The New York Times

Michael Carrick won his fourth game in a row as Manchester United’s interim head coach, his side overcoming Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at Old Trafford.

Both teams had an impressive start to the game before Cristian Romero was shown a straight red card for a studs-up challenge on Casemiro in the 29th minute. The hosts took the lead just nine minutes later, with a well-worked corner ending with Bryan Mbeumo putting his side ahead.

Spurs did improve at the start of the second half, but United were unfortunate not to be given a penalty for a challenge on Harry Maguire when a corner was delivered into the box. They also had a goal disallowed for offside when Matheus Cunha fired past Guglielmo Vicario in the 67th minute. However, it would not matter, as Bruno Fernandes met a cross to nudge the ball into the back of Vicario’s goal and wrap up the win.

Here, The Athletic’s Carl Anka, Jay Harris and Conor O’Neill break down the key talking points from the game.

Is a bad season turning into a good one for Man Utd?

The 2-0 victory now makes it four wins in a row for United under Carrick, with the club now holding the Premier League’s longest winning streak at the time of writing.

Wins over Manchester City and Arsenal were earned from hard work, counter-attacks and some excellent long-range shooting. Last week’s victory over Fulham was a little more nervy than expected, but the team got themselves through.

It was during the pre-season tour of America that Mason Mount offered European qualification as the aim for 2025-26. He would not elaborate if he meant Champions League or Europa League football. Ruben Amorim was also non-committal when asked which anthem he intended his team to listen to during midweek games next season. It was only under Darren Fletcher that someone explicitly stated United could qualify for the Champions League. The fact that the caretaker manager did it following defeat in the FA Cup third round raised eyebrows. How could this side go from what was looking like another historically relevant low point to a top-five league position?

Yet here we are, four matches later, and things are looking good. Casemiro was afforded a standing ovation when he was substituted off in the 87th minute for Manuel Ugarte. He is one of several players who look reinvigorated by the change in coaching staff.

Carrick even found time to give Tyler Fletcher his United debut late in stoppage time. United are playing with courage again. Academy players are getting game time in a way they had not earlier in the season. And United are winning football matches again.

The Stretford End closed things off by offering “oles” with every completed pass United players made in the Spurs half. A bad season is turning into a good one. Carrick and his coaching staff have done well to turn things around.

Carl Anka

What does this result mean for Frank?

Before Tottenham’s trip to Old Trafford, Thomas Frank was clutching onto the positives of a four-match unbeaten run, even if that included an underwhelming draw against Burnley. Last weekend’s second-half comeback against Manchester City to earn a point should have been a confidence boost, but it was wrecked by Cristian Romero’s actions on and off the pitch.

Spurs have not won a game in the top flight since December, and their performance in the first half before Romero’s red card offered encouragement. However, Frank is left to pick up the pieces once again and must be wondering how this job seems to become more difficult with each passing week.

This is probably one of the rare occasions in the past couple of months when Frank’s tactical approach is not to blame, but not many people will care about that. This was their 10th defeat of the campaign, and it was further compounded by another injury to Destiny Udogie, who had only just returned from a hamstring injury. With Djed Spence still recovering from a calf injury, Spurs might be without both of their left-backs when they host Newcastle United on Tuesday. That is a squad-building issue, and the blame needs to be pointed at the recruitment department, including sporting director Johan Lange and the recently departed Fabio Paratici.

Things will probably only get worse for Spurs, as they face Arsenal after Newcastle. Frank needs to find a way to survive, but his resources are stretched thin, and the faith from fans is lacking. For the second season in a row, under a different head coach and executive board, Spurs find themselves in a crisis of their own making.

Jay Harris

Has Romero diminished his hero status at Spurs?

Spurs fans called Cristian Romero their “rebel leader” this week after his latest online outburst directed towards the club’s senior figures. Thomas Frank had to navigate a tricky press conference on Thursday, where he was asked 25 questions linked to the defender’s conduct. Frank confirmed Romero would remain as captain and insisted the issue had been “dealt with internally”.

Spurs needed a commanding performance from the Argentina international to move on from a distracting week, but what they got was the complete opposite. In the opening stages at Old Trafford, the away fans started chanting, “Romero’s right, the board is s***e.” Twenty minutes later, they were shaking their heads in frustration at his latest red card, which will rule him out of their next four games, including the north London derby on February 22.

Romero was tussling with a couple of Manchester United players just outside his own penalty area when he tried to chop backwards on the ball instead of clearing it. It proved to be a fatal mistake as he turned and wildly swung at the loose ball before crunching into Casemiro.

Referee Michael Oliver immediately sent Romero off. It looked harsh at first glance, but replays showed he caught the Brazilian on his ankle.

Romero’s red card ruined Frank’s game plan. Spurs played well in the opening half hour, especially when they worked the ball out wide to Destiny Udogie, but winger Wilson Odobert was sacrificed for Radu Dragusin. Within a few minutes of Romero trudging off the pitch, Bryan Mbeumo gave the hosts the lead.

Since Romero made his Spurs debut in August 2021, he has been sent off more times in all competitions — six — than any other Premier League player.

Romero has saved Spurs on multiple occasions this season, but it is time to accept he is the villain as often as he is their hero.

Jay Harris

Did United react well to the red card?

Romero’s dismissal did not guarantee a positive result for United. It was in late November that Everton managed to score and win at Old Trafford despite playing with 10 men for more than 80 minutes.

Amorim earned criticism following that defeat, with many asking why he continued to adhere to a conservative 3-4-3 that saw his centre-backs get the ball in the final third more than his best attackers.

