By Alfred

Alfred is a Spurs Women supporter who watches women’s football across Europe. Here he suggests 20 mostly-young players that might be options for Spurs this transfer window. Some are players you will know well but others are less well known to WSL supporters. Given manager, Robert Vilhamn’s, background and recent transfers quite a few are from or play in Nordic countries.

Current players – state of play

Tottenham Women’s team has already released seven players this summer (Shelina Zadorsky, Ria Percival, Asmita Ale, Grace Pearse, Nikola Karczewska, Ellie Brazil and Ramona Petzelberger) and released one player in January (Angharad James-Turner). The following are players about whom we are yet to hear renewals confirmed and/or who might be candidates for loan deals this window. They are listed from back to front, starting with goal-keepers.

Becky Spencer: I hope we give Spencer a one year contract with a +1 year option and reassess at the end of next season whether to extend it. I like Spencer and of our two current goalkeepers she is the one I would want us to keep. While not perfect she’s better than ever and she’s been with us through it all.

Barbora Votikova: I do not want this to sound overly negative but Votikova has not consistently impressed me. She’s got good reflex saves and those look impressive but she has also let in some howlers. Perhaps she’s an over-thinker and can get into her own head but too many goals have also come from poor communication with the backline. She’s weirdly indecisive when it comes to throwing the ball out after a catch, hesitating and refusing to throw it overhand, opting instead to roll it out like a bowling ball. This meant we lost decent-to-very good opportunities to counter. She has a year left on her contract but if someone is interested, we should let her go. Alternatively, and assuming no change, we should allow her contract expire next year. And if we sign someone new this window, she could potentially be loaned out.

Amy James-Turner: I assume she may already be gone (given Angharad James-Turner’s move to the NWSL), otherwise I’d be more than happy for her to stay. She has a +1 year option on her contract that the club could take up.

Amanda Nildén: Unless the injury she got was horrific then I imagine Spurs have exercised the option we had and she’s happily signed permanently.

Drew Spence: I’d activate her +1 year extension and revisit the contract come winter. She has looked good when available but although she’s not old she’s not young either and (irrespective of potential injuries) she does not always have great stamina. Assuming she’s healthy I imagine, however, that we give her a two year contract either this summer or by end of year.

Rosella Ayane: She has been a part of this club for a long time but I doubt we renew her contract next year and she could perhaps move to newly promoted Crystal Palace, or another struggling WSL side this window. At some point Lenna Gunning-Williams will slot into the squad, and I would not be surprised if she is already good enough to supplant Ayane.

Lenna-Gunning Williams and Araya Dennis: Both players were on loan last season after signing their first senior contracts with Spurs. Both had successful (goal-scoring) loans while training part-time at Spurs. We do not know what the plans for them will be this season.

You can find a list of the current squad here.

Priority areas:

Given our current departures and this season’s form, I believe that our current priorities are:

Very Important: Centre-back
Important: Goal Keeper, Central Attacking Midfield, Central Midfield, Left Midfield, Right Midfield.
Somewhat Important: Left wing, Right wing
Only if a good deal: Striker
Not Important: Right-back, Left-back (Assuming we’ve signed Nildén already)

Our central midfield is the most difficult to define because we have good midfielders but none of them are good enough to really threaten the starting position of players in the Top-3 teams. I’d probably be fine with selling any of them really (maybe not Eveliina Summanen) but realistically I think it is more likely that we upgrade whichever player’s contract runs out over the next two years.

Options:

The following is a list of twenty players who might fit Spurs’ gaps and gel with Vilahamn’s style. All have been playing in European leagues, but in different leagues, most but not all play for their national teams. They are organised by position. Some are more realistic than others.

Goal-Keeper

1. Adriana Nanclares

Spain, 22 year-old, Athletic Bilbao.

