Planet Football

Every weekend in the Premier League there is one main crisis club. The goal is to never be it.

With credit to Duncan Alexander for that observation, we’ve tested the waters and judged the vibes at all 20 clubs in the Premier League.

Without further ado, here’s our ranking of the top seven crisis clubs in the Premier League.

November has seen Fulham register much-needed home wins over Wolves and an in-form Sunderland.

They’ll probably be fine, but the vibes don’t seem great and there’s plenty more work to be done before they can consider themselves safe.

Seven points from their last three outings have dragged the Hammers out of the mire. For now.

A draw away at an excellent Bournemouth side is a decent enough result, but the outrageously poor underlying stats from that game make us question whether they’ve fully turned a corner under Nuno.

Only goal difference keeps them out of the bottom three. Liverpool, Manchester United, Brighton, Aston Villa and Manchester City are their next five fixtures – the table on Christmas Day will make for interesting reading.

Scott Parker’s Clarets find themselves second-bottom after losing their last three.

To be fair, isn’t that what we all expected? It was only last month that they gave themselves a fighting chance with back-to-back wins over Leeds and Wolves.

They at least look competitive, which is more than can be said for their last top-flight campaign under Vincent Kompany. But you can’t shake off the sense of creeping death.

In absolute terms, Wolves really ought to be No.1. Things couldn’t conceivably be any worse.

People are putting up their Christmas trees, and they’re still awaiting their first Premier League win of the season. They’ve lost their last six games. No team in the league has scored fewer. No team has conceded more.

Even Derby County in 2007-08, the yardstick for Premier League ineptitude, had one win and three times as many points at this stage of that campaign.

But at this point, the gallows humour starts to creep in. Their fate looks sealed. If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry. And at least they’ve now got a very handsome, nice bloke in the dugout to rally behind.

On the one hand, Spurs are only two points off the top four. That’s not bad for the team that finished 17th last year, right?

The aberration of the North London derby aside, they’ve been strong away from home; no side has picked up more points on the road. They’ve looked miles better at set pieces at both ends of the pitch. There have been improvements.

The flipside of that is that Spurs have been truly dreadful under Thomas Frank at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Only cut-adrift Wolves have picked up fewer points on home soil.

Regular match-going fans can’t be expected to stomach that for much longer, not least when they break their own record for the lowest xG registered in a match… twice in one month.

One more cowardly display with zero attacking intent, after Chelsea and Arsenal, might just be grounds for dismissal.

Like Burnley, Leeds are more or less where you’d expect them to be. Eleven points from 12 games has them still well in the scrap for survival.

But it’s now five defeats in six, they’ve dropped into the relegation zone, and it’s difficult to envisage Daniel Farke dragging them out of it.

The German coach’s explanations are starting to wear thin among the fanbase, and the early-season positives are gradually ebbing away.

Leeds started the season looking solid defensively, but they’ve failed to keep a clean sheet since August. Elland Road promised to be a fortress, but it’s just one win in the last five on home soil.

Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool are the next three fixtures. Gulp. We’d be amazed if Farke survives that run.

READ NEXT: Ranking the five favourites to replace Daniel Farke as Leeds United manager

Where to even begin?

Back-to-back 3-0 defeats, probably. It’s the first time they’ve lost successive league games by that margin since 1965.

Rather than a freak, half a century sounds about right as a historical precedent for the reigning Premier League champions, who have lost six of their last seven in the Premier League and eight of the last 11 in all competitions.

Nothing is working. Defensively they’re a shambles. Mohamed Salah looks a shadow of his former self and record signing Alexander Isak looks completely stranded. The midfield have stopped bossing games.

You genuinely have to ask serious questions over Slot’s position if he can’t stop the rot.

READ NEXT: Uncle Jeff’s Coefficient: Every Premier League club’s returns compared to last season’s results

Arsenal host Tottenham this weekend in the North London derby, but with injuries piling up, Mikel Arteta has a selection headache.

A number of key players are likely to miss the game for Arsenal and a few Arsenal stars also picked up knocks over the international break.

Taking the latest injury news into consideration, we’ve predicted how Arsenal will line up against Spurs this weekend.

GK: David Raya

There are no doubts over who will be starting in goal.

Raya has already kept seven clean sheets in the Premier League this season – the most of any goalkeeper.