Fast forward to the present day, and United, now under Michael Carrick, wasted no time in piling on the pressure. Romero was sent off in the 29th minute and Mbeumo had put his side 1-0 up in the 38th.

The goal came from a familiar source; Bruno Fernandes would deliver a corner from the left that would find Kobbie Mainoo at the near post. Mainoo would flick the ball back towards the edge of the penalty area, where an unmarked Mbeumo would hit a curling shot into the bottom corner.

Scoring from a corner or a free kick has become the go-to method for breaking down teams that look to defend deep in 2025-26. It is now 15 set-piece goals for United this season, a record only bettered by Arsenal.

The opening goal kept a weakened opponent in a vulnerable position — and put the hosts into a strong one.

Carl Anka

Was there any reason to worry about United’s set pieces?

When United’s former set-piece coach Carlos Fernandes departed alongside Ruben Amorim last month, some supporters feared the team might lose the edge they had developed from dead-ball situations. Those concerns have proven emphatically unfounded.

Last week, Casemiro opened the scoring against Fulham with a header from a free kick, and today, Mbeumo added United’s 15th set-piece goal of the season, converting from a corner. That is the second-highest total in the Premier League, bettered only by Arsenal (17), and this was arguably the pick of the lot.

With Bruno Fernandes standing over the corner, Kobbie Mainoo darted from the centre of the goal towards the near post. Fernandes picked him out with a low, driven delivery, which Mainoo deftly flicked from near the goal line into the path of Mbeumo, who was unmarked on the edge of the penalty area. Mbeumo’s sweeping finish was a deserved reward for a well-rehearsed, aesthetically pleasing routine.

It was clearly developed on the training-ground, and at half-time, Michael Carrick credited his backroom staff for devising the routine, singling out Jonny Evans. There has been plenty of upheaval at United this season, but their ingenuity from set pieces has been a comforting constant.

Conor O’Neill

How well did United’s front four work together?

Even before Romero’s dismissal, United’s front four combined well and threatened. They almost struck inside the first minute, after Mbeumo flashed an effort wide from inside the box after Bruno Fernandes played him in.

United lined up with Mbeumo as the centre-forward, Fernandes operating as the No 10, and Amad Diallo and Matheus Cunha deployed as the right and left attacking midfielders respectively.

Those positions were only rough guidelines, with Carrick affording them the freedom to rotate across the pitch, which is reflected in the player’s touchmaps below. Diallo stuck most rigidly to this position, but he, too, popped up on the other flank on occasion. Just before the red card, Bruno instructed him to swap positions, as they looked to target the space behind the full-backs.

Those rotations helped pull apart Tottenham’s defence, but it was the quality of the front four’s combination play that gave United real potency. Their interplay was synchronised, built on quick, one-touch passing and an instinctive sense of where the other three would be.

Amorim’s system had been notorious for its rigidity. Carrick has loosened the reins in attack, and that freedom has already begun to pay dividends.

Conor O’Neill

What did Carrick say?

We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.

What did Frank say?

We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.

What next for United?

Tuesday, February 10: West Ham (Away), Premier League, 8.15pm UK, 3.15pm ET

What next for Spurs?

Tottenham Hotspur had the chance to bring three players into their Champions League squad on Friday, refining their list ahead of their two-legged last-16 tie in March.

Conor Gallagher came in, quite naturally, given Spurs just bought him from Atletico Madrid last month. So did Mathys Tel, who started the league phase outside the squad, came back in to replace the injured Dominic Solanke, before dropping out again. And the third place went to Radu Dragusin, the back-up centre-back who has just returned from almost one year out with a knee injury.

But there was no place back in the squad for either of Spurs’ two long-term injured creative midfielders. Neither James Maddison nor Dejan Kulusevski — neither of whom has played one competitive minute for Thomas Frank — were included in the list. Which means that any return to action this season will have to be in the Premier League, rather than in Europe.

This has Spurs fans wondering when they will see those two players again. And while Maddison has spoken at length about his recovery from surgery after his anterior cruciate ligament injury last August, less has been known about Kulusevski’s long recovery from knee surgery of his own.

The main issue that Kulusevski has faced is that his has been an especially rare and unusual knee injury. Rather than a more conventional ligament injury, Kulusevski injured his right patella during the Premier League match against Crystal Palace on May 11 last year after a collision with Marc Guehi.

Kulusevski was playing that game in part because he was still recovering match sharpness after six weeks out with a stress fracture in his foot. Quite understandably, he wanted to be at his best for the forthcoming Europa League final 10 days later. But the injury meant that he needed an operation — one he later called “knee patella cartilage surgery” on Instagram — on May 14.

One week later he was on crutches in Bilbao for the final, shuffling around the touchline as far as he could in celebration.

But it was also a mentally challenging time for Kulusevski. He is obsessed with football and being a footballer. Everything in his life is geared towards that. He had never had a long-term injury before, had never been out for more than six weeks. And now he found himself recovering not just from a serious injury, but a rare one too. It was difficult to accept.

At first Kulusevski was focused on setting specific targets for his return to action. But those targets kept being pushed back further and further into the future. There was private optimism, even in October, that he could still be back by the end of 2025. Given the complexity of the injury, it has taken more time than anyone expected back in May for Kulusevski to be ready.

So Kulusevski has decided to change his mindset. He is no longer thinking directly about specific targets for his return. Doing so invites more pressure, and the possibility for disappointment if the target is missed again. Instead, Kulusevski is now focusing on taking one day at a time, not looking too far ahead, but working as hard as he can every single day. He is motivated by trying to keep increasing the intensity of his training every single day. And he is determined that when he comes back, he will do so in peak physical condition. The worst thing would be to come back and not be ready to compete.