Nanclares used to compete with Elene Lete at Sociedad but last season she moved to Bilbao and has become their primary goalkeeper. Since she’s joined that team they’ve improved massively. While she’s not a finished product and we haven’t seen her in too much of a sweeper keeper role (partly down to how the team plays) she’s very solid everywhere, especially considering how young she is. In fact, I think there’s a real argument she has been the best keeper in Liga F this season. She has played for the Spain u20/u23’s and is currently the fourth (meaning she has joined the training camps as of late but is still unselected in any games) keeper for the Spain national team. She’s one of those players where if do not sign her this season then it is possible that next season much bigger teams will come calling and we end up regretting the missed opportunity.

Where would she fit in the squad? Probable starter
How realistic is the signing? 3/5 Getting a Basque player out of a Basque team can be a bit tricky but other than that we’d represent a fairly big step up in both competitiveness and international prestige (and most likely salary as well).
Contract expires summer 2027

2. Kinga Szemik

Poland, 26  year-old,  Stade de Reims.

Having only seen her when Reims played against the likes of Lyon, PSG and Paris FC, I can only say that she’s been very good in all of those and that Reims made it all the way to the semi-finals of the play-offs, in no small part thanks to Szemik. She kept the most clean sheets in the league and unlike Spurs’ other keepers is quite tall, which might help our weakness on defensive set pieces. She plays for the Polish national team but is not their primary keeper, so has only featured in a few games.

Where would she fit in the squad? Probable starter
How realistic is the signing? 4/5 There’s probably competition for the signing but only from the player side as her contract has run out.
Contract expired as of this window

Right back/Left back

3. Amanda Nildén

Just finalise signing her and we’re all set here.

Centre back

4. Silvia Lloris

Spain, 20  year-old,  Levante.

Incredibly experienced considering her age, Lloris has already won several European/world titles with Spanish youth squads (u19/u20) both of which she captained. She has been a starter for Levante this season and while she’s fully capable playing across the entire backline (and even DM) I understand that her preferred position is CB, meaning she has been forced to play a slightly less comfortable role in LB due to squad injuries. She has still performed well. Lloris is rapid and while she has not scored many goals in Liga F she scored a fair few headers during her u19/u20 days and is likely still quite capable of doing so. Levante is currently undergoing an exodus so I do not think she will stay. She has stated a preference to stay in Spain but that would not leave many options. Real Madrid just signed her teammate Mendez and Montpellier’s Makrar and now that Mapi Leon is healthy and Engen looks like a good CB I doubt Barcelona are interested. So, unless she wants to go to a lower ranked team it’s just Atletico. She’s already good enough to compete for a CB spot at Spurs and considering her age she’s almost guaranteed to become a starter in short order. Also, it’d be fun to have a Lloris back in the Spurs squad. Currently plays for the Spain u23’s but has been called up for the NT.

Where would she fit in the squad? Squad depth with good minutes, one for the future
How realistic is the signing? 2/5 She’s said she’d prefer to stay in Spain but her options are somewhat slim in doing so.
Contract expired as of this window

5. Xènia Perez

Spain, 22  year-old, , Atletico Madrid.

As I wrote above the only realistic destination for Lloris within Spain would be Atletico. If she went there I think that would quite possibly displace their current third favourite CB, Xènia Perez. Although seemingly third in the pecking order, it is only barely since they switch around quite a bit meaning she played almost 1500 mins in the league last season. Atletico are really good defensively and while that certainly is a team effort and good defense can often look pretty unspectacular Xènia has a really good understanding of positioning and is skilled in picking out progressive passes, so if that’s a metric Vilahamn values she fits the bill. She also scored a beautiful goal in a recent game, an edge of the box half volley that lobbed past the keeper and was named PotM in that match. She sometimes plays as a CM/RM. I do not believe she has yet been called up to any Spanish squad.

