SEVEN Tottenham players fighting for their futures amid frenzied Ange Postecoglou sack talk

After trying and failing to land a number of targets in the January transfer window, Tottenham are primed for a busy summer and TEAMtalk have taken a look at seven stars who are facing a fight to remain at the club – whether Ange Postecoglou is still in charge or not.

Spurs have endured a woeful Premier League campaign and now have only two trophies they can hunt for after their Carabao Cup nightmare on Merseyside on Thursday night.

The pressure has certainly intensified on Postecoglou after his side’s woeful Anfield display, a game where they showed zero ambition to try and extend their advantage and did not have a single shot on target for the first time under the Australian.

So many players under-performed in that match, although Postecoglou’s decision to play a midfield three of Yves Bissouma, Pape Sarr and Rodrigo Bentancur was met by much consternation before the match and ended up being justified after as a complete lack of creativity left Tottenham unable to maintain any sort of control in the contest.

Two of those three names are among a list of seven (it could have been more) that are now fighting for their long-term futures in north London, although it must be noted that upcoming free agents like Ben Davies, Sergio Regulion, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Fraser Forster are not included while Timo Werner, Mathys Tel and Kevin Danso are all on loan.

Assuming, and it’s now a big assumption, that Tottenham can actually end the season on a positive note and that Postecoglou manages to keep his job, then there will likely be a significant turnaround from a squad that has massively underdelivered – injuries or not.

To that end, we look at seven stars whose futures at Spurs must now be up for serious debate.

Yves Bissouma

As a Tottenham fan, this one is particularly galling to write up as Bissouma could and should have been the mainstay of Spurs’ engine room for years to come.

However, the former Brighton man – bar Postecoglou’s first 10 games in charge last season – has looked a complete shadow of the player who excelled down on the south coast at Brighton. Indeed, that fact was compounded by his latest mistake in possession that cost Tottenham their first goal in the 4-0 mauling at Liverpool and opened the floodgates for the eventual rout.

The frustrating part is that Bissouma was often the best player on the pitch when playing for the Seagulls in clashes against Tottenham and got fans from the white half of north London understandably excited when he arrived in a £30million deal in the summer of 2022.

However, 85 games and two goals later, Bissouma has never really been able to establish himself as a regular starter. Add in the fact that Gray will eventually get a shot at playing in the front of the back four, along with the agreement that is in place to sign Real Betis star Johnny Cardoso early in the summer, and Bissouma’s days could well be numbered.

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Radu Dragusin

This may be harsh, given he won’t be able to do his fighting on the pitch, but Dragusin’s long-term future at the club must be in doubt given that TT sources have told us Tottenham will move for Marc Guehi again this summer.

Dragusin suffered a season-ending ACL injury in the Europa League win over Elfsborg, having been covering for injured duo Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven since December.

However, the fact that 18-year-old midfielder Archie Gray often outshone him in the makeshift pairing is not a good sign for the Romania international in the long term. Indeed, Dragusin’s positional play was often questioned, along with his ability to function at a top level in Postecogliu’s high line.

Dragusin is not expected to be back in action until the latter part of 2025 but, by then, Spurs could have added Guehi to their ranks after failing with a £70m offer for the England man on deadline day, while January signing Kevin Danso could also have turned his loan switch into a permanent one.

There remains a strong possibility that Real Madrid still move for long-term target Romero this summer but even then, Dragusin could be behind Van de Ven, Guehi, Danso and even Gray in the centre-back pecking order.

At the end of the day, the best ability is availability and Dragusin will be watching on from the sidelines for six months minimum as potential new partnerships take place the heart of the Spurs backline.

Ashley Phillips

This one may be a little left-field but Phillips is highly thought of in some circles in north London and considered a player who could make the breakthrough at Tottenham eventually.

The former Blackburn Rovers star moved to Spurs in the summer of 2023 but has yet to make a Premier League appearance for the club, being loaned out to Plymouth last season and Stoke City this time around.