RB: Jurrien Timber

The 24-year-old picked up a knock while on international duty with the Netherlands, but is expected to be fine for the weekend against Spurs.

During a game against Lithuania on Monday, the defender required treatment in the first half, but was able to continue until he was withdrawn just after the hour mark.

CB: William Saliba

The Frenchman was rested for France’s final international game against Azerbaijan, meaning he should be ready to go at the weekend.

With the other potential absentees in Arsenal’s backline, Saliba’s presence against Tottenham will be crucial.

CB: Cristhian Mosquera

After Gabriel sustained a thigh injury while on international duty with Brazil, Mosquera is expected to replace him in the Arsenal XI.

The severity of Gabriel’s injury hasn’t been fully disclosed, but it currently seems unlikely that he’ll recover in time for the weekend.

Thankfully, Arsenal have Mosquera to fill his boots, who’s looked like a dependable performer so far this season.

LB: Riccardo Calafiori

Despite leaving the Italy camp early due to injury, the Italian full-back is expected to be available for the weekend.

“Riccardo Calafiori will be available for North London Derby,” is what Fabrizio Romano confirmed on X.

“No injury, no issues. Just overload.”

CM: Martin Zubimendi

Zubimendi scored against Georgia during Spain’s 4-0 triumph and should be fit to face Spurs this weekend.

Playing at the base of midfield, he’ll have a key role to play in whether Arsenal are successful against their local rivals.

Providing that he doesn’t pick up an injury tonight against Turkey, his spot in the starting XI is almost guaranteed.

CM: Declan Rice

Rice played just over an hour in each of England’s recent matches against Serbia and Albania.

Thankfully, he didn’t pick up any knocks while on international duty and should be fit to face Tottenham at the weekend.

CM: Eberechi Eze

The Arsenal star grabbed headlines over the international break with his superbly taken goal against Serbia.

He also played 60 minutes against Albania and given that Martin Odegaard likely won’t be fit to start this weekend, Eze should keep his spot in the starting XI.

RW: Bukayo Saka

Like Eze, Saka was also on target for England over the international break as he also bagged a goal against Serbia.

Against Albania, he came on as a second-half substitute and looks in good condition to play Spurs on Sunday.

For club and country, he’s now scored three goals in his last three starts.

LW: Leandro Trossard

With injuries to Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke, Trossard has nailed down the left-wing spot as his own in recent weeks.

Having produced five goal contributions in his last seven matches for club and country, he’s expected to keep his spot in Arteta’s side.

ST: Mikel Merino

With Viktor Gyokeres a doubt and Kai Havertz still recovering from injury, Merino seems like the obvious choice for Arteta to go with against Spurs.

The 29-year-old has done a good job filling this role in the past and has started up front in Arsenal’s last two matches.

Barring a late recovery from Gyokeres, it seems more than likely that Merino will keep hold of his spot in the starting XI.

READ NEXT: 5 former Arsenal players we can’t believe are currently without a club in 2025

Tottenham have gone through something of a rebuild in the recent era, with a significant level of squad churn since Jose Mourinho left the club four years ago.

While Harry Kane is off scoring goals for fun in the Bundesliga, several of their other high-profile ex-players are currently struggling to find a club.

We’ve picked out six former Spurs players who are currently free agents.

Dele Alli

Following a short stint with Como, the 29-year-old currently finds himself without a club.

A handful of Championship clubs have been linked with the attacking midfielder, including the likes of Wrexham, Birmingham and West Brom, but he’s yet to commit himself to any club.

You imagine there’s a part of every coach that would back themselves to get Dele back to his Tottenham pomp. The man himself has spoken of his lofty ambitions to get into England’s World Cup squad next summer.

He’s now well and truly at last-chance saloon territory. At this point, it’d be a minor miracle for Dele to return to the immense level he was at in 2016-17.

Sergio Reguilon

Of the players on this list who find themselves as a free agent, Reguilon is arguably the most surprising.

He’s 28 years old, has been linked with numerous clubs over the past few months, but is yet to commit his future to any side.

A handful of Premier League clubs have been keeping tabs on him and he’s also attracted interest from MLS side Inter Miami.

Reguilon was solid during his Tottenham days and is surely worth a punt by somebody.

Ryan Fredericks

Fredericks only made a handful of cup cameo appearances for his boyhood Spurs before going on to establish a career elsewhere, with most of his appearances for Fulham and West Ham.

