Tottenham weigh £52m Simons omission as squad limits loom

Tottenham Hotspur face a stark choice as they prepare to submit their 25‑man Premier League squad on September 1, with the £52 million signing Xavi Simons potentially omitted despite his high profile. The decision hinges on squad rules, injury concerns and the club’s recent flurry of transfers.

Squad rules and early flexibility

All Premier League clubs may field any eligible players during the opening weeks of the season, but they must name a final 25‑man squad after the transfer window closes on September 1. This deadline forces clubs to balance new arrivals against the limit of home‑grown and non‑home‑grown spots, and it allows further adjustments in January.

Transfer activity and potential omissions

Tottenham have already completed six new signings and permitted eight departures, leaving 28 senior players on the books – 20 non‑homegrown and eight homegrown. Non‑homegrown names include Guglielmo Vicario, Antonin Kinsky, Martin Dubravka, Andy Robertson, Pedro Porro, Destiny Udogie, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Marcos Senesi, Jan Paul van Hecke, Kota Takai, Mateus Fernandes, Sandro Tonali, Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Matar Sarr, Dejan Kulusevski, Mohammed Kudus, Xavi Simons, Wilson Odobert and Richarlison. Homegrown players are Brandon Austin, Kevin Danso, Ben Davies, Djed Spence, Conor Gallagher, James Maddison, Dominic Solanke and Dane Scarlett.

Three of those players – Vicario, Romero and Djed Spence – are already linked with exits, while Takai is likely to go out on loan. Those departures would open a single place in the squad, yet manager De Zerbi has hinted at “two or three” further signings, meaning another player could still be left out.

Xavi Simons, the £52 million signing, suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in De Zerbi’s third game of the 2025/26 season and is expected to miss nine months, returning only at the end of January. With the Dutchman unavailable for the first half of the campaign, it would be sensible to leave him off the Premier League squad to free a slot for other newcomers.

Spurs remain in talks with Manchester City about Brazilian forward Savinho, and De Zerbi’s earlier reference to a “bomba” signing concerned a different player. The club has also been linked with former Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun, adding further uncertainty to the final squad composition.

By Lee Wilmot – Published Aug 12, 2026, 6:15 PM GMT+1 – Lee is a Senior Editor and Content Strategist at GiveMeSport, previously working on the . He graduated from Southampton Solent University in 2005 with a journalism degree before starting as a news reporter on his local paper in Kent. The article page offers options such as Add Us, Summary, Try, Give and other interactive features.