Where would she fit in the squad? Squad depth with good minutes
How realistic is the signing? 3/5 Depends on the Lloris situation described above but if Xènia is pushed down the pecking order it doesn’t seem unlikely she’d be willing to look elsewhere.
Contract expires summer 2025

6. Marthine Østenstad

Norway, 23  year-old, Brann.

If a tall, more aerially dominant and tackling CB is ultimately what Spurs are after then I think Østenstad really fits that mould. She’s currently the Brann captain and while the Norwegian league isn’t the same tier as the WSL Brann did have a pretty deep CL run so you got to see her defending against the likes of Barca and Lyon. I think she performed really well in all those match-ups, reflected in the fact that Brann weren’t dominated in the score-line in any of those games even if they were forced to almost exclusively defend. She can play as a CB in both a back 3 and a back 4 and while I think there are CBs with better playmaking abilities she is very defensively sound. Has played in the Norwegian youth squads and recently got promoted to their first squad.

Where would she fit in the squad? Squad depth with good minutes
How realistic is the signing? 4/5 Despite Brann having a really decent CL run most Scandinavians end up moving to the WSL at some point if they can and it’d be pretty easy to get minutes at Spurs right now as we have no depth.
Contract expires end of 2025

7. Kathellen Sousa

Brazil, 28 year-old, Real Madrid.

Much like with Østenstad, if the mould is a more aerially dominant and more physically powerful CB then Sousa could be of interest. She’s played a few seasons in Real Madrid where she’s sporadically looked really good but has had a few errors as well. I’d argue that Real Madrid is not a particularly well coached side so the errors might be fixable, perhaps down to how they play, or it’s possible she’s just error prone. As she’s more secure when she plays for Brazil I’m inclined to blame Real Madrid. On upside she’s both quick and strong, helps out with headers defensively and offensively and has really good distribution. She currently plays for the Brazilian national team.

Where would she fit in the squad? Squad depth with good minutes
How realistic is the signing? 4/5 Plenty of Brazilians have recently moved to the NWSL so that’s a possible destination but if we wanted an experienced defender without having to pay a transfer fee then we could make a competitive offer to her.
Contract expires this summer

Centre midfield/right midfield

8. My Cato

Sweden, 22 year-old, Norrköping

The Norrköping captain, Cato has had a somewhat slower start this season than last, only netting an assist so far. Nevertheless she is seen a big upcoming talent in Sweden. Athletic and technically gifted she has the type of competitive mentality with just enough venom to be able to bring a team out of a lull. In addition to being her club’s captain she has captained the Sweden u23’s and just got her first call up to the NT. She has stated that she doesn’t want to play for any other team in Sweden (she’s from Norrköping) but has stated her interest in joining the WSL specifically.

Where would she fit in the squad? Squad depth, one for the future
How realistic is the signing? 3/5 Probably 4/5 if we were to wait for the winter window. She has clearly stated her preference for the WSL and I do not think she’s expected to run out her current contract but rather get a fee for her hometown club.
Contract expires 2026

9. Janni Thomsen

Denmark, 24 year-old, Vålerenga

Thomsen has played both RB and RM/RCM. The year before last she was voted Vålerengas player of the year both by fans and players. Hard-working and strong she manages to get a really impressive number of goals and assists. The assists numbers are notable because she’s not the team’s usual corner or set piece taker and that’s a really common way of reaching good assist numbers. At this point I thinks it’s fair to call her a stalwart in the Danish NT as well.

Where would she fit in the squad? Probable starter
How realistic is the signing? 3/5 Probably 4/5 if we were to wait for the winter window. She’s a player that’s clearly ready for a step up and I’d imagine she’d relish the opportunity to test herself in a higher tier league.
Contract expires summer 2025

10. Claudia Zornoza

Spain, 33 year-old, Real Madrid

She certainly doesn’t fit the profile of most other players on this list as she’s a decade older than them. But she’s a very experienced player that hasn’t yet slowed down with age and is a calm, secure presence in the midfield with good vision and a powerful passing & shooting ability. It would obviously be a shorter contract as she would be brought in to bring some stability into the midfield, she’s also a very capable set piece taker so there might be some additional interest because of that. She has played for the Spanish NT.

