Tottenham Hotspur could sign a "few" defenders this summer if they can shift more of their current players "out the door than they kind of expected" this summer, per journalist Alasdair Gold.
Who are Tottenham Hotspur signing in the transfer window?
It's hard to deny that, thus far, Tottenham have had an excellent transfer window.
The club have undoubtedly improved their starting eleven with the signings of James Maddison from Leicester City and Guglielmo Vicario from Serie A side Empoli.
Alongside those two, they have added strong squad depth with the recent signing of Israeli international Manor Solomon from the Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk.
Yet, there is one major hole in their business so far, a mark against it, the lack of defensive signings.
Outside of the ever-reliable Harry Kane, Spurs were utterly underwhelming in the Premier League last year as they limped over the line to finish eighth, missing out on European football for the first time since 2009/10.
While the team was generally dysfunctional, the biggest issue was, without a doubt, the defence, as the side conceded a staggering 63 goals across their 38 league games, making a new centre-back, or two, an essential part of the team's summer business.
So far, the two names most heavily linked with a move to N17 are Dutch international Micky van de Ven and Bayer Leverkusen defender Edmond Tapsoba.
The former had a brilliant season with Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg last year and, according to Football Insider, has already agreed personal terms with the Lilywhites, but with the German side demanding £30m and Daniel Levy unwilling to offer more than £25m, an agreement is yet to be reached.
Tapsoba, on the other hand, would reportedly cost even more, at around €40m (£34m), per SportBILD (viaSport Witness).
With the way Spurs have operated over the past few transfer windows, it's hard to see them signing both players after they already splashed the cash earlier in the summer, but if they can shift a few more of their unwanted players, signing two defenders becomes a lot more plausible, per journalist Alasdair Gold.
He explained the situation on his YouTube channel, saying:
"The idea was always to have one on the tour. Whether that means they would have linked up later or not, I don't know. They've got to make that decision now between Van De Ven. Tapsoba, Adarabioyo, and Lenglet.
"It may well be that if they can get more defenders out of the door than they kind of expected they'd be able to, maybe you see a few of those going."
Who is leaving Tottenham Hotspur this summer?
Perhaps the most prominent name that will leave N17 this summer, should Kane stay, is club captain and World Cup-winning goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
The Frenchman has been at the club for 11 years at this point and has undoubtedly earned his spot among the other modern Tottenham greats in the Premier League era, but after a poor year between the sticks, he looks to be on the way out.
According to Record Sport, he could return to France, as Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain are said to be interested in him. However, the move could be scuppered as the publication report that Levy will ask for a fee, despite the keeper hoping he'd be allowed to leave on a free.
Whoever comes and goes this summer, it's starting to look like Ange Postecoglou will have a very different squad to work with come the start of the season next month.
