There has been a drastic changing of the guard during Ange Postecoglou’s tenure at Tottenham with the Australian handed a big batch of teenagers to lower the average of his squad while a number of older, experienced and highly-paid players have left the club for pastures new.
The result has been an inconsistent season, not helped by a huge injury crisis that ravaged the squad for months.
Postecoglou’s future beyond this campaign will be decided by what comes in the months ahead, with Spurs pinning their hopes on success in the Europa League while trying to clamber back up the Premier League table.
Regardless of whoever is in charge of the side, this summer will again bring further changes to the squad with big names potentially departing and youngsters unable to break through and heading off.
With all of that in mind, here are seven first team players who we reckon could leave Tottenham this summer.
We’re not including Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg because his move to Marseille has already been agreed as part of his loan deal.
Yves Bissouma
There are other potential big name departures this summer, not least with the Cristian Romero speculation set to continue unless he signs a new deal with the club, but it feels like Yves Bissouma could be heading towards the exit door unless something drastically changes in the final months of the season.
The midfielder turns 29 this summer and has started just 12 Premier League games this season and 20 in total across all competitions. There have been question marks over his consistency and decision-making, particularly the laughing gas incident that saw him suspended by the club for the opening game of the campaign at Leicester.
With Rodrigo Bentancur expected to hold talks over a new contract, Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray emerging as major talents and the club having an option to sign Johnny Cardoso from Real Betis this summer, it all seems to point towards Bissouma being the odd man out.
The Mali international will also only have one year left on his contract this summer and Tottenham cannot afford to allow him to enter that last 12 months.
Richarlison
After yet another injury-ravaged season, Spurs would no doubt want to cash in if they can on Richarlison this summer.
The most frustrating thing about the Brazilian is that once again when he has been available, the striker, who turns 28 in May, has made an impact and he’s got the ability and fight to make his presence felt.
Unfortunately, he’s just not available enough. Richarlison has started only two Premier League games this season and six in total, with three goals and one assist across 12 appearances.
He has been at Tottenham since 2022 but has started only 32 Premier League matches since that £60million move from Everton.
Ultimately, it will come down to interest in an injury-prone player and also his own willingness to leave as you sense a desire to prove himself still in N17.
However, with two years left on his contract, Spurs are likely to listen to any offers that come in this summer again with a move to the Saudi Pro League constantly mooted.
Sergio Reguilon
To be honest, Sergio Reguilon should not really be at the club any more. It’s been a waste of a season for the Spaniard and the 28-year-old should have departed last summer as he was clearly not part of Postecoglou’s plans.
That’s been evident in the fact that even with the huge injury problems at the club this season, he has only started one match: the FA Cup game at Tamworth. Postecoglou has only used him during matches when there has been no other option.
Spurs are expected to take up the option to extend Ben Davies’ contract beyond this season and with him fitting in as a centre-back, they will likely look for another left-back to compete with Destiny Udogie, while Djed Spence has proved he can play on that flank as well.
Reguilon’s contract comes to a close this summer and after half a decade the two parties will go their separate ways.
Bryan Gil
Bryan Gil is another who has looked more comfortable away from Spurs than he has in wearing the club’s shirt and the 24-year-old’s constant loans back to Spain – three in three seasons – have understandably seen him look far more at home.
There was a lack of interest in the winger last summer in terms of a permanent deal that would have seen Tottenham recoup a reasonable amount of the £21million they paid for him in 2021, with Erik Lamela also heading the other way to Sevilla.
The idea of the season-long loan to Girona was to bump up Gil’s value and get more eyes on him and it might have worked with 31 appearances, four goals and three assists.
With only a year left on his contract when he returns this summer, Spurs will be looking to move Gil on.
From Tottenham’s side, there is no option for Girona to buy him but there were some reports when he left last summer that a change in his contract inserted a €15million (£12.4million) release clause into it.
Whether that’s true or not, Tottenham would probably leap at such a sum with a year left of his deal.
Timo Werner
As second season loans go, the return of Timo Werner has been unsuccessful to say the least. The German has started four Premier League matches and 10 in all competitions, scoring once and providing three assists across 27 appearances.
The Champions League winner earned public criticism from Postecoglou for his poor performance at Rangers in the Europa League and was then left out of the squad entirely for the knockout stages, to make way for January signing Mathys Tel.
There are so many different wingers now at Spurs, with more probably to arrive in the summer, so there’s surely no chance the club would take up the £8.5million option to sign Werner.
Fraser Forster
The experienced goalkeeper, who turns 37 this month, is a big character around the club but Spurs now have their three goalkeepers set for the long-term future in Guglielmo Vicario, Antonin Kinsky and Brandon Austin, with young talents in Josh Keeley – who is likely to be loaned out again – and Luca Gunter among others to back them up.
There’s no room for Fraser Forster on the bench anymore let alone in taking a position in the squad so with his deal coming to a close in the summer it would seem unlikely that it would be extended.
Alfie Whiteman
A similar situation to Forster, but for Alfie Whiteman the main issue for Tottenham will be that his exit will leave only one club-trained senior player in European squads until others start to eventually fit that criteria in future years.
Of course, there’s a very real scenario that Spurs might not have European football next season anyway.