Where would she fit in the squad? Squad depth with good minutes
How realistic is the signing? 3/5 It would likely be a 1+1 year deal as she still looks like she hasn’t lost any ability but age is tricky and can affect someone quite quickly.
Contract currently a free agent

CM/LM:

11. Julia Grosso

Canada, 23 year-old, Juventus.

Pretty sure this one needs no introduction. Grosso is an absolutely world class player and as of now a free agent. She has a playing style that is not similar to most of her Canadian compatriots, possibly shaped and evolved during her time in Italy. While she does a fair amount of pressing her better attributes are her eye for ball distribution and her powerful shots. It’s probably a too greedy of an ask – I imagine she wants a Champions League team or a move to the NWSL. However, from our point of view, if we want a statement signing, she would be it. Having someone of her calibre join the team would also propel popularity and increase tickets sales (perhaps going some way to make up for the high salary costs she might command). One point in our favour is that Nildén was her best friend at Juve and Nildén seems very happy at Spurs, so could put in a word. And while I begrudgingly admit there are bigger teams in London she could join I do not think she’d be a nailed on starter in either of those, unlike with us. She currently plays for the Canada national squad.

Where would she fit in the squad? Probable starter
How realistic is the signing? 1/5 Way too many murmurs that she’s moving to the US at this point unfortunately.
Contract currently a free agent

CAM

12. Grace Clinton

England, 21 year-old, Manchester United.

Obviously Daniel Levy just needs to open that pocket-book really wide and buy her from United. They will likely say ‘No’ as she looks like a star destined to shine but she only has a year left on her contract and if they are unsure if she would extend, it might be a risk for them. Skinner has extended his contract by a year and he’s poor at rotating players so she may not get a lot of game time and leave on a free in 2025. Meanwhile, she would not know with which manager she’d be extending at United. If she has a mediocre season with them she might very well happily join us on a free next year or if she has an amazing season then obviously the world’s her oyster. So unless they’re really confident of her extending then whatever Levy is willing to pay (let’s say 250–350 thousand) might start to look tempting.

If we can’t sign her this summer there are options. Option A is try and make do without her for a year, play Drew Spence and Wang Shuang in her position and hope we can get her on a free in 12 months. Option B is sign someone else, so I’ll list alternative options below.

13. Rosa Kafaji

Sweden, 20 year-old, BK Häcken.

Kafaji is my number one pick if we cannot find a way to get Clinton back. I think she’s rightfully regarded as the most promising young talent Sweden has right now, even ahead of Vinberg. She is excellent at chance creation, both scoring goals but also making key passes that turn into assists. Her close control and dribbling abilities contribute here. Kafaji is dangerous with either foot and consistently scores goals in a variety of ways, including diving headers, long range screamers, volleys and even olimpicos. Honestly considering the types of goals she’s scoring with her left foot you’d be forgiven for thinking that’s her good one, but her right foot is even better. There have been rumours that several clubs from the NWSL and the WSL are interested in sining her. She’s currently playing for the Swedish NT.

Where would she fit in the squad? Probable starter
How realistic is the signing? 4/5 She is a free agent and it seems like she wants to go to England or the US, we probably represent the most logical level of team she should go for where there’s minimal risk of her being forgotten on the bench however players do not always make the most logical choices. Vilahamn will know of her though and she’s a very close match to Clinton so I’d imagine her name is circled in red on a whiteboard at the Tottenham offices somewhere.
Contract currently a free agent

Extra: Onyi Echegini

(Tecnically this brings the list 21, but Echegini’s desire to move only became apparent after the first draft of this piece was written and she is too fun not to add in)

Nigeria, 23 years-old, Juventus.