He’s been something of a forgotten man since joining newly-promoted Bournemouth in 2022.

The right-back never made it beyond the periphery for the Cherries as they established themselves back in the top flight and didn’t get a look in at all under Andoni Iraola due to “recurring injuries”.

Fredericks has been unattached since 2024. You imagine that the 33-year-old will likely have to move back down to the Championship at this point if he wishes to extend his career.

Fraser Forster

After spending the last few years warming the bench at Tottenham, Forster is currently without a club.

The towering shot-stopper hasn’t played in the lower league since his Norwich days in 2009, but might consider the drop down if no Premier League club suffers a goalkeeping emergency.

Clinton N’Jie

It’s safe to say it never worked out for N’Jie at Tottenham.

Bought in to provide fresh attacking impetus from the wing, the Cameroon international tore his medial collateral ligament during a Europa League match in December 2015 and only reappeared the following May.

Spurs had moved on by then and, after only appearing in the Premier League as a substitute, N’Jie joined Marseille on a season-long loan before the start of the 2016-17 season.

He was a relative success in France and Marseille chose to make N’Jie’s move permanent the following summer. It was never disclosed whether Tottenham made a loss on his £8.3 million fee.

Now in his 30s, N’Jie is unattached following spells at Dynamo Moscow, Sivasspor and Rapid Bucharest.

Josh Onomah

Highly rated during his time at Tottenham, Onomah never quite realised that early potential and was sold to Fulham in 2019.

He twice helped the Cottagers get promoted as they yo-yoed between the Premier League and Championship, but barely featured under Marco Silva in 2022-23 and was released at the end of his contract.

Onomah spent a brief stint at Preston but never extended his contract beyond an initial six months.

His last club was Blackpool, where he played 15 matches last season, but Omomah is now a free agent at the age of 28.

READ NEXT: Ranking Daniel Levy’s 10 most expensive Tottenham signings from awful to brilliant

Tottenham Hotspur’s fate was inevitable from the moment that Richarlison whipped off his shirt in delirious celebration.

A disappointing performance against one of the Premier League’s heavyweights had been redeemed by an illogical fightback, capped with a Richarlison goal in the game’s dying embers.

Having suffered more stick than most, the Brazilian was determined to milk his moment of redemption. It remains a very football phenomenon for grown men to show delight by ripping off their own clothes.

The Spurs fans loved it, lost in the moment in the cavernous stands. The ridicule that awaited them in offices and group chats had been erased by the kick of the football.

The only snag? The match wasn’t over. You don’t need to possess the imagination of Terry Pratchett to know the opposition went straight up the other end and snatched another goal at the death.

Towards the halfway line, the look on Richarlison’s face was exactly the same as the one family members used to warn would stay that way as a child.

For this to happen once would be unfortunate, an occupational hazard of playing for Spurs. To happen twice? Richarlison might just be cursed.

Yes, the striker suffered the same fate two-and-a-half years ago against Liverpool, drawing Spurs level at 3-3 only to see Diogo Jota score the winner seconds later.

And on an unseasonably warm lunchtime in November, Richarlison thought he’d capped a resilient fightback with the winner against Manchester United.

Most of the Spurs fans inside the stadium were seething that both Randal Kolo Muani and Xavi Simons had been substituted before Richarlison.

His missed header in the first half was Spurs’ only notable chance before Mathys Tel grabbed a late equaliser.

Richarlison netted with the subtlest of flicks with his head; a shot came curling in from the edge of the box and the 28-year-old saw that it needed a finishing touch.

For most of the season, Richarlison had been a net negative in Spurs’ misfiring attack. Missing a penalty against Copenhagen, after wrestling the ball from young Dane Scarlett, was the nadir.

Overwhelmed with emotion, he ripped off his shirt and burst into tears of joy surrounded by whooping team-mates.

Such joy would inevitably be short-lived; his personal moment of redemption was wiped away as Matthjis de Ligt headed a deserved equaliser for United.

In truth, Spurs would’ve been flattered with all three points. This performance did nothing to ease doubts that Thomas Frank is the new Alan Curbishley.

Their last home win in the Premier League came on the opening day, when Burnley were beaten 4-0 in the sunny optimism of August.

When the frustration of drawing the match fades, perhaps Tottenham should receive credit for mounting a stirring comeback to go in front.

For Richarlison, it was a moment that summed up the one step forward, two steps back nature of his Spurs career.

