Tottenham face up to £882m transfer deficit as Morgan Gibbs-White failure knocks Daniel Levy vow

Tottenham Hotspur are in danger of being left behind in the 2025/26 Premier League and the season has not even started yet.

Spurs already have plenty of catching up to do, having finished last season in 17th place - leading to Ange Postecoglou being sacked, despite having won the UEFA Europa League trophy.

Thomas Frank is the new man in charge and has spent the last few weeks getting to know his new players and working with them on the training ground to implement his style of play.

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The Spurs squad is travelling out to Hong Kong today, for the club's anual pre-season tour, preparing for games against Arsenal on Thursday and then Newcastle United in South Korea next Sunday.

Only two new signings will be part of that travelling party and there are no guarantees that one of those new faces will even be part of the squad.

Tottenham have spent £60million on Mohammed Kudus from West Ham United and Kota Takai from Kawasaki Frontale - £55million of that sum going on Kudus.

Takai picked up a knock in training with his new side and has not been present for the pre-season games in England so far.

Tottenham had hoped to double that transfer spend by signing Morgan Gibbs-White for £60million, but after two weeks of radio silence, with Spurs having seemingly triggered the player's release clause only for Nottingham Forest to shut down communication and threaten legal action over what they considered an illegal approach, the 25-year-old has now put pen to paper on a new contract at the City Ground.

It is a damaging blow for Tottenham and new boss Frank, who had seen the England international as the perfect No.10 in his system in N17.

Spurs will now have to turn their attentions elsewhere, with less than three weeks until the new season begins now. And they are being left behind by their rivals in the Premier League.

Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United have all made huge strides in improving their squads in the summer transfer window.

Liverpool have signed four new players at a cost of £269million, while Chelsea have brought in six new faces for around £212million. Arsenal have now made it six signings this summer with the capture of Viktor Gyokeres, taking their spending to around £201million.

United have splashed out around £133million on three new signings, with City also bringing in three new faces for about £127million.

Ignoring Mathys Tel making his loan move permanent and Kevin Danso's loan being turned into a permanent deal - as neither are new faces with an option and an obligation to join Spurs - the two transfers leave Spurs behind in terms of squad changes and money spent compared to their rivals.

Having finished in 17th place, Spurs will have less money to spend than their rivals, based off merit payments from the Premier League, but by winning the Europa League they have the carrot and financial reward of Champions League football this season.

Frank needs to have the tools at his disposal to get the job done and leaving things late in the transfer window will only hinder the Dane when it comes to the start of the Premier League season.

Spurs must move on quickly from the Gibbs-White debacle and set their sights on a new No.10 quickly. There is also the question of a new No.6 to be answered, while certain players could do with being moved on.

The clock is ticking and after Daniel Levy's vow that the Europa League was not enough and that Spurs need to win the Premier League and want to win the Champions League, the pressure is on.