Phillips has made a strong impression with the Potters, playing 23 times in all competitions and there were some suggestions that Tottenham could have terminated his loan stay, given the defensive injury crisis at the club.

The fact they opted not to take that route, signed Danso and also failed with bids for Guehi and Burnley’s Maxime Esteve does not bode particularly well for Phillips when he returns this summer – whether Postecoglou is still in charge or not.

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Rodrigo Bentancur

This one is based purely on whether or not the Uruguay international can find that form again that made him such an integral member of the side before his ACL injury.

Bentancur was arguably in the form of his life prior to suffering the devastating injury blow against Leicester in February 2023, an issue that saw him sidelined for eight months.

There have been signs that the former Juventus man is slowly getting back to his best form but his lack of pace has often left him exposed in a Tottenham midfield that is so open due to Postecoglou’s attacking approach. Indeed, that was in full evidence again during the rout at Liverpool as the Spurs midfield was over-run.

The 27-year-old will be out of contract next summer and needs a strong finish to the current campaign to convince whoever is the manager next season that is worthy of a regular starting spot – as his talent clearly warrants.

Manor Solomon

The flying winger is currently tearing up the Championship with a Leeds United side who are five points clear at the summit.

How Tottenham could do with his attacking prowess right now, given their injuries in the wide positions to the likes of Brennan Johnson, Timo Werner and Wilson Odobert.

Solomon has scored six goals and added seven assists for Leeds in 25 appearances in total and certainly looks a level above in the Championship.

For their part, the Elland Road outfit would love to sign him permanently but much depends on promotion for a player who remains under contract in north London until the summer of 2028.

Solomon actually started last season brightly for Spurs before suffering a meniscus injury that ended up sidelining him for the rest of the season. He may well feel that he has unfinished business at Tottenham, although it remains to be seen if he gets another chance to show his quality in north London.

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Son Heung-min

Potentially controversial this one, given that the Tottenham skipper’s contract was only recently extended until the summer of 2026, but Son is not the same player he once was and the club are clearly looking at the future judging by their recent transfer activity.

Heung-min Son when he joined Tottenham in 2015: 𝟎 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐬. Heung-min Son after 10 seasons at Tottenham: 𝟎 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐬. Leave Tottenham before trophies leave you. pic.twitter.com/9vnj3X7d7F — 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐧 (@seanafc_) February 6, 2025

If Wilson Odobert has been fit this season, it would have created a nice conundrum Postecoglou in terms of how many starts Son would have actually made.

That lightning pace and lethal finishing ability is no longer fully in evidence, while there is also the feeling that he is being overburdened with the captaincy of the club after seeing the likes of Harry Kane and Hugo Lloris walk away in recent times.

Son remains an absolute legend in N17 and still has his moments, but they are far more fleeting than they used to be and it would not be a massive surprise if he starts to get phased out next season or even moved on in the summer – at the right price.

Richarlison

Perhaps the most obvious of all the names mentioned, although the Brazilian’s workrate and desire has never been questioned – unlike his ability to be a 20-goal-a-season No.9 in the English top flight.

The former Everton man was on a hiding to nothing as soon as he walked through the door to the tune of £60m, becoming a bench warmer for Kane, before being expected to try and replace the club’s all-time leading scorer when he quit in his hunt for silverware.

Richarlison has scored 18 goals in 79 games for Tottenham so far with nine assists. That works out at an average goal involvement every 2.9 games, which is nowhere near good enough for a first-choice striker at a club normally pushing for Champions League football – the current injury-hit campaign aside.

There has been plenty of talk about a potential switch to the Saudi Pro League for the 27-year-old, although in fairness to Richarlison he still believes he can still play at an elite level and that it’s too early in his career to move to the middle east.

If, as expected though, Spurs try and bring in another striker to compete with Dominic Solanke this summer – which could be currently loanee Mathys Tel, if things go well – then there is no doubt Daniel Levy and co. will try and part ways with Richarlison, who suffered yet another injury at Liverpool on Thursday night.

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