Ewan Flynn's New Season Roll Call

The White Hart Review is delighted to welcome renowned football writer Ewan Flynn to our growing group of regular contributors for the 2026-7 season. In his debut piece for the site, Ewan gives us his perspective on the current squad.

Ah, the hubris of summer. Cast your mind back 12 months, as we basked in the afterglow of Bilbao. Who among us didn't assert that seventeenth had been an aberration, never to be repeated? Things could only get better, couldn't they? The trauma of what followed thereafter - a cataclysm averted by a paper-thin margin - should perhaps lead to a tempering of expectations this time around. But this is Tottenham Hotspur, and we'll have none of that drab sobriety around here.

Optimism abounds in N17, and with good reason. ENIC 2.0 - or the Lewis Family (as the doubtless handsomely remunerated spin doctors they employ would have us call them) - have been awoken from their complacency by the fright of their gilded lives. Money, which during their custodianship has so frictionlessly flowed into THFC, is at long last being allowed to gush out. Uncoincidentally, in this new reality, a squad of genuine class is being assembled for a coach who doesn't do bashful. Roberto De Zerbi has made it clear he wants a tilt at the title. To misquote one of his predecessors: "One thing is 100% sure: we will win football matches!"

Goalkeepers

Antonín Kinský

It's hard to call Kinsky's calamity at Atletico the nadir of last season - there were so many to choose from. His redemption arc, however - with Premier League status-preserving saves against Wolves, Leeds and Everton - was the campaign's unrivalled feel-good story. The Czech has reaped rich reward. The unpopular Vicario has been jettisoned, and the youngster has a season to establish himself as the undisputed number 1, potentially for years to come. His mental fortitude and adroitness with his feet are exemplary. His shot-stopping, particularly from long range, has room for improvement.    

Martin Dubravka

At 37, Dubravka's role will be more about mentoring Kinský than competing with him. All being well, with such a light fixture list due to the absence of European games, the veteran should barely play. On the occasions he is required, competency and quality on the ball can be expected.

Full Backs

Pedro Porro

Only the third man in club history to win the World Cup while representing Spurs, Porro is primed to establish himself as the outstanding right back in the division. His propensity to bite back at flak aimed at his teammates got some fans' backs up during the darkest depths of last season. But his commitment to the cause - as exemplified by his magnificent performance in the do-or-die match with Everton - and the rare quality of his deliveries make him deserving of the vice-captaincy.   

Destiny Udogie

The Italian's talent is there for all to see. Regrettably, so is his injury record. The one-game-per-week schedule should suit him. But if the 2026/27 register is again peppered with absences, the club will have to move him on.

Andy Robertson

The indifference expressed by some fans in January (when signing the Scotland captain was first mooted) has dissipated over pre-season. Robertson may have miles on the clock, but evidently there is still plenty left in his legs. One suspects he'll be capable of whipping in a dangerous cross for eternity. However, it's inside a dressing room that threatened to cave in whenever a home game was to be played that he will make his greatest contribution. In ‘'proper football man' lexicon, he'll lead by example and set standards. He also has bona fide COYS credentials, passed down on the paternal side.   

Centre Backs

Micky van de Ven

Call me capricious, but watching the Dutchman self-destruct against Crystal Palace last term, I thought he was cooked at Spurs. He looked miserable, and we were miserable with him. Of all the players to perform drastically below their potential in that annus horribilis, he was perhaps the most guilty. His revived form and attitude adjustment under De Zerbi - and perhaps a cooling of interest in him from the continent - have resulted in a new contract. His peak years should now play out at Tottenham. While his combination with Romero promised - on occasion - to be a pairing for the ages, the Argentine's departure could be the making of van de Ven. It's hard to envisage how he won't benefit from having a less impulsive and more reliable partner.

Jan Paul van Hecke

It has been suggested in some quarters that this summer's trade of central defenders between Spurs and Brighton owes as much to gaming the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules as anything else. Perhaps that was a factor, but comparing the showings of van Hecke and Vušković at the World Cup, there can be no argument that one looked Tottenham-ready, whilst the other has it all to prove. That van Hecke has played under De Zerbi previously, and that the two were keen to be reunited, can only be taken as a positive sign.