A move in January would suit all parties, allowing the striker to put himself in World Cup contention and Tottenham to find a more reliable goalscorer.

For now, every Spurs fan will have known deep down that United’s equaliser was inevitable from the moment Richarlison treated us to an exhibition of his chest tattoos.

READ NEXT: 7 times Richarlison was the GOAT at rattling opponents: Gabriel, Liverpool, Chelsea….

It was the icing on an excrement-filled cake for Thomas Frank after overseeing one of Tottenham‘s worst performances in living memory.

After Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat by Chelsea – just as he does after every home game – Frank encouraged his players to do a lap of appreciation around the stadium.

As his players were booed off the pitch, Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence were caught on camera snubbing their manager and going straight down the tunnel.

The moment was clipped for social media and devoured by fans looking for a symbol of a brutally disappointing performance and an increasingly underwhelming manager.

“All the players are of course frustrated,” Frank said of the incident. “They would like to do well, they would like to win, they would like to perform well, so I understand that.

“I think it is difficult to be consistent in good times and in bad times. That is why I went around to the fans as I did. It is more fun when we win, I can tell you that.”

When pushed on the reactions of Van de Ven and Spence and if their response was acceptable, he added: “I think that is one of the small issues. We have Micky and Djed who are doing everything they can.

“They perform very well so far this season and everyone is frustrated. We do things in a different way, so I don’t think it is a big problem.”

Speaking on Match of the Day later that evening, Alan Shearer said the players’ reaction has been blown out of proportion.

“I totally understand why the players want to get in as soon as possible,” he said.

“They have been an embarrassment, they were booed off the pitch. They want to get in the dressing room and say sorry later on.

“As much as Thomas likes to go around and thank the fans, I get the players point of view that they have been absolutely awful and they want to get off the pitch as quickly as possible.”

This incident will soon be forgotten, overtaken by other events in football’s relentless news cycle. Spence and Van de Ven might be disciplined and left out of Tuesday’s match with Copenhagen.

But the more pertinent question is whether Frank is truly the right fit for Tottenham? Saturday’s performance was the most high-profile dreadful display, but far from the first under the Dane.

Results have been satisfactory and it can be argued that Frank has raised Tottenham’s floor, getting points while playing poorly.

The counter-argument is that Frank is simultaneously lowering Tottenham’s ceiling, narrowing their horizons and squandering the optimism of the post-Levy era.

Spurs fans are used to their team chucking in dreadful performances. Frank’s current crime is making them both awful and boring, the worst of both worlds.

In mitigation, the Spurs squad isn’t much to shout about. Rodrigo Bentancur was lucky to avoid being sent off and is still dining off his 2018 World Cup reputation.

The defenders are incoherent and the striking options are unspectacular.

Mohammed Kudus has been praised to high heavens for his impact since arriving from West Ham, but remains the same hot and cold player as ever, incapable of passing the ball without beating three defenders first.

The handshake snub will dominate post-match discourse, but better managers than Frank have been submerged at Tottenham.

He needs to offer more to disprove the theory that he’s the 2020s version of Alan Curbishley; perfect for a small Premier League upstart without the vision to succeed on a grander stage.

READ NEXT: Ranking Daniel Levy’s 10 most expensive Tottenham signings from awful to brilliant

Didier Drogba is one of the best strikers in Premier League history and he recently revealed who his favourite players are to watch at the moment.

During an interview with Sporty TV, he was recently asked to name his favourite African players at the moment.

These were the three players that the Chelsea legend named.

Mohammed Kudus

You won’t hear many Chelsea fans speaking fondly of Tottenham, but Drogba can’t help but love Kudus.

Given the impact he’s made since joining Spurs, it’s no wonder that the 25-year-old has caught the eye.

In the Premier League this season, he’s completed 32 successful dribbles, which is more than any other player has managed.

He also leads the Premier League assist chart with four and ranks among the 10 most creative players in the league for chances created.

Nicolas Jackson

Currently on loan at Bayern Munich from Chelsea, Jackson is another player that Drogba enjoys watching.

“I used to like Jackson [when he was at Chelsea], Drogba said.

“Because I’ve seen a lot of similarities in his debut at Chelsea, also wearing number 15 like I was.

“Unfortunately, it was a difficult time for him at Chelsea, but now at Bayern Munich, he’s doing a bit better, so I’m happy for him.”