Echegini came to Europe from the US collegiate system. Skipping the NWSL draft, she landed at Juventus in the last winter window and it is fair to say she took the league by storm, voted best young player and named in the best XI of Serie A Femminile, despite having played only half a season. In the last week or so we have heard that she wants to move on with some mention of her wanting a better salary. Whatever the reason, the fact that she is available should be of interest to almost any club in the world. She is not, however a direct replacement to Clinton. Echegini is extremely potent going forward – more aggressive than Clinton in making runs into the box and consistently makes herself available as a target for her teammates – scoring more than a goal per 90 minutes played last season. But she does not posses the same vision and passing ability as Clinton (or Kafaji) and so if she was to start it might require some wider re-tooling of Spurs’ line-up. Think of Echegini a bit less of CAM and a bit more of a second striker.

Where would she fit in the squad? Probable starter

How realistic is the signing? 3/5 Evidently, she wants to leave and if it’s a better salary she wants we should hopefully be able to offer that. Echegini is also from London so if it’s homesickness we also have an in there but there’s always a risk she has set her sights on a top team after all the praise she has received and there are rumours linking her to PSG.

Contract expires summer 2026

14. Kika Nazareth

Portugal, 21 year-old, Benfica.

If there’s one young player in the world that’s not a downgrade on Clinton it’s probably Nazareth. I’d argue she’s probably about as similar of a player to Clinton you could realistically find in the age bracket. She’d be a very ambitious signing and surely expensive, with a lot of competition. I’d wager a lot of big clubs will be after her if she’s willing to leave this summer but we might find ourselves in the sort of sweet spot where we are a fairly big name and present a jump in league difficulty but where she’d still be pretty much a nailed on starter whereas a team such a Chelsea has Macario and even Nüsken so she’d just sit on the bench. She has a 1 million euro release clause although that’s unlikely to get triggered since an offer of half that might be enough for Benfica to bite, instead of risking losing her for free. That’s still a very hefty fee however. She’s an important player for Portugal’s NT.

Where would she fit in the squad? Probable starter
How realistic is the signing? 1/5 Too much money and no guarantee Kika would even be interested in joining a non-CL club.
Contract expires summer 2025

15. Natasha Kowalski

Germany, 20 year-old, Essen.

Kowalski is still very young but has made a pretty big impact at Essen, a team that’s very good at nurturing young talent. Not a finished product and can sometimes disappear from games but an excellent set-piece taker and very good at pressing and trying recover the ball and/or force the opponent to make mistakes. She currently plays for Germany’s u19 squad.

Where would she fit in the squad? Squad depth with good minutes
How realistic is the signing? 3/5 – Would likely come with a hefty price tag but nothing jumps out as a real deal breaker otherwise.
Contract expires summer 2026

16. Felicia Schröder

Sweden, 17 year-old, Häcken.

Schröder plays either second striker or CAM. An incredible talent considering her age but she wouldn’t be ready to join the WSL yet so it would be a buy and loan-back type of deal, potentially worth thinking about if we not only fail to buy Clinton outright but she also extends her contract with United for several years. Schröder currently plays for Sweden’s u17’s.

Where would she fit in the squad? Signed and loaned right back out
How realistic is the signing? 2/5 In and of itself the deal could happen but she’s a signing for the future in a slot we need someone right now. I’m guessing we’d try and fix that now rather than two years down the line.
Contract expires summer 2025

Right wing/left wing

17. Chloe Kelly

England, 26 year-old, Manchester City.

Another ambitious name on the list, the only reason this one would be even remotely realistic is because she seems to have fallen out of favour at City combined with the fact that City are looking to sign Miedema. If they manage to do that and when Shaw is back healthy then Kelly could find herself quite far back down the list of preferred attackers. Behind Shaw, Hemp, Fowler, Park, Miedema (and to some extent even Roord when she’s back, though Kelly usually plays more on the flanks than her).