Quite naturally Spurs fans want a definitive answer on when one of their club’s most important players will return. Kulusevski was one of the best players under both Antonio Conte and Ange Postecoglou. But not all injuries and recoveries come with that degree of certainty. And Kulusevski was unfortunate enough to get an atypical injury.

Kulusevski is trying to focus on his daily work, rather than external pressure. But to an extent external pressure is unavoidable. There was plenty of interest in Sweden when he invited Graham Potter — the new Sweden national team manager — into his box for Spurs’ 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund last month.

Sweden have their World Cup qualification play-offs next month: Ukraine on March 26, and if they win then either Poland or Albania in Solna on March 31. It will be a huge moment, and would be Kulusevksi’s first World Cup were he to reach it. But the clock is ticking if Kulusevski is to make it. It is a sign of his importance to the national team that he has not yet been ruled out.

His club manager Frank — for whom he is yet to play — has generally not said much about the long recovery process. But at his press conference on January 8 he did go into more detail than before about his recovery.

Frank revealed that the priority was “to remove the pain in the knee”, and that Kulusevski had an injection to that end around the turn of the year. And that within a few weeks, if it had settled, it would be possible to assess his comeback. Kulusevski’s reaction and potential return to the grass is still being assessed.

Frank also admitted that it was a “complicated injury”, but said how much faith he had in Kulusevski to overcome it, “If there is one person that can accelerate that, it is Dejan,” Frank said. “He’s a top pro and has a top mentality.”

Kulusevski is having to be patient. And so, too, are Spurs fans.

Mathys Tel, Conor Gallagher and Radu Dragusin have been added to Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League squad but Yves Bissouma, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison remain out, while newly-injured pair Ben Davies and Rodrigo Bentancur have also been excluded.

Gallagher, the €40million (£34.7m; $46.6m) signing from Atletico Madrid, counts as an association-trained player and effectively replaces Brennan Johnson in the squad-list for the knockouts. Johnson joined Crystal Palace for a fee approaching £35million (€40m; $47m) last month.

There is also a place for Tel, who was omitted from Spurs’ initial squad for the league phase in September, along with Bissouma, Dragusin, Kulusevski and Maddison.

Tel was subsequently added as a replacement for the injured Dominic Solanke in December, before being removed again last month for the final two matches following the England forward’s return to fitness.

Bentancur and Davies are expected to miss the majority of the rest of the season with hamstring and ankle injuries, respectively.

Neither Maddison nor Kulusevski has played this season due to serious knee injuries, but Dragusin is fit again after starting the campaign with a cruciate ligament injury.

UEFA rules stipulate that teams can name a squad of up to 25 players for their competitions. Eight of those 25 need to be ‘locally-trained’ and they are split into two different categories.

Club-trained players must have been registered with the club for at least three seasons between the ages of 15 and 21, while association-trained players must have been registered with a club in the same association (country) for at least three seasons between the ages of 15 and 21.

Spurs have only one club-trained player in their European squad, third-choice goalkeeper Brandon Austin, when they are require to name four. As a consequence, they must leave three places in the squad empty, and will only be able to register a reduced roster of 22 players in the knockouts.

Tottenham finished fourth in the Champions League initial phase and will be seeded for the round-of-16. They will face one of Juventus, Galatasaray, Club Brugge and Atletico Madrid in a two-legged tie, with the decider in north London.

Tottenham’s Champions League squad for the knockout phase (A-List only):

Thomas Frank, the Tottenham Hotspur head coach, says Cristian Romero’s latest outburst on social media has been ‘”dealt with internally” by the club.

In an Instagram post, uploaded around half-an-hour after Monday’s 7pm transfer deadline, Romero said it was “unbelievable but true and disgraceful” that Spurs “only had 11 players available” for the 2-2 draw with Manchester City a day earlier.

Spurs lost a number of players to injuries last month, leaving Frank admitting last week that his squad was weaker at the end of the window than the start – in spite of the additions of Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid and young full-back Souza.

Romero was named Spurs captain by Frank in the summer following the departure of Son Heung-min to Major League Soccer.

Asked his view on his skipper’s post, Frank said: “If you want to know what he meant, you of course need to ask him. That’s the right way to take that question.

“Cuti is a very passionate character and player who wants to leave everything on the pitch and is very ambitious. He wants to win every single time. Sometimes when you are like that, sometimes there can be an outburst. It happened this time and it’s something we of course dealt with and dealt with internally.

“There are a lot of ways of doing things,” continued Frank, who declined to say if Romero had been fined by the club.

“Cuti has been very good for us this season and the past seasons. I think that is very important to be aware of. I wouldn’t have done it. That is my message.”

It is not the first time the Argentine, who came off at half-time against City due to illness, has appeared to criticise the Spurs hierarachy on social media. After the 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth in January, Romero said “it should be other people coming out to speak” but “they only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies”. He later re-uploaded the post without the part about “lies”.

Last season, after a painful defeat to Chelsea in December 2024, Romero appeared to take aim at Spurs’ lack of ambition in an interview with Spanish broadcaster Telemundo Deportes, comparing their spending unfavourably with the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea.

“The last few years, it’s always the same – first the players, then the coaching staff changes, and it’s always the same people responsible,” he added.

In another apparently pointedly-timed post, Romero paid tribute to Frank’s predeccessor Ange Postecoglou hours after the Dane’s appointment was announced in the summer, saying the Australian succeeded “despite the many obstacles that always existed and always will exist”.

