Could Tottenham actually challenge for the Premier League title in 2026/27?

Consecutive 17th-placed finishes suggest just something steady would suffice next campaign as a sign of progress. But given the stature of Spurs as a football club, the stadium and the growing summer outlay, it’s reasonable to set sights higher than that.

So, what about setting them to the highest bar of all?

This is going to be a very different title race

2026-27 feels like the Premier League is entering into a new era.

Once upon a time there was Wenger and Ferguson. Then came Jose Mourinho. Then there was Klopp and Guardiola. Now… it’s all change.

Tottenham’s North London neighbours have the most stability going for them. Arsenal are defending champions. Mikel Arteta is the longest-serving Premier League manager.

Manchester City are facing a new era after the glittering success of Pep Guardiola’s reign. While Enzo Maresca is a disciple of Pep’s, it will take some doing to recreate the machine that Guardiola built.

Maresca, in fairness, led Chelsea to a 4th-placed finish, winning both the UEFA Conference League and 2025 FIFA Club World Cup before leaving owed to tension with the club’s owners in January of this year.

Despite winning the Premier League title in 2024-25, Liverpool parted ways with Arne Slot this summer after a difficult campaign. Andoni Iraola replaced him after leaving Bournemouth.

Manchester United opted to make Michael Carrick’s impressive caretaker reign permanent, while Chelsea have turned to Xabi Alonso. Aston Villa, too, can’t be ruled out as a threat, with Unai Emery continuing to deliver and have the advantage of a stable, ongoing project.

The other clubs, though – Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City – are all staring new eras full in the face.

Tottenham are too, but does this not level the playing field somewhat?

What the summer spending tells us about Tottenham’s ambitions

Clearly, the level of financial outlay this summer does not fit a club simply looking to survive next season.

Nearly £200 million has been spent on two players alone in Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes.

There has been something of a rebuild at the back, too with the arrivals of Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke.

Tottenham are behaving like a club with big ambitions.

They have already spent £237 million. The most Tottenham have ever spent across a season is £235.8 million through 2023-24.

It’s not hard to see that figure pushing close to £400 million at minimum once the club have started to address the need for attacking reinforcements.

Pete Charrington wrote an open letter in May, conceding that something “seismic” had to change, after concluding “football success had not been driving our decisions”.

Backing Roberto De Zerbi to help Tottenham “build back to where we need to be”, Charrington said he represented the kind of football and ambition Tottenham should be standing for.

While they perhaps wouldn’t admit it publicly, given that sort of rhetoric, is a title challenge that far fetched?

Where Tottenham can draw inspiration from

Arne Slot came in to Liverpool for the 2024-25 season and led them to the Premier League title. Former Spurs manager Antonio Conte won the league in his very first season as Chelsea boss in 2016-17. Another former Tottenham man in Jose Mourinho also won the league in his first season, also with Chelsea, back in 2004-05.

The obvious one, though, is Leicester back in 2015-16.

While every bit a footballing miracle, it’s that sort of turnaround Tottenham face having to pull off.

There are other examples of clubs reversing poor form one season and bouncing back the next. Chelsea, for example, in that season Leicester won the league finished 10th. They were in a lowly 16th in December.

The point is it can happen.

But it takes a coach with a vision – which Tottenham have.

It takes smart investment – which Tottenham appear to be doing.

So is there cause to get excited? No European football is surely another advantage too – something Leicester didn’t have to contend with either.

The rest of the transfer window will decide Tottenham’s fate

Tottenham fans already have a new look team to look forward to come August. But there’s no doubt more is still needed.

While defensively, Tottenham looked to have taken a step, attacking wise much work is still needed.

The right profiles and personnel could prove the spark for De Zerbi ball to really take off in N17.

The Italian already proved he can deliver a very competitive Premier League outfit at Brighton. He turned Marseille around and led them to the Champions League and a runners-up finish in Ligue 1.

Never before, though, has he had quite this level of financial backing to play with.

Giving him the attacking players he needs for his style of football paves the way for a very dangerous Tottenham in 2026-27. Of course, there are a lot of new faces and it may take some time to gel, but that’ll be on De Zerbi to make it work.

Should he do it… why can’t Tottenham aim high next season? Never before have there been so many uncertainties around the so-called big six teams. Indeed, De Zerbi also has a bit of a running start on some of his counterparts after joining the club in March.

So let’s see what happens.