Apparently, PSG have expressed interest in signing her but if Division 1 Féminine isn’t tempting and she isn’t too keen to ride out the last year on her contract on the bench then another team in the WSL might pique her interest. She’s from London so that’s a plus for us; at Chelsea she’d find herself in the same situation as City so if game-time is the pressure point then they’re out. West Ham are unrealistic. She did start her career at Arsenal so that might be tempting although they may not need her and there’s at least a risk she wouldn’t start as much as she’d like (more so if rumours are true and they’re going after Caldentey). There’s also a question if City would want to sell her to Arsenal, one of their closest rivals in the league, whereas they probably still have few issues selling her to us.

Kelly’s current form is not great but that is likely temporary and she’s a fantastic player at her best, two footed with a hard shot and can play either wing. So if she’s not loving her current situation and in a bit of a slump then she’s probably as “gettable” as she ever could be for us. It’s still very unlikely to happen but just like with Grosso she is someone that could propel the popularity of the team and truly help us transition into having most of our games at main stadium. Some of the shine from her Euro 2022 moment may be starting to fade but she was still the heroine of the final.

Where would she fit in the squad? Probable starter
How realistic is the signing? 3/5 Call me an optimist but I think this is a deal that could happen if Vilahamn stated it was a priority. She’s a terrific player but someone like Levy could also potentially be swayed by her popularity which would help buoy the team as well.
Contract expires summer 2025

Left Wing

18. Julie Dufour

France, 23 year-old, Paris FC.

This is a signing where I’m not sure if it’s worth getting your hopes up too much but she would fit the mould of what Vilahamn would want in an attacker, specifically left winger. She’s young, very quick and willing to consistently press the opponent. In addition she has tremendous vision and understanding of space which means she repeatedly makes dangerous runs into the opponent’s penalty box, making herself available for crosses and through-balls. The bigger issue is that she plays, and gets fairly consistent minutes, with Paris FC. She starts about half their games and they’re a good team in the CL. So unless they fear she’s leaving on a free next summer I’d imagine they will not be keen on selling. She currently plays for the French national team.

Where would she fit in the squad? Starter
How realistic is the signing? 2/5 I could see Paris FC being willing to part with her for a princely sum. If that happened I do not think Julie has a strong allegiance to that team. But if she were keen to move on and openly on the market I’m guessing big CL teams would also be interested.
Contract expires in summer 2025

Striker

19. Selina Cerci

Germany, 23 year-old, FC Köln.

I do not think this is a position we need any reinforcement in but there’s potentially a really good deal here. Cerci has suffered a knee injury and lost a lot of time healing from that, so she is just starting to play herself into form. But prior to that injury she was about to be a break-out star, having scored an incredible amount of goals for a middling Bundesliga side. She showed real poise, athleticism and the ability to play as a striker or on either wing. Considering she was 21 at the time her potential seemed almost limitless. She’s starting to resemble that player again and I’d wager she could reach those heights again. She currently plays for Köln but they barely managed to avoid relegation so her sights should be set higher. Now that we know that we’re not bringing Karczewska back someone like Cerci could be a very good deal, especially if Gunning-Williams isn’t quite ready to step up. She has played a few games for the German national team but not since her injury.

Where would she fit in the squad? Squad depth with good minutes
How realistic is the signing? 4/5 We’d be a big step up from Köln and I’m guessing she has her sights set higher than relegation candidates from the frauen bundesliga.
Contract expires summer 2026

Update: It looks like Cerci has moved to Hoffenheim, so we may have missed our chance (this window at least).

20. Elisabeth Terland

Norway, 22 year-old, Brighton.

Terland should need no introduction as she could not stop scoring goals this season, unfortunately a couple against us. She has been a revelation with her high pressing and ruthless efficiency, scoring a variety of goals including poachers’ goals. She constantly finds herself in the right position in the penalty area and has enough ice in her veins to calmly put her shots away. She also hit some beautiful curlers and more than