Asked about Romero’s repeated blow-ups, Frank said: “First and foremost, I don’t know if it’s four (separate incidents). Maybe you got better numbers than me. I know after the Bournemouth game and this game (Manchester City), those are the two (incidents) I can relate to. Of course, like with a lot of things, we’re dealing with it internally in terms of what we’re taking care of it. That’s my main message to that.

“I think it shows that Cuti is extremely passionate, he wants to win, he wants to do everything he can together with his teammates to achieve great things, but you need to ask him (what it means) next time you speak to him.”

Romero is available for Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off against Manchester United at Old Trafford, and is expected to be partnered at centre-half by Micky van de Ven, who has missed the last two matches.

“Micky is good, he trained today,” said Frank. “He is available for selection for Saturday. Djed (Spence) is getting closer. He will be a little bit touch and go but there is a good chance he could be ready.”

Fabio Paratici has revealed Fiorentina’s late owner Rocco Commisso didn’t persuade him to leave Tottenham Hotspur to become the club’s new sporting director. It was the other way around.

News of Paratici’s decision to leave Tottenham so soon after he was formally brought back into the fold by the club as Johan Lange’s co-sporting director in October came as a real surprise this winter.

Speaking at his unveiling at the Viola Park, Paratici said it’d be “banal” to reduce his decision to return to Serie A to the “weather and the pasta”.

“The Premier League right now is football’s NBA,” he said. “At the same time, as an Italian, I had the desire to come back and compete in Serie A. It’s a top league, very tough.

“To do this job with a club like Fiorentina was a source of real motivation. To do it with these owners, who are very serious, and infrastructure that’s super international, a brand known all over the world and people who share my ideas on the game was more than enough for me to come back and work here.

“I decided to join Fiorentina on the 15th or 16th of December. Fiorentina had six points at the time. (The club’s general manager) Alessandro (Ferrari) came to London to meet me and I decided there and then to join Fiorentina.

“It may have seemed like a rash decision but it was actually a brave one. Brave because when you make a rash decision you don’t know what you’re doing. When you make a brave one it’s because you’ve weighed it up and mulled over the reasons to take it.

“In my case Fiorentina have a serious set of owners, a very serious set of owners who are of great value.

“Rocco didn’t have to persuade me. I was the one who had to convince him to take me on.”

Commisso passed away on January 17 before Paratici could formally begin his new role. In the interim, Commisso’s son Giuseppe has become president. Paratici will report to him, CEO Mark Stephan and Ferrari.

“I’d like to thank Tottenham, my former club, for the opportunity they granted me to join Fiorentina, return to Italy and the opportunity to spend five wonderful years in the Premier League,” Paratici added.

“It was an incredible experience. They made me feel at home and stood by me in tough times so I feel obliged to thank Tottenham.”

Paratici brings with him Lorenzo Giani, the scout he hired in his first spell at Tottenham, and is reunited with players Moise Kean and Nicolo Fagioli, with whom he worked at Juventus.

“Fiorentina are not a second division team,” he said. “They are not a second division team even if we are in the relegation zone. I did not ask for guarantees in spending. That’s not how I operate.

“All I asked was for autonomy in decision making in the sporting side of the business. I’m not going to be getting rid of anyone. I am going to assess them. Wherever I’ve been I’ve always got to work with serious people. Giani is the only person I am bringing with me. I’m not bringing 10 people.”

As for his view on Fiorentina coach Paolo Vanoli, he observed: “The coach is the Lion King of the dressing room. We’re here to help and support him, not replace him. He’s the Lion King. Luckily this is a club where you can have no excuses. We get paid on time, we have everything to do our job at the highest level. We live five star, we train five star, we eat five star. There are no excuses.”

Paratici also took the opportunity to rubbish reports he has a release clause in case of relegation.

A survey of Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust (THST) members has revealed that fan satisfaction with Spurs’ ownership “has fallen to its lowest level since the survey began”, leading to a call for “sustained improvement across the club’s operations”.

The Five Principles Survey, which is conducted roughly every six months, judges the Tottenham ownership against five tests which THST agreed with the board of the club itself. More than 4,500 fans responded to this survey, an increase in responder numbers, which was released on Wednesday evening. And on all five principles, each marked out of 10, the fans gave the ownership their lowest ever score.

On ‘Commit to Winning’, the survey gave the ownership an average 1.65 out of a possible 10, sharply down from 3.5 last June. On ‘Attract and Retain Talent’, the survey gave 1.94, down from 3.3. On ‘Future-Proof Success’ the ownership got their best result of 2.96 — but sharply down from 5.9 last June. On ‘Lead with Integrity’ the score was 2.2, down from 4.0, and on ‘Fans First’ it was just 1.9, down from 3.2.

This was the first Five Principles Survey taken since Daniel Levy’s dismissal as chairman in September 2025, since when the majority-shareholding Lewis family have taken a more visible role with the club. The results taken together further underline the significant gulf in trust between the fans and the ownership right now. These results have already been shared with senior club figures.

“These scores represent an all-time low in supporter confidence in the club’s ownership,” said a THST statement released on Wednesday evening. “Not one of the five principles comes close to an acceptable level, and every area has deteriorated significantly since last summer. Even the Europa League success of 2025 provided only a temporary uplift. Supporters are now judging the ownership on long-term strategy, squad quality, competitiveness, and delivery – and the verdict is clear.”

Tottenham appointed former Brentford head coach Thomas Frank in the summer after Ange Postecoglou was relieved of his duties, despite winning the Europa League. The club are 14th in Premier League with 29 points from 24 games and out of both domestic cups, though they finished fourth in the league phase of the Champions League, automatically qualifying for the knockout stages.

