Troy Deeney has taken aim at Tottenham Hotspur’s summer rebuild, casting doubt on both the caliber of the club’s incoming players and why top talent would choose to join a side that endured such a poor campaign last term.
Spurs limped to a 17th-place finish, narrowly avoiding the drop, yet have responded with one of the most aggressive spending sprees in the club’s history. Under Roberto De Zerbi, the north London outfit have moved decisively to overhaul the squad, bringing in a string of marquee names as they look to climb back toward the summit of English football.
Jan Paul van Hecke and Mateus Fernandes have already arrived for a combined £137 million — the Dutchman costing roughly £52 million, while Fernandes’ £85 million switch ranks among the most expensive in the club’s history. That outlay looks set to grow further, with Sandro Tonali reportedly closing in on a £100 million move from Newcastle United. Completing that deal would push Tottenham’s total transfer spend to around £237 million across six signings, a group that also includes free-transfer arrivals Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Martin Dubravka.
Supporters have broadly welcomed the financial ambition, but Deeney isn’t buying it. The former Watford striker questioned whether several of the new faces have the right mentality to turn around a team fresh off such a torrid season.
He reserved his sharpest words for Fernandes, suggesting that back-to-back relegation battles cast doubt on the midfielder’s ability to inject the winning mindset De Zerbi’s rebuild demands — arguing players used to losing rarely spark the kind of transformation a club with Tottenham’s ambitions needs.
Deeney didn’t stop there. While conceding van Hecke is a reliable defender, he questioned why a player supposedly among the Premier League’s elite at the back would end up at Spurs. He voiced similar reservations about Robertson, praising his experience and leadership qualities while suggesting his best years are behind him. Senesi also drew scrutiny, with Deeney insisting Tottenham should have aimed higher given the funds at their disposal this summer.
His overall verdict: Spurs are repeating an old habit — paying big money for players he views as solid rather than genuinely top-tier — and he remains unconvinced the strategy will pay off.
That take, though, glosses over the wider picture of how Tottenham typically operate in the transfer market. Spurs have rarely matched the spending power of the league’s biggest clubs; before this summer, Dominic Solanke’s £65 million move stood as their record signing, and the club has long prided itself on a relatively conservative wage structure compared to rivals.
Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United have each sailed past the £80 million mark on multiple deals over the last decade — territory Tottenham have only just entered with their pursuit of Fernandes and Tonali. This summer’s spending spree, then, marks a genuine departure from the club’s usual approach rather than business as usual.
It also underlines just how far De Zerbi is willing to go in reshaping the squad from back to front, strengthening defence, midfield and attack alike as Tottenham look to mount a serious push up the table. Whether Deeney’s skepticism proves warranted won’t be clear until the season gets underway — for now, the rebuild has split opinion, with some seeing the dawn of a new era under De Zerbi and others still waiting to be convinced.
