Tottenham's £130m transfer disaster Thomas Frank is still fixing as trio barely fetch £4m

Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank is searching for new players in the transfer window (Image: Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Tottenham Hotspur will be keen to learn from their costly transfer mistakes as Thomas Frank’s side continues to search for reinforcements. Spurs have made a perfect start to the new Premier League campaign, but are still working on strengthening in certain positions before deadline day.

New Spurs boss Frank has welcomed Mohammed Kudus from West Ham United and secured a loan deal for Bayern Munich midfielder Joao Palhinha, who got on the scoresheet in the club’s impressive win over Manchester City at the weekend. However, Tottenham’s failed effort to sign Nottingham Forest Star Morgan Gibbs-White and losing out to Arsenal in a move for Eberechi Eze highlights the club’s desire to bring in a new number 10.

Son Heung-min’s departure to LAFC, James Maddison’s long-term injury and Dejan Kulusevski being sidelined also outlines the need for more attacking options. The club will be wary of repeating past mistakes, though, with the club taking five years to deal with a trio of marquee signings in similar positions.

In 2019, Spurs snapped up Tanguy Ndombele for a club-record £63million from Lyon. The centre-midfielder was joined by Fulham youngster Ryan Sessegnon for £25m, while Giovani Lo Celso initially joined on loan in a deal worth £42m .

Unfortunately for Spurs, the three new signings never quite lived up to their sizeable price tags and only recouped a small portion of their £130m combined transfer fees. Both Ndombele and Sessegnon joined Nice and Fulham, respectively, as free agents last summer. Only Lo Celso was able to command a fee, joining Real Betis for around £4m.

Back to the present day, Spurs have addressed centre-midfield and brought in a forward, but are still searching for an attacking midfielder. The team may have missed out on Gibbs-White and Eze, but have since been linked with several different targets.

Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso were high-profile signings for Spurs in 2019 (Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

It was reported by the Independent last week that Tottenham had approached intermediaries over a possible move for Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers. However, it is thought that any deal is unlikely , with Villa likely demand more than Spurs had agreed to pay for Eze.

Elsewhere, Monaco’s Maghnes Akliouche has been linked with a move to Spurs . The club also hold an interest in Como’s Nico Paz, while Tottenham have also looked at Leicester City’s Bilal El Khannouss.

Spurs are interested in Manchester City forward Savinho (Image: Image Photo Agency/Getty Images)

However, Spurs boss Frank is seemingly not concerned about the club’s prolonged search for new signings. Pape Matar Sarr was deployed in a more attacking midfield role against Man City, in front of Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur, and the Spurs manager has insisted he is not concerned about missing out on transfer targets who would prefer to be elsewhere.

“To make it very, very clear, I don't want any players that don't want to come to the club,” Frank said. “Who don't want to come to the club and wear this fantastic badge -- we don't want them here.

“I think that's very clear, and also pretty sure that the fans will feel the same if they don't want to put the fantastic shirt over their head. Play for the badge, play for the club. Really enjoy it. No problem, then we don't want them there. I think that's a key message.”