“Fans want success that is sustainable, credible, and ambitious,” THST’s statement continued. “They want a club that matches its world-class infrastructure with world-class decision-making, and that genuinely puts supporters at the heart of its future. Whilst the club acknowledges that it cannot exist without its supporters, the actions it has taken in the past have not always been commensurate with this statement. We ask that the club follows through this commitment in its interactions with supporters at all levels. Every communication should be considered through the lens of supporters to ensure they feel that they play a vital role in the success of the football club.”

Spurs are next in action on Saturday when they visit Manchester United.

Tottenham Hotspur captain Cristian Romero has a reputation for being an aggressive defender with a taste for flying into tackles, but it is away from the pitch where his rash actions could cause a significant headache for his club.

Less than 24 hours after Spurs’ impressive comeback in a 2-2 draw with Manchester City briefly lifted the mood around the club, Romero created more drama. For the second time in the last few weeks, he appeared to criticise his employers on social media.

Now manager Thomas Frank and the club’s board will face a difficult decision over whether or not to sanction him for his latest outburst.

Following Tottenham’s 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth on January 7, the Argentina international apologised to Spurs fans before appearing to point the finger at senior figures at the club. “At times like this, it should be other people coming out to speak, but they don’t as has been happening for several years now,” Romero wrote on Instagram. “They only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies. We’ll stay here, working, sticking together and giving our all to turn things around.”

The 27-year-old landed another blow on Monday evening shortly after the transfer window closed. Due to an injury crisis, head coach Thomas Frank was forced to name four academy graduates on the bench against Man City, along with 19-year-old left-back Souza, who only arrived from Brazilian side Santos a couple of weeks ago. Romero was replaced at half-time by Pape Matar Sarr as he was struggling with an illness which also affected him during last week’s 2-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League.

“I wanted to be available to help them even though I wasn’t feeling well, especially since we only had 11 players available — unbelievable but true and disgraceful,” the post said.

Romero did not directly name anybody, but it seems likely, given his previous messaging, that he was venting his frustration towards the club’s power brokers for what has happened over the last few weeks.

Spurs finished in the top eight of the Champions League league phase, and will progress automatically to the round of 16, but have not won a Premier League game since December and were knocked out of the FA Cup by Aston Villa in the third round.

They tried to bring in Andrew Robertson and Antoine Semenyo during the transfer window, but Conor Gallagher was the only player they were able to sign who immediately improves the starting XI. Several key players are unavailable due to soft-tissue injuries, including Djed Spence, Pedro Porro, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mohammed Kudus and Richarlison, while last season’s top goalscorer Brennan Johnson joined Crystal Palace for £35million.

Last week, Frank admitted that because of these injuries, the squad was weaker than at the start of January. It’s not difficult to see why a player may be frustrated by the situation, particularly having been through similar last season.

Spurs are still reeling and trying to find their feet after a dizzying amount of change at executive level over the last 12 months, which includes the departures of executive chairman Daniel Levy and chief football officer Scott Munn, with the Lewis family reasserting control of daily operations. In January, Fabio Paratici agreed to join Fiorentina less than three months after he had returned to the club full time as co-sporting director alongside Johan Lange.

Spurs have failed to build upon the momentum generated by winning the Europa League in May and find themselves languishing near the bottom of the Premier League for a second successive season.

It’s clear from the reaction to Romero’s posts that many Spurs fans see the Argentine as a hero for being unafraid to hold the club to account. It was the same in the aftermath of a damaging defeat to Chelsea in December 2024, the centre-back made comments which were interpreted as a criticism of Levy, who was still in charge at the time.

“You have to realise that something is going wrong; hopefully, they realise it,” he said in an interview with the Spanish broadcaster Telemundo Deportes. “The last few years, it’s always the same: first, the players, then the coaching staff changes, and it’s always the same people responsible. Hopefully, they realise who the true responsible ones are, and we move forward because it’s a beautiful club that, with the structure it has, could easily be competing for the title every year.”

Last summer, he described former head coach Ange Postecoglou as “a great person who deserves the best” and added, “you paved the way despite the many obstacles that always existed and always will exist.” Romero uploaded this tribute on social media a couple of hours after Spurs announced Frank as Postecoglou’s successor. It felt like a dig at the club’s decision to replace Postecoglou with Frank.

Regardless of whether Romero’s latest comments ring true to fans, they will have put Frank in a difficult position. They could deepen the disharmony within the club at a time when Frank is already under considerable pressure. The issue has become a distraction from Xavi Simons and Dominic Solanke’s inspired performances against Man City, and the topic will dominate Frank’s press conference on Thursday before this weekend’s trip to Old Trafford to face a resurgent Manchester United.

The Dane may well share his captain’s frustration at the lack of January signings, but Romero surely cannot repeatedly publicly criticise Spurs and escape punishment. It would send an inconsistent message to the rest of the squad, given Frank has spoken on multiple occasions about improving the ‘culture’ of the club. How must Yves Bissouma, who was left out of the squad for August’s UEFA Super Cup penalty shootout defeat to Paris-Saint Germain due to persistent lateness, feel watching his team-mate avoid facing the consequences?

And what message does all this send to players like Micky van de Ven, who Spurs want to tie to a longer-term contract?

After Romero’s post-Bournemouth comments, he had a meeting with Frank and Lange. They decided not to fine him. Frank then praised Romero in a press conference and said, “When you’re a young leader, sometimes you make a mistake.” But for how much longer can Spurs continue to turn a blind eye to Romero’s online outbursts?

The problem for Frank is that Romero is one of the squad’s most important players. He appointed Romero as captain just before the start of the season and the defender signed a new long-term contract a few days later. He has come to this team’s rescue on multiple occasions in recent months, including in draws against Newcastle United and Burnley when he scored stoppage-time equalisers.

