Savinho and Gakpo: Tottenham's New Attack Strategy

Tottenham’s attack has felt strangely still this summer. The noise has been elsewhere, the headlines written about other clubs. Yet with the new season only a week away, Spurs are suddenly poised to rip up the script.

Roberto De Zerbi has identified his men. Cody Gakpo from Liverpool. Savinho from Manchester City. Two very different forwards, one clear brief: drag a flat frontline into something sharper, more ruthless, more unpredictable.

Savinho: the winger De Zerbi wants on the grass now

Savinho has been circling N17 for months. Now, with the window ticking down, the 22-year-old looks especially eager to make the move and work under De Zerbi.

Tottenham need him.

Randal Kolo Muani is gone after a miserable loan. Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert are still stuck in the treatment room and not close to a return. The wide options have thinned out badly.

In the short term, Savinho slots straight into a vacancy. The left-footer is the obvious stand-in for Mohammed Kudus on the right, with the Ghanaian yet to feature in pre-season and only just back in training. Kudus’ absence has left a creative and goalscoring hole on that flank; Savinho offers the energy and directness to plug it.

Longer term, the plan could bend. Savinho has drawn praise from analyst and Como scout Ben Mattinson for those Gareth Bale-style, driven finishes cutting in from the left. De Zerbi will not ignore that. Once Kudus is fully fit, the Brazilian could easily flip sides and attack from the left instead, opening the pitch up for his stronger foot and those surging, diagonal runs.

If Savinho ends up patrolling that side regularly, the knock-on effect for Gakpo becomes fascinating.

Gakpo’s role: from left-winger to Spurs’ false nine?

Gakpo has lived most of his Liverpool life off the left. That’s his natural habitat. But De Zerbi’s Tottenham may not look much like Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool, and the Dutchman’s profile hints at a different use.

He is not a winger who kills you with blistering pace or endless stepovers. His game is built around timing, movement, and finishing. Goals, not showreels.

That is why a false-nine role is firmly on the table.

The numbers back it up. According to Transfermarkt, Gakpo has scored 18 goals in 66 appearances when used as a striker or false nine at Liverpool. It is not an outrageous haul, but it is steady, functional production from a player who has never been the undisputed focal point of the attack.

Under De Zerbi, with patterns drilled into him and the team built to feed him, that output could grow. Yet the fact those figures are “solid” rather than spectacular keeps one question alive: do Spurs still need a new, out-and-out number nine?

Inside Spurs’ striker dilemma: Richarlison, Solanke and a £51m answer

The current centre-forward picture is unsettled. One of Richarlison or Dominic Solanke could still leave before the window shuts, and the club’s planning reflects that uncertainty.

Richarlison’s situation feels the most fragile. He has just a year left on his deal. De Zerbi has already admitted the 29-year-old is wrestling with his future, weighing up whether to stay or go. Earlier this summer, Football FanCast reported exclusively that the Brazilian is expected to be sold. That possibility now looms large.

Solanke looks safer, but not untouchable. Nottingham Forest have shown interest, and while the 28-year-old has worked hard, his return of 12 league goals across two seasons for Spurs is hardly the return of a nailed-on starter.

Behind the scenes, the hierarchy are preparing for a pivot. TEAMtalk report that ENIC would look to move on one of Richarlison or Solanke before really accelerating a push for Folarin Balogun, with Spurs described as “frontrunners” for the Monaco striker.

Balogun would not come cheap. The fee is expected to land around £51m. But the former Arsenal forward is keen to come back to the Premier League and, crucially, is open to joining Spurs. For a player with his history, that is a statement in itself.

Talks are still at an early stage. This is not a done deal. Yet if Tottenham close it, the window suddenly looks very different. Balogun, in this context, might be an even bigger coup than Gakpo or Savinho.

Balogun’s case: numbers, narrative, and a sting for Arsenal

Gakpo’s time at Liverpool has split opinion. He has never hit double figures in a Premier League season since arriving from PSV Eindhoven. Savinho, for all his promise, finished the 2025/26 league campaign with just one goal and one assist. The raw talent is there, but the end product has not yet exploded.

Balogun’s record, by contrast, comes with a sharper edge.

The United States international scored 13 goals and supplied four assists in Ligue 1 last season. Gakpo, for comparison, managed seven goals and five assists in the Premier League. Different leagues, different teams, but the output tells its own story.

On the biggest stage, Balogun showed he can carry threat. Despite ending his World Cup on a controversial note, he still walked away with three goals from four appearances, leading the line in Mauricio Pochettino’s attack and looking like a constant menace.

Europe told a similar tale. Five goals in ten Champions League outings last season underlined his pedigree at elite level and hinted at a striker rediscovering the form that saw him smash 21 Ligue 1 goals on loan at Reims in 2022/23.

Injuries have interrupted that rise, but they have not erased the talent. At £51m, Balogun would be a serious investment, yet one that carries clear upside. If he thrives in Lilywhite, Arsenal will have to watch a Hale End graduate – one they chose to sell – lighting up the other side of north London.

Tottenham know that story well. Harry Kane once made the same journey from Arsenal’s academy cast-off to Spurs icon. No one is suggesting Balogun will become the next Kane, but the symbolism is impossible to ignore.

If Spurs land him, with Gakpo floating between the lines and Savinho tearing down a flank, De Zerbi’s attack suddenly looks loaded with angles, pace, and goals.

And for Richarlison and Solanke, that kind of momentum is more than just a tactical shift. It is a warning.