In the Bundesliga, Jackson has found starts tough to come by as he’s been playing second-fiddle to Harry Kane.

However, he’s already off the mark with a couple of goals in the Champions League, which should do his confiendce the world of good.

While things didn’t quite work out for him at Chelsea, his record of 30 goals across two seasons is by no means disastrous.

Mohamed Salah

The last player that Drogba named was Salah.

Drogba briefly shared a dressing room with Salah at Chelsea, but it wasn’t until he left Stamford Bridge that the world saw his full potential.

Now into his ninth season with Liverpool, Salah surpassed Drogba’s Premier League scoring tally quite some time ago.

“If he continues, he’s going to destroy all my records – I want to cry,” Drogba jokingly said back in 2021.

“What I’ve seen during training, and all his teammates will tell you, the quality was there. He just needed time on the pitch to show his talent and his quality.

“When you look at the squad we had at the time, it was not easy to play, but what really got me attached to Mo is that he’s really nice, he’s really polite, even when he was not playing.

“He was sad not to contribute, but he was always good. When you have this kind of intelligence it’s just a matter of time before you blow up.

“I remember we spoke a few times when he was at Roma and he was scoring goals and then he had a moment when he was not scoring and he asked me how to deal with this kind of situation.

“I shared with him a lot of examples and experience and how it happened to me and all the strikers.”

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Eighteen players have represented both Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United in the modern Premier League era. How many can you name?

You’ve got 10 minutes to get all the names, and the only clue you’re getting is the years they represented Spurs and Leeds at senior level. If the years overlap, that means there’s a loan – which might jog your memory a bit further.

We’ve only included players who made at least one appearance at senior level for both clubs – so players like Danny Rose, who only represented Leeds at youth level, don’t count.

If this puts you in the mood for another challenge, why not have a go at naming every Leeds manager since relegation in 2004?

If you enjoy our quizzes, head to our new Football Games home where you can search an archive of over 1,000 quizzes and play them all in beautiful full-screen mode.

Good luck, and don’t forget to tweet us your scores @planetfutebol.

Tottenham Hotspur have a proud history in European football, but can you name every player to score for the club in the Champions League?

Spurs have played in seven Champions League seasons, making the final in 2019 after famous wins over Manchester City and Ajax before losing against Liverpool at the last hurdle.

Several great players have worn the shirt in recent decades, making this quiz feature some of the best footballers of modern times.

There are also a few names you may have forgotten from the Harry Redknapp and Mauricio Pochettino eras, adding an extra spice to our challenge.

We’ve given you 15 minutes to try name them all. An asterisk denotes the player is still at Spurs today.

If this puts you in the mood for more Spurs-related trivia, then have a go at naming the Lilywhites’ top 30 goalscorers of the Premier League era.

If you enjoy our quizzes, head to our new Football Games home where you can search an archive of over 1,000 quizzes and play them all in beautiful full-screen mode.

Good luck and don’t forget to tweet us your scores @planetfutebol.

The Champions League is back as fans brace themselves for the second iteration of the revamped format and it could spring a surprise or two.

As last year proved, the league phase can be more exciting than the traditional group stage matches and with eventual winners PSG finishing 15th, it shows that good form at the start does not always translate to trophies.

And even if the money difference between the big team and the rest is getting bigger and bigger, there is still the odd occasion of an upset so we’ve taken a look at 10 teams we would not be surprised to see make it through to the knockout rounds.

When it comes to the Netherlands, PSV look to be the country’s best hope in Europe having narrowly beaten Ajax to the title last season.

Their biggest strengths come in the midfield with Jerdy Schouten and Joey Veerman, while there is a familiar face in the form of veteran Ivan Perisic, who continues to defy time at 36.

He has begun his latest campaign by creating three goals and scoring one as PSV won three of their opening four league games.

In Europe, PSV won the European Cup in 1978 but were thumped 9-3 on aggregate in the round of 16 by Arsenal last season.

It is not often a Turkish team can boast one of the best strikers in world football, but Victor Osimhen fell in love with the club after a loan spell and Galatasaray paid €75 million to make it a permanent move.

The Nigerian is a key component of any success the Turkish side may hope to have, but the club does not have a huge pedigree in the competition.

Their best result was the semi-finals, but that was back in the European Cup era of 1989. Still, Liverpool and Manchester City will not relishing facing them in the league phase.