Any attempt to discipline Romero could backfire disastrously and have a negative impact on the dressing room dynamic, not to mention how badly fans would likely react. Yet, if Frank, Lange and Vinai Venkatesham do not take any action (again), they could be accused of lacking authority.

Turning your anger towards your own club in such a public manner rarely ends well, and this is Romero’s fourth such ‘offence’ in the last 14 months. In the 2000s, Roy Keane left Manchester United after a “dynamite” interview on the club’s in-house television channel, while William Gallas was stripped of Arsenal’s captaincy after criticising his team-mates.

Nobody wants either of those outcomes with Romero at Spurs, but we await the repercussions. That is, if there are to be any at all.

With Tottenham Hotspur without a Premier League win in 2026, and Thomas Frank’s future coming under severe scrutiny, fans may have expected the club to invest heavily in the January window. But it did not play out that way.

Tottenham made just two additions in the window, with one unlikely to play a significant role in the first team as he adjusts to the demands and rigours of Premier League football. The other, however, could prove to be very shrewd business which serves the club well now and in the future.

Having qualified directly for the Champions League round of 16, there is still plenty for Tottenham to play for this season.

The information found within this article has been gathered according to The Athletic’s sourcing guidelines. Sources with knowledge of transfer dealings, who asked to be kept anonymous to protect relationships, have been spoken to before offering the clubs involved the opportunity to comment.

Was this window a success or a failure?

It depends on how you look at it. Leading up to the window, strengthening the midfield and wide attack options were high on Tottenham’s priority list. In an ideal world, that probably looked like at least a starting-quality left winger and a prime-age central midfielder who excels at line-breaking passes.

Tottenham did not sign either of those, largely because their targets were not gettable. Spurs were in the market for wingers at the start of the window, but their targets were snapped up by clubs higher in the food chain or were declared unavailable until the summer.

In the meantime, Frank has shifted to a wing-back formation, allowing Destiny Udogie to provide width and attacking quality from the left, and placing greater emphasis on the central defenders to break lines. They also added Conor Gallagher, an England international with Champions League experience, to bolster the numbers in midfield.

However, some fans will worry that, with Ben Davies, Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Bergvall, Mohammed Kudus and Richarlison all joining Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison on the list of long-term injured this month, the squad is currently looking even thinner than it did before the window opened.

How much did they spend and how much did they bring in?

It was a modest January window from a net-spend perspective. Brennan Johnson — who was sold to Crystal Palace for £35million ($48m), a club-record signing for the south Londoners — was their only permanent departure of the month. Spurs added Gallagher from Atletico Madrid on a “long-term” deal for a very similar fee of €40million (£34.7m; $46.6m), while Brazilian left-back Souza joined from Santos for a deal worth north of £10m.

Who have they signed?

Gallagher is their marquee signing of the January window, having beaten outside title challengers Aston Villa to his signature. The 25-year-old has plenty of time to develop as a player and leader at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but brings a wealth of experience at the highest level. For a player who does not just bring quality on and off the pitch but also adds to Spurs’ homegrown contingent, it appears a smart bit of January business.

He is joined in north London by Souza, who was confirmed as a Tottenham player on the 22nd January after an extended work permit application. Souza, 19, is relatively new to top-flight football, having only broken into Brazilian side Santos’ first team in 2025, but he is a highly rated talent tipped as one for the future. While he may not be relied upon to play many minutes this season, particularly with Spurs out of the FA Cup, he could flourish in the coming seasons, given time to adjust.

On deadline day they also signed 18-year-old striker James Wilson from Hearts on loan with an option to make the move permanent in the summer. He will link up with the club’s under-21 squad.

Were there any deals they wanted to do that they didn’t get over the line?

Yes, quite a few. Tottenham have been in the market for a starting left-winger in the summer, having targeted Antoine Semenyo at the start of the window, then at Bournemouth, and Manchester City and Brazil winger Savinho.

Spurs revisited Semenyo’s situation ahead of the January window, but faced competition from England’s biggest and most successful clubs. With his final contribution in a Bournemouth shirt being a stoppage-time winner against Spurs, Semenyo left the south coast to join Manchester City on January 9. They also asked about RB Leipzig forward Yan Diomande, who has had an excellent debut season in the Bundesliga, but were met with a swift rejection, with Leipzig unwilling to entertain interest until the end of the season. Diomande may be revisited as a target again in the summer, with the asking price indicated to be in the €100million range.

Tottenham were also in surprise negotiations to sign Andy Robertson, whose contract with Liverpool expires in the summer. As a two-time Premier League winner and part of the 2019 Champions League-winning side, Robertson would have brought a wealth of experience and leadership, as well as on-pitch quality, to a squad short on proven winners.

But Spurs could not complete the deal, with Liverpool failing to secure a replacement for the Scotland international in time. Tottenham may revisit the situation in the summer, when Robertson will be a free agent, provided he does not extend his contract with the defending English champions.

Are there still any obvious gaps in the team?

Tottenham need another starting-quality wide forward and a midfield controller. Mathys Tel’s emergence following Johnson’s departure will have given Frank some encouragement that he can provide quality contributions as a starter and from the bench until the summer, with Kulusevski and Kudus in line to return from injury well before then. And with Wilson Odobert enjoying his best stretch as a Spurs player since signing from Burnley in 2024, there may just be enough to tide Spurs over.

In midfield, Pape Matar Sarr’s return from the Africa Cup of Nations gives Frank another senior player to use, though he is not a natural line-breaking passer. For that reason, Yves Bissouma could prove to be among Frank’s most pivotal players, having demonstrated his passing quality against Aston Villa and Burnley since playing his first professional minutes of the season for Mali at AFCON.

