Tottenham Hotspur have made nothing short of a disastrous start to the Premier League season, despite having the third-highest net spend in the summer transfer window, behind Liverpool and Ipswich Town.

The primary focus was rebuilding the midfield, with Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes arriving at the club for a combined £185m, but the heavy spending is yet to yield positive results, with Spurs drawing two and losing three of their opening five Premier League games.

Prior to Saturday's 3-2 defeat at home against Aston Villa, Spurs hadn't scored in the Premier League, and they could be staring down the barrel of another relegation battle, having fallen to 19th place due to Coventry City's 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest.

For now, Roberto De Zerbi's job is safe, according to Fabrizio Romano, who said: "So, the message from Tottenham, as of today, remains a message of confidence in Roberto De Zerbi.

"So at the moment I don’t have any indication of Tottenham exploring different ways. I’m told that Tottenham still believe in the manager. I’m told Tottenham knew it was going to take time. It’s not a switch you make from 17th in the league, saving from relegation in the final game of the season, to Champions League spots just because you spend big money."

As Romano points out, shelling out huge sums in the transfer market isn't necessarily the solution to Tottenham's problems, but they are now eyeing what would be an expensive addition to the squad ahead of the January window.

Tottenham could make January move for Morgan Gibbs-White

According to a report from Football Insider, Tottenham have now set their sights on a January move for Nottingham Forest star Morgan Gibbs-White, after nearly signing the 26-year-old during the 2025 summer transfer window.

However, a deal could be extremely expensive, as Nottingham Forest are known to be holding out for £125m, given that the attacking midfielder is one of Oliver Glasner's most important players, picking up one goal and two assists in five Premier League outings this season.

Journalist Pete O'Rourke also added: "They tried hard two summers ago to sign Gibbs-White and it got a bit ugly in the end with the Forest owner, Evangelos Marinakis, threatening legal action before he ended up tying down Gibbs-White to a new contract which made him the highest-paid player at the club.

"That showed how much faith Forest had in him and how important he is to their plans going forward as well. I'm sure that Tottenham's interest still remains in Gibbs-White."

Content creator Mitch Fretton is a big fan of the Englishman, praising him for his versatility before a move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium broke down in the summer of 2025.

A seasoned Premier League player, with 34 goals and 35 assists in 196 first tier matches, Gibbs-White would be a statement signing for Tottenham this winter, and Spurs could evidently do with signing a creative force, having recorded a total xG of just 4.47 in the league this term.