Russel Martin’s Rangers are perhaps the best advocates of Brugge’s credentials, given they were smashed 9-1 over the two legs of their playoff fixture.

The Belgian side had five different scorers in their 6-0 win against Rangers and had five players score at least nine goals last year.

They spent comparatively little in the summer, instead focusing on youth with four players aged 21 or under.

Domestically, the club have finished fourth in three of the last four seasons and in Europe, they reached the last eight in 2025 before being knocked out by Aston Villa.

Eight years on from the sensational team fronted by a teenage Kylian Mbappe that knocked out Manchester City, Monaco are flirting with greatness once more.

Domestically, they have always been hovering around the top four without ever posing too much threat to the title.

But they may bloody an artistocratic nose or two in the Champions League, with several talented players in their squad.

Their star players are Danish forward Mika Biereth, Swiss midfielder Denis Zakaria and Frenchman Lamine Camara, with Adi Hutter in charge since 2023.

When Newcastle thumped PSG 4-1 on an October night at St James’ in 2023, you could forgive Toon fans for thinking it was the start of something special.

But it was their only win in six Champions League matches that year, causing them to finish bottom of their group.

The struggle they found was balancing midweek European matches with a Premier League campaign and Eddie Howe will have to prove he has learned how to navigate that.

As Newcastle fans like to point out, they had a particularly tricky group last time round and the revamp of the competition may work in their favour.

Losing Alexander Isak cannot be understated but in Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Nick Woltemade, the club have the players to cause an upset.

Plus, they have the advantage of a raucous St James’ with Barcelona the first visitors in Gameweek 1.

Sealing your return to the Champions League with a 3-2 win away at Barcelona is certainly one way to do it and Villarreal wil fancy their chances in this year’s edition.

Nicolas Pepe and Ayoze Perez are two familiar names in an attack that scored 71 goals in 38 league matches last season.

And, although they have never won the European Cup, they did reach the semis in 2022.

Eight goals in the first three La Liga matches this season was the league’s best and just one goal conceded at the other end before last weekend’s defeat at Atletico Madrid shows they are a tricky opponents.

After his 25 goals in Serie A last season, Atalanta are beginning life without Mateo Retegui following his move to Saudi Arabia.

Retegui was a key player in a side that managed to reach third in the league last year and in his place they have signed Niklo Krstovic from Lecce.

They started their campaign with a trip to PSG, but then have a relatively kind draw which will make them hopeful of reaching the playoff stage at least.

Athletic’s best signing for the summer was not a new face through the door but instead keeping of an old one.

It looked a near certainty that Nico Williams was heading for Barcelona but instead he put pen to paper on a long-term deal to stay at the San Mames and boost the club’s chances in all competitions this season.

He, and brother Inaki, are key cogs in Ernesto Valverde’s team and they have recently brought Aymeric Laporte back to the club to bolster the defence.

Tottenham may have won their first European title in 41 years last season, but when it comes to the Champions League, they have hardly left an impression.

They have only played in the tournament seven times with their best effort being the 2019 runners-up medal, but there are a lot of unknowns surrounding this squad when it comes to Europe.

While Thomas Frank has proven to be an excellent operator in the Premier League, he has never taken charge of a Champions League game before, which means Tottenham’s home game against Villarreal will be a step into the unknown.

If Frank can make them click, Spurs have the player quality to go deep in the tournament.

Reigning Serie A champions Napoli are back in the Champions League after a year away and could well prove to be the team to watch outside of the favourites.

To start with, they have Antonio Conte at the helm who has once again proven his ability to take unfancied players and turn them into world beaters (see Scott McTominay).

This summer, they have recruited Rasmus Hojlund in Conte’s latest project.

They have also brought in Kevin De Bruyne who showed in the final days of his City career that he is not a busted flush.

It is a return to the Etihad for De Bruyne to start Napoli’s campaign and Pep Guardiola may have hoped for an easier match for the opening gameweek.

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While Daniel Levy had a reputation for being a thrifty spender during his tenure as chairman of Tottenham Hotspur, he was not always so averse to getting his chequebook out.

With more than £1.5 billion spent during his nearly 25-year tenure, there have been some hits but also plenty of misses along the way, so we are taking a look at his top 10 most expensive purchases.

To make things fair, we have left out signings made this summer so while Mohammed Kudus has made a promising start to his Spurs career, he does not feature in the list. Club record signing Xavi Simons is also absent having not yet kicked a ball.