Bissouma has had conduct issues with Frank and previous coaches, but if he can stay disciplined for the remainder of the season, he has the quality to lift this Spurs team in possession.

Do they have the squad to achieve their goals for the season?

That depends on their goals.

Can Tottenham, with the unit currently available to Frank, turn their form around entirely and push towards the European places? Probably not. Should they have enough quality to steer well clear of the relegation zone and finish around mid-table? Yes.

For a club with some of the most expensive season-ticket and matchday prices in the league, those ambitions do not match the supporters’ financial outlay, but their position at this stage is such that it is difficult to imagine them ascending much higher this season.

Tottenham’s one hope for some late-season excitement again comes in Europe, as they have qualified directly for the Champions League’s last 16. Could Frank take them to the quarter-finals with this squad, or perhaps even dream of going a stage further with a kind(-ish) draw and a bit of luck? Why not!

Will the manager/head coach be happy?

Frank surely would have liked at least another wide attacker and central midfielder, even if they would not have suited the club’s long-term ambitions.

If he manages to steer Spurs well out of trouble and end the season strongly, leading to assurances from the board about his future, he may reflect on the window positively, appreciating the club’s restraint in waiting until the summer for their primary targets.

But if Premier League results continue to spiral downward and Tottenham decide to replace him, he will undoubtedly have wished for more January activity.

What will their priority be in the summer?

They will largely be the same as in the January window, but they may find more joy. Robertson, who could be a free agent at that point, will likely still be a target as an on- and off-field leader. Spurs will look again for a starting wide attacker, where Diomande and Savinho could remain on their list of potential signings.

In midfield, Tottenham are likely to look again for positive, passing central midfielders. Spurs may also look to strengthen in the goalkeeping department after a particularly difficult winter period for Guglielmo Vicario.

Will they have money to spend?

Yes. Part of the reason Johnson was sold to Crystal Palace was to improve the club’s position in relation to the profit and sustainability regulations (PSR), allowing Spurs to remain aggressive and ambitious in the market.

Tottenham are a wealthy club, and under the Lewis family, whose stated ambition is to “win more matches, more often”, there is a desire to support the coach with player investment. The question will be whether they can do the right deals.

What is Tottenham’s strongest XI now that the window is shut?

Guglielmo Vicario; Pedro Porro, Kevin Danso, Cristian Romero, Micky Van de Ven, Destiny Udogie; Yves Bissouma, Conor Gallagher; Wilson Odobert, Xavi Simons; Dominic Solanke

The full list of ins and outs

Ins: Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid), Souza (Santos), James Wilson (Hearts; loan with an option)

Sunday’s home game against Manchester City brings with it an unsettling sense of deja vu for Tottenham Hotspur supporters.

Just as in May 2024, when City visited north London in the penultimate game of Ange Postecoglou’s first season, a number of Spurs fans are ambivalent about their side getting a result this weekend — and some are even actively rooting for them to lose.

That is because City again appear to be the biggest obstacle between Tottenham’s rivals Arsenal and the Premier League title (although we should not entirely discount third-placed Aston Villa, who are level on points with Pep Guardiola’s side).

Arsenal’s 0-0 draw with Nottingham Forest and 3-2 defeat to Manchester United have allowed six-time champions City to close the gap to four points ahead of the league leaders’ potential banana skin at Leeds United on Saturday and, starved of joy by their own club, the prospect of another Arsenal choke is about as good as it gets for Spurs fans right now (at least in the Premier League).

No fan should be told how to follow their team, nor be scolded for feeling conflicted, especially as Spurs supporters have been put in this unenviable bind by the failings of their club — rather than the other way around.

But just as those supporters should not be blamed for having mixed feelings, so Spurs staff would be entirely justified in feeling bemused, frustrated and appalled by any suggestion that fans do not want to get a result, just as Postecoglou was two years ago.

The fanbase and the club are not one and the same thing. They are separate entities — perhaps the most obvious difference is that fans are paying, while club staff are being paid — and City’s visit is the latest unfortunate situation in which it feels impossible for everyone associated with Spurs to be entirely on the same page.

While no one is necessarily in the wrong here, a conflict of interest between fans and the club is a troubling symptom of an unhealthy organisation, and there is blame to be apportioned to the decision-makers whose mistakes have led Spurs to this juncture.

Years of decline have reduced Tottenham — one of the wealthiest clubs on the planet — to a place where the collective mood of the fanbase is at least somewhat conditioned by Arsenal stumbling again.

Supporters have had little to cheer in the top flight since the 2-0 win over City at the Etihad Stadium in August, and they go into the reverse fixture having taken three points from games against Brentford, Sunderland, Bournemouth, West Ham United and Burnley this year.

Against the backdrop of poor results, turgid football, sky-high ticket prices and a lack of faith in the new-look board, fan unrest is growing. The protest group ‘Change for Tottenham’ has organised a walkout in the 75th minute of Sunday’s game, following a series of other demonstrations around matches since the back end of last season.

The dilemma facing fans on Sunday is not the sort which should afflict a club of Spurs’ stature and resources, especially not twice in the space of three seasons, and is a direct consequence of their consistent underperformance in the Premier League.

Clearly, it was much easier for Mauricio Pochettino, Spurs’ most celebrated manager of the Premier League era, to say he did not care about getting one over Arsenal than it was for Postecoglou, because the Argentine’s teams were competing for the league title, while the Australian’s squad were watching from afar while Arsenal challenged at the top.

Healthy and competitive clubs can afford to focus entirely on themselves.

