Tracking Tottenham’s Attacking Targets and Key Premier League Transfer Updates

Cody Gakpo's underlying volume numbers — 2.2 touches in the opposition penalty area per 90 minutes, top 10 for chances created and open-play shots among Premier League wide players in 2025-26 — frame why Tottenham have registered their interest with the Dutchman's representatives, per The Athletic's latest Transfer DealSheet. The data points to a familiar profile: a winger generating high shot volume from acceptable zones, with visible output lagging the xG-friendly map of his movement.

Tottenham's attacking window

Roberto De Zerbi, speaking ahead of the Australia friendly against Chelsea, said Spurs remain in the market for "two, maybe three" more attacking additions before the September 1 deadline. The midfield and defensive spine have already been reinforced; the front line is the unfinished segment of the squad. The Athletic's briefed sources describe a layered shortlist rather than a hierarchy. Manchester City's Savinho has been tracked by Spurs for over a year — club-to-club contact is ongoing, but City will require a replacement lined up before greenlighting any sale. Eintracht Frankfurt's Jean-Matteo Bahoya was approached before the window opened, yet Spurs never categorised him as a primary option and have not opened formal talks. Rafael Leao featured in pre-World Cup discussions with Milan's recruitment department; nothing has materialised since, and he is no longer treated as an active target.

The Gakpo file

Liverpool, according to briefed sources, have no intention of parting with the winger and would benchmark any valuation against recent Premier League moves — Elliot Anderson's transfer to Manchester City and Morgan Rogers to Chelsea. New head coach Andoni Iraola has not yet had a chance to work with Gakpo on the training pitch, a detail that complicates the read in both directions: a clean tactical canvas, but also an unproven fit inside Iraola's pressing structure. Spurs have so far spoken only to the player's representatives; no formal approach to Liverpool has been made. Bahoya's profile has meanwhile drawn interest from Saudi Arabia, introducing a competing lane Spurs were not visibly inclined to enter.

Reading the underlying numbers

The gap between volume and impact is the analytically interesting bit. Only seven wide players averaged more box touches than Gakpo's 2.2 per 90 last season, and he finished inside the top 10 for both chances created and open-play shots — comfortably ahead of every Spurs attacker across all three metrics. Yet the consensus reading out of Anfield ran toward "frustrating watch" through large stretches of the campaign. That pattern is the textbook signature of a winger operating in half-spaces that deliver low-percentage shooting angles rather than central box entries. For a Spurs side still searching for a left-footed creator capable of inverting into those corridors, the schematic fit is straightforward. Whether Iraola's Liverpool are genuinely willing to test the market — and at what threshold relative to the Anderson and Rogers benchmarks — remains the single variable that decides whether this file moves before the window closes.