Here then are Levy’s top 10 most expensive signings ranked:

In July 2019, Spurs broke the bank to bring midfielder Ndombele to north London from Lyon, but the French footballer never repaid them.

Arguably one of the most naturally talented players on this list, he was also one of the laziest with Jose Mourinho in particular feeling frustrated by his lack of work ethic.

Mourinho was more than happy to hang the player out to dry after a poor showing and the Portuguese Special One was not the only manager to fail to get the best out of him.

In the end, Spurs sent him on a series of loans before mutually terminating his contract in 2024.

Ninteen goals in the 2023-24 season with Bournemouth was convincing enough for Tottenham to part with £65million, but Levy and co. were perhaps blinded by that stellar year rather than taking a wider look at his whole career.

The striker has never been prolific and before his final campaign with the Cherries, he had never scored more than six goals in a Premier League season.

As Spurs have found out, he has also had plenty of issues with injuries. His first season in north London saw him miss 14 games and he is currently out with an ankle knock.

Another player blighted by injury has been Maddison, who has shown moments of excellence but those moments have been few and far between.

A promising career with Norwich earned him his move to Leicester, where he developed into one of the best No.10s in the Premier League.

But 24 games missed in his first season, coupled with a season-ending cruciate ligament tear this campaign, mean that Spurs haven’t seen much value for money for the £40million they paid for him in 2023.

Xavi Simons’ arrival may mean Maddison finds it hard to break back into the squad once he returns from injury.

Tipped by manager Pochettino to be one of the best centre-backs in the league, Sanchez never really lived up to the hype he earned at Ajax.

The Colombian had a promising start but faded away, and a costly own goal in a 3-3 draw with West Ham in October 2020 highlighted his struggles.

To his credit, he had a mini-form revival but was largely made a squad player and left for Galatasaray in 2023.

In the four seasons Richarlison was with Everton, he only once scored less than 10 goals. At Spurs, he has failed to hit that tally in two of his three seasons so far.

There’s talent there undoubtedly, but he is a player who goes through hot and cold spells and last campaign he managed just four goals in 15 league matches.

He has started this season much better, scoring twice in Spurs’ three games so far, but the question with Richarlison always is – how long will this last?

Spurs forked out £60million for the Brazilian in 2022, but he has yet to deliver anything close to what is expected of that price tag.

We are still very much in the ‘wait and see’ part of Gray’s Spurs career as the teenager has yet to make a meaningful mark on the team.

His first season saw plenty of game time with a total of 46 matches across all competitions, but he was shifted about the pitch a lot.

The calamity that was Ange Postecoglou’s final Spurs season is perhaps not the best breeding ground for youngsters.

Thomas Frank appears to back him though, starting him in midfield for Spurs’ first league game of the season, but there is still a long way to go in his career.

Solid if not overly spectacular, is probably the best way to describe Porro at Spurs.

He was an Antonio Conte signing, having joined from Sporting in the 2023 winter window, but has survived numerous manager changes to still be part of the squad.

Now under Frank, the full-back has played in all three games so far and is Spurs’ best right back.

The early signs of this season would suggest Johnson is ready for his breakthrough season in north London.

The winger arrived with plenty of hype, having left boyhood club Nottingham Forest to join Spurs in 2023 for a fee of £47.5million, but he managed just five goals in his first season.

The following year saw an improvement of that figure up to 11 and he was arguably one of the better players in Postecoglou’s dysfunctional side.

But this year, he has already scored two goals in three games and looks ready to become one of the better wingers in the Premier League.

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The Argentinian may have more than one moment of madness in his locker.

But, when he’s not throwing his body into reckless tackles, the ‘absolutely mad’ defender as Gary Neville once described him has been a stalwart for Spurs for four seasons.

The first game of this season saw him notch up his 100th Premier League appearance and reports he could be off to Atletico Madrid ended up being shot down, such is his importance to the Spurs squad.

An undeniable hit is Van de Ven, who has become one of the best centre-backs in the league and one blessed with natural talents.

A rare mix of being nearly two metres tall but also lightning quick, the centre half is still only 24 but has already made himself an integral part of the north London team.

He has played every minute of Spurs’ league campaign so far and if he continues on the same trajectory, it is not hard to see some of Europe’s top clubs come calling.

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