At Tottenham Hotspur, there’s never a dull moment. The last year has been so chaotic that you could probably divide it up into a trilogy of films.
Spurs crashed and burned in the Premier League but they were red hot in Europe, winning the Europa League.
“Season three is always better than season two”, barked Ange Postecoglou during the trophy celebrations back in London. Sadly for the craggy-faced Aussie, he didn’t last long enough to see season three.
He was killed off, not literally, by the producers, in this case Daniel Levy. The Spurs boss sacked Postecoglou and replaced him with Thomas Frank who has enjoyed and endured a rollercoaster first transfer window at the helm.
Eberechi Eze and Morgan Gibbs-White? No problem, the Lilywhites have landed one of Europe’s most exciting young playmakers in the form of Xavi Simons. Spurs also have six points from nine to start the new campaign too. Not bad indeed.
Yet, drama is never too far away when Tottenham Hotspur are involved; their Champions League squad list showcased that.
Spurs' Champions League squad list for the 2025 league phase
All the usual faces made Tottenham’s squad list for the league phase of their Champions League adventure.
New signings in the form of Simons and Mohammed Kudus made the cut but sadly for James Maddison, the club’s long-term injury absentee, there was no place.
The England international will be out for a long time and won’t be seen again until 2026 after damaging his ACL.
However, there were some notable absentees. Yves Bissouma, who was excluded from the UEFA Super Cup squad for being late by Frank, looks as though he’s set to leave the club in the not-too-distant future and his omission from the squad list only cemented that.
Also missing from the squad were Kota Takai, Radu Dragusin and Dejan Kulusevski, who joins Maddison on the treatment table currently.
The most high-profile exclusion was Mathys Tel. The Frenchman has long been seen as one of the most exciting young players in Europe. He’s only 20 and has the world at his feet, but it doesn’t look as though he’s impressed Frank a great deal.
Tel spent the back end of the 2024/25 campaign on loan in north London but only scored two goals in 13 Premier League outings. Still, that was enough to convince Levy and Co to splash out and sign the former Bayern Munich prodigy on a permanent deal.
Spurs spent £30m on the youngster and to think he won’t see a minute of Champions League football, at least during the league phase, is incredibly damning.
It remains to be seen how much action Tel sees domestically. He has only featured for a total of 19 minutes across the opening three games of the season and is alright fighting a battle to remain in Frank’s plans.
It looks like a big waste of £30m already, particularly when Spurs have a number of exciting starlets on their books.
Chalkboard
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The youngsters who could end Tel's Spurs career
The Hotspur Way academy has produced a number of supremely talented players in recent years, not least Mikey Moore.
The England youth international is currently on loan at Rangers, where he started the Old Firm derby last Sunday, and will look to get a season of regular senior football under his belt.
Moore has already played 21 times for the Spurs first team, scoring once, and was notably compared to Neymar by Maddison after a European tie last campaign.
With so much hype surrounding Moore, it’s easy to forget about Will Lankshear, a forward with immense potential, someone who played a hand in 2024/25’s Europa League success.
During that run to the final, Lankshear appeared in three games, even scoring in the 3-2 defeat against Galatasaray in November 2024.
Spurs U21
35
26
West Brom
11
0
Spurs first team
6
1
Oxford Utd
5
2
Spurs U18
5
4
Sheff Utd U18
2
0
While he later endured a pretty awful goalless 11 games on loan at West Brom, he’s in form early on at Oxford United in the Championship.
To date, Lankshear’s loan in the second tier has been a roaring success, scoring twice in his four league outings.
This is set to be a significant campaign for the 20-year-old who has a genuine chance of making it at Spurs if he has a good campaign in 2025/26.
Richarlison’s stay in the capital has been hit and miss, absent for a number of games through injury. £65m man Dominic Solanke hasn’t always enjoyed the best of times either. He’s not played a single minute this term, courtesy of injury.
Thus, an opening could emerge for Lankshear, one that could really hammer the final nail in Tel’s coffin.
A good season, one where he regularly scores goals, will surely earn him game time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and it could come further at the expense of Tel.
Described by one scout within the game as “a Harry Kane regen”, his playstyle and stature has already garnered similarities to the club’s top scorer.
The scorer of 26 goals in 35 games at U21 for Spurs, Lilywhites reporter Alasdair Gold is another to sing his praises, giving the young attacker a glowing endorsement back in February 2024: “He’s a very talented young player, he’s got a long way to go, but he’s got a little bit of the Kane physique about him.”
High praise indeed. Tel better watch out if Lankshear continues to develop at a quick rate.