has yet to hit double figures in a single Premier League season since arriving from PSV Eindhoven. Savinho, for his part, finished the 2025/26 league campaign with just one goal and one assist, still searching for consistency at the top level.

Balogun, by contrast, comes off a season that quietly underlines his ceiling. In Ligue 1 last term, the United States international scored 13 goals and added four assists for Monaco. For context, Gakpo managed seven goals and five assists in the Premier League over the same period.

On the biggest stages, Balogun has looked just as sharp. He struck three times in four World Cup appearances, leading the line for Mauricio Pochettino’s side and causing constant problems with his movement and aggression. In the Champions League, he added five goals in ten games, a reminder of the ruthless edge he showed when he hit 21 Ligue 1 goals on loan at Reims in 2022/23.

Injuries have interrupted his rise since that breakout year, but the talent is not in question. At £51m, Tottenham would be buying a forward with genuine upside, a striker who already knows how to carry an attack and who still has room to grow.

There is another layer to it as well. Balogun is a Hale End graduate. If he were to cross the divide, thrive in Lilywhite and leave Arsenal regretting their decision to sell him, the symbolism would be powerful – just as it once was with a certain Harry Kane.

That sort of narrative cuts deep in north London. It also underlines why, if Spurs can pull it off, Balogun might end up being an even bigger statement signing than either Gakpo or Savinho.

If he walks through the door, Richarlison and Solanke won’t just be glancing over their shoulders. They’ll know the fight for Tottenham’s number nine shirt has truly begun.