How could Tottenham line up after the January transfer window? Realistic and wildcard options | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur limped into 2025 after an injury crisis that has wiped out half of their first team squad. And they desperately need signings to give them any chance of having a successful season.

Ange Postecoglou’s side are 12th in the Premier League table after a difficult season that has seen them lose 10 games already. But despite crippling fitness problems, the Australian coach has refused to relent on his attacking philosophy, which has resulted in some damaging losses – such as 3-4 and 3-6 home defeats against Chelsea and Liverpool respectively.

Postecoglou has complained that he doesn’t have enough squad depth to rotate his side, leaving his players exposed to injury and exhaustion. You only need to look 18-year-old Archie Gray, who has played the last seven games in all competitions at centre-back despite not being a natural defender.

The coach said he had a wishlist for Santa to bolster his stretched squad before Christmas. And now it’s up to chairman Daniel Levy to decide whether he gets a couple of new presents in the January transfer window. It’s understood the club are chasing a centre-back, left-back, central midfielder and a forward.

Spurs have been linked with a handful of players in January, some of them aren’t so glamorous, while others may be seen as unrealistic given how difficult it is to bring in players in January. Either way, the team are in need of bodies to give the current first team squad a break.

Realistic targets: Sam Johnstone and Ben Godfrey

One name that has been strongly linked with a move to north London is goalkeeper Sam Johnstone. Tottenham have had a nightmare with their goalkeeping situation this season after Guglielmo Vicario suffered a fractured ankle during Tottenham’s 4-0 win at Manchester City in November. Fraser Forster has mostly filled in since, though Brandon Austin did make his debut against Newcastle United last time out.

But while Forster has impressed with his shot-stopping, he has come under fire with some high-profile errors while attempting to play with his feet. He was left red faced against Manchester United in recent weeks after Joshua Zirkzee pressured him while in possession and was gifted an easy tap-in.

While Johnstone would offer more depth to cover Forster, it’s unlikely he would be an upgrade and has had his own complaints with Wolves fans for his distribution. He arrived at Molineux for £10million this summer and signed a four-year deal but has been unable to nail down a place as a regular No 1.

He’s started seven times but Wolves have failed to win any of those games, losing six. He’s let in 17 goals in that time, with an Expected Goals on Target of 12.97. It doesn’t look like he will fare any better than Forster when it comes to playing out of the back, either. He has a passing accuracy of 62.65%, completing 156 of his 249 attempted passes.

Another player Tottenham are in need of is an extra defender after losing first choice centre-backs Mickey van de Ven and Cristian Romero, with no confirmed return date for either player. Experienced Ben Davies is also out, meanwhile Radu Dragusin has been the club’s only senior centre-back available in recent weeks.

Tottenham are likely to pursue depth in this area and Atalanta star Ben Godfrey — formerly of Everton — is said to be a target. The 26-year-old is yet to start a game for the Serie A side this season and has managed just 66 minutes — so he’d likely jump at the chance to get more game time.

Wildcard targets: Milan Skriniar, Angel Gomes and Marcus Rashford

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, PSG’s Milan Skriniar is another defender Tottenham are looking at. The former Inter Milan star has fallen out of favour with manager Luis Enrique, who doesn’t see him as a fit for his system. And the report from Italy claims Spurs are a ‘plausible destination’ for the 29-year-old.

The Slovakian hasn’t played since November and only has four starts in Ligue 1, featuring for just 381 minutes. He was once seen as one of the world’s best defenders and surely would add quality depth to Tottenham’s current team. However, his signing would go against Postecoglou’s bid to fill the squad with up and coming youth stars.

England star Angel Gomes is another player who has been linked with Tottenham and the Lille midfielder could be available at a cut price fee in January given that his contract expires next summer. The former Man United star made his Three Lions debut last year and is a highly-rated midfielder that would bolster the club’s options that already include Pape Sarr, Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur.

Meanwhile, Tottenham are crying out for a new winger after watching some underwhelming performances from usual star man Son Heung-min, while Timo Werner continues to disappoint during his season-long loan from RB Leipzig.

Marcus Rashford might be the answer to that solution — even though the Man United star has struggled himself this season. The England forward has found himself frozen out at Old Trafford by new boss Ruben Amorim and his future looks bleak after announcing he wanted to leave the club in a bombshell interview last month.

Rashford has only managed four goals and one assist from 15 Premier League outings this term, but it’s clear his pace and directness would benefit Postecoglou’s attacking set up. The 27-year-old has created 15 chances this season, four of them registering as big chances, though he has completed just nine of his 35 attempted take-ons.

While many clubs in Europe won’t be able to afford his huge wages of £300,000-a-week at Man United, a loan move to a Premier League rival could possibly be on the card given his reluctance to move to a Saudi Pro League club, and a switch to Spurs could give a lift to both parties.

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