The stakes on Sunday feel lower than at the climax of the 2023-24 season, when any Spurs result against City would have left Arsenal with a first league title in 21 years by beating Everton on the final day. This time, there are still 14 rounds of top-flight fixtures after this weekend.

Then again, two years ago, Postecoglou’s Spurs went into the game still with an outside chance of a top-four finish and Champions League football, while their current league campaign under Thomas Frank already feels reduced to little more than a mid-table scrap.

The furore around the May 2024 game was damaging to Spurs.

Postecoglou said before the match that he would never understand supporters wanting their own team to lose and insisted “100 per cent” of fans were rooting for his team.

A 2-0 Spurs defeat, though, played out in a strange atmosphere, soundtracked by a conversational babble that felt more akin to Centre Court at Wimbledon than a high-stakes Premier League football game.

While few if any Spurs fans appeared to be actively cheering on City, it was plain that many did not know exactly how to feel about the occasion — at least until Son Heung-min raced clean through in the 86th minute, with the visitors leading 1-0.

The milliseconds before Son shot likely clarified the true feelings of many watching fans — Miss! Score! — but his effort was saved, and City added a second goal in stoppage time.

For many associated with Spurs, the result was cause for relief rather than celebration, ensuring that City (who typically inspire indifference in neutrals) remained in control of their own destiny. They duly delivered a fifth title in six seasons.

For Postecoglou, though, it was the “worst experience” of a long and storied managerial career to date, prompting the head coach to furiously suggest that Spurs were built on “fragile foundations” and admit he “got it wrong in terms of what the atmosphere was going to be like and what people felt”.

There seems every chance that the atmosphere will be similarly subdued on Sunday, not least because so many Spurs fans are currently gripped by a numbing apathy at the state of their club and have lost patience with Frank.

Some home supporters may even have two reasons to want Spurs to lose: to maintain the pressure on Arsenal and the heat on Frank, potentially hastening the Dane’s departure.

Looking back, it is easy to wonder now if the misunderstandings and strength of feeling around the defeat to City under Postecoglou was a turning point of sorts.

It is not easy to pinpoint the moment that Postecoglou’s Spurs tenure began to unravel — you could make a compelling case for the 4-1 home loss to Chelsea in November 2023, as well as any number of other bad defeats — but the strange circumstances of that City game felt like the start of a deterioration in his relationship with supporters (which was eventually repaired by last season’s Europa League win).

Perhaps being given permission to throw the City game by fans also negatively impacted the players, feeding into the sense that it was permissible to lose in the Premier League — a feeling that was also fostered by Postecoglou effectively writing off the top-flight campaign last season.

For Frank, a defeat on Sunday would further undermine his position, with Spurs still without a league win in 2026 and fans having made clear in recent games that they blame the Dane.

Ironically, though, there is a section of the fanbase who would be angrier with Frank if he manages to mastermind another win over City this weekend.

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank says the club “did everything” to sign Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth, and are continuing to work on additions before Monday’s transfer window deadline, backed by “very committed” ownership.

Tottenham are in the market for a starting attacking player, and Frank confirmed in Friday’s pre-match press conference ahead of the visit of Manchester City that Spurs attempted to sign the Ghana international before he joined this weekend’s opponents earlier this month.

“It’s clear the club wanted to sign Semenyo,” Frank said. “They did everything. I think that’s a clear signal that the Lewis family is very committed. That’s a big signing with the finances and all that. That’s the quality of players we are looking for to improve the squad.”

Spurs are in the midst of an injury crisis, with Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Bergvall, Richarlison, Pedro Porro, Ben Davies, and Rodrigo Bentancur all sustaining injuries in January which will keep them out for at least a month. The squad has been reinforced with the signings of Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid and 19-year-old left-back Souza from Santos, but Frank admitted the unit is now weaker than it was ahead of the window with so many key players sidelined through injury.

“Yeah, I think that’s fair. I think we lost what, I can’t remember, six or seven players inside three weeks in January, so that’s crazy,” he said. “And you know, some of them extremely unlucky, with definitely, Lucas and Ben, was clear contact injuries. I can’t remember all of them, but definitely too many. So, yeah, of course, it’s weaker than we started January 1st.”

Still, despite the club sitting 14th in the Premier League, they will not rush into a deal if it does not align with their short- and long-term ambitions.

“The club work relentlessly to try to do the best they can to improve the squad, especially Johan (Lange), Fabio (Paratici) and Vinai (Venkatesham) and of course, all the people behind them. I mean it, we can’t be too obsessed with short-term fixes that not helping on the long term,” the Dane continued.

“Because if we do that, all the hard work we put in now can be limited for the future, and that’s not that we want badly short term success as well.

“I also think it’s fair to say that the transfer window is not Football Manager. Unfortunately, it is not. It would be a lot easier, but also a little bit more boring. Will not have as many good stories to talk about.

“So it is very difficult the transfer market. It’s an art, it’s a craftsmanship. You need to be very good at it, and then there needs to be a selling club who want to sell, and there needs to be a club that wants to buy, and a player in the middle who wants to come. So that’s always the challenge. I’m happy that I think we’ve already done great business in getting Conor in. I think that’s a great deal, and a great player who fits everything we want for this club.”

Tottenham confirmed their qualification directly through to the last 16 of the Champions League with a 2-0 away win against Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday. After scoring in the 2-2 draw against Burnley last weekend, Micky van de Ven missed the trip to Germany through injury, and is “touch and go” to return to action against City on Sunday.

“Micky is a minor one,” said Frank. “It would be touch and go for Sunday. We’re hoping. He was on the pitch yesterday, on the pitch today. So hopeful for that. But it’s touch and go.”