Marcos Senesi

As a free transfer, Senesi looks a shrewd acquisition. His ability to progress the ball from deep will make him an integral part of De Zerbi's Tottenham in the seasons ahead. His lack of pace - particularly when lining up alongside van Hecke offers some cause for concern.

Kevin Danso

Knocked down the pecking order by this summer's defensive surgery, Danso - a defender of the muck and bullets variety many of us grew up on - will still have a part to play when games need seeing out. He also appears to be one of the best human beings in the squad and a valued mentor to its youngest members.

Midfield

Sandro Tonali

£100 million is a lot of money, but baulking at such fees while going steady with the relegation zone has proved injudicious. Tonali will be the best we've had in the middle of the park since Dembele, whose most productive years, lest we forget, were close to a decade ago.

Mateus Fernandes

Signing West Ham's star player last summer didn't pay dividends. Fernandes, however, feels like the club's most exciting addition in ages. That volley vs MK Dons, those pinpoint passes vs Hoffenheim ... and best of all, he's only just turned 22.   

Rodrigo Bentancur

Injuries have hindered the Uruguayan who initially threatened to fill the aforementioned Dembele void. He is still a fine footballer who made a sterling contribution - that no doubt De Zerbi will long remember - when things looked incredibly bleak last spring. Hopefully he'll be happy to share the load with the summer’s expensive recruits. Great teams have players of Bentancur's calibre to call on.

Lucas Bergvall

The book Soccernomics shows how the football industry inflates the value of players with blonde hair because they stand out on the pitch. That fact often pops into my head when watching the Swede surrender possession after taking one touch too many. His athleticism and youthful energy are appealing traits. But in the PSR era, having signed him for £8.5 million, the chance to cash in a player who is unlikely to be first choice for upwards of £50 million is an attractive proposition.  

Archie Gray  

Opportunities for Gray to play in midfield look limited. His ability to excel in defence, however, should see him clock up plenty of minutes. My hunch is that there is only room to nurture one of Gray or Bergvall in the squad. Attempting to develop them in tandem will see neither flourish. De Zerbi's decision to make Gray captain for the pre-season games is perhaps instructive of where he thinks the future lies.

Conor Gallagher

'The much-maligned Conor Gallagher,' as he looked destined to be called before De Zerbi's arrival, may yet prove a success at Spurs. He isn't the most silky, but his hard running and pugnacious play - even getting wired into his boyhood favourites Chelsea in pre-season - will win hearts and minds.  

James Maddison

He should be the face of the team, but his brilliant start in a Spurs shirt is now three years ago. Few players in the squad quicken the pulse and fire the imagination as Maddison does. Sadly, the question remains: can his body contend with the rigours of the Premier League?

Others

Xavi Simons and Dejan Kulusevski, if fit, would be players to build the team around. What part either can play this season is currently impossible to say. Pape Sarr, it seems likely, will be sold before the transfer window closes.

Wingers

Mathys Tel

The star turn of pre-season, Tel - were he a new signing - would be the talk of the town. Instead, he looks set to duke it out with imminent new arrivals for the left-wing berth. His positivity and ball striking will surely result in an enduring Premier League career. Whether that will be with Spurs remains to be seen.   

Mohammed Kudus

Tottenham's forgotten man. Kudus should thrive under De Zerbi, a lover of vibrant wing play. That the Ghanaian briefly shone in Thomas Frank's moribund side speaks to his talent. If he can recapture that early promise, Kudus will quickly become the team's most potent attacking weapon. He's my tip for player of the season.

Others

Mikey Moore looks likely to get the opening couple of games before going out on loan. Wilson Odobert will do well to kick a ball in anger before the spring.

Strikers

Dominic Solanke

12 Premier League goals across two seasons is an awful return on the £65 million paid to Bournemouth. It's particularly maddening as before joining Tottenham Hotspur's battalion of walking wounded, he'd barely missed a match in three seasons. Like with Udogie, we can no longer wait on Solanke. It's now or never.

Richarlison

The time to sell Richarlison was probably two years ago. That we haven't, and find ourselves again going into another season with him as our best bet for goals, speaks to the paucity of top-level strikers on the market. It also serves as a reminder that for all the 'new' ownership's positive work, there is more to be done. Lots more.

Ewan Flynn is the author of When the Year Ends in One: How Tottenham Hotspur's 1991 FA Cup Win Saved the Club and Transformed English Football