How are Spurs funding spending spree – and where would signings fit in?

The last 48 hours or so have seemed very un-Tottenham like.

Preparing to commit £115m on Mohammed Kudus and Morgan Gibbs-White isn’t behaviour you’d necessarily associate with Spurs in the Daniel Levy era.

The general feeling around Tottenham and their transfer market spending in recent years has been one of frugality – although those at Spurs would be quick to point out they did spend £55m on Dominic Solanke last season, in a deal that could eventually become a club-record £65m.

Yet you can’t escape the sense that the previous couple of days represents a change in narrative.

If Gibbs-White’s £60m signing from Nottingham Forest goes through – after some late legal issues – it will be the biggest initial fee paid by the club.

Tottenham remain hopeful the deal will be completed despite Forest looking at whether a confidentiality agreement in the player’s contract had been breached. It is also understood the club are claiming Spurs haven’t asked permission to speak to the player.

Heading into the summer transfer window, well-placed sources indicated the club would be limited in the amount they would be able to spend.

But the capture of Kudus for £55m and the potential arrival of Gibbs-White for £60m flies in the face of any such restrictions.

So what has changed?

It is no secret Tottenham chairman Levy has been canvassing for external investment into the club in recent months.

However, BBC Sport understands the current spending on transfers is more likely to be the result of an injection of cash from owners Enic, who are understood to have kept a closer eye on club operations in recent months, rather than any external investment.

There has been talk of overseas investment – particularly from the Middle East.

For fans, of course, the source of the finances is neither here nor there.

All they really care about is the assembling of a team that can eventually challenge for the title and qualify consistently for the Champions League.

In Kudus and Gibbs-White, they would have two players capable of helping fulfil supporters’ wishes.

Both are flair players that live up to Tottenham’s attacking traditions and crucially are players who have Premier League experience.

Indeed, that was the remit for the club’s recruitment team this summer.

The squad is already packed full of exciting young potential, but experience is what new boss Thomas Frank believes it needs.

While Kudus and Gibbs-White are relatively young – 24 and 25, respectively – they are well-versed in the rigours of England’s top-flight.

Kudus has two full seasons for West Ham under his belt, making 80 appearances across all competitions, while Gibbs-White has played in the last three Premier League campaigns for Forest and had prior experience while a teenager at Wolves.

The Gibbs-White deal – if it goes through – would take Tottenham’s summer spending to £170m in initial fees, including the permanent signings of Mathys Tel and Kevin Danso after loan spells last season.

That kind of outlay may feel atypical to some supporters but it actually continues a recent trend of heavy spending by the club.

They were among the Premier League’s top five highest spenders in each of the previous three summers, including a £219m splurge on eight players in 2023 shortly after Ange Postecoglou was appointed head coach. That figure was partially offset by Harry Kane’s £86.5m move to Bayern Munich.

It’s true to say, though, Spurs don’t often spend as much on any individual player as they are hoping to this week. Gibbs-White would be only the fifth £50m-plus signing in their history, just a day or so after Kudus became the fourth.

Gibbs-White’s creativity is not in doubt – just ask Nottingham Forest.

Thriving in the No.10 role for his club under Nuno Espirito Santo, he made his England debut last September and contributed seven top-flight goals and eight assists as Forest improved by 10 places on their finishing position in 2024.

He is the club’s only player to reach double figures for combined goals and assists in three consecutive Premier League seasons.

Last season, the 25-year-old was involved in 148 attacks that led to an attempt on goal in the Premier League, either through him taking the shot, creating the chance or being involved in the build-up. None of his team-mates came close to matching that tally.

New Spurs head coach Frank will have an abundance of options to play as the central attacking midfielder, with Kudus’ preferred position also as a No.10 – despite typically playing out wide for West Ham.

Tottenham, of course, already had James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski in the building for that role, although all four players are versatile.

Across their Premier League careers, it’s Maddison who fares best per 90 minutes in terms of goals, assists, shots on target, chances created, through-balls and passes played into the opposition penalty area.

Swede Kulusevski ranks highest for chances created from open play, and also after he’s carried the ball a distance of at least five metres.

Spurs’ current squad is stacked in attack with Kudus, Maddison, Kulusevski, Wilson Odobert, Manor Solomon and Brennan Johnson.

But Frank’s reported interest in Christian Norgaard, before he signed for Arsenal from Brentford, suggests they are also looking for defensive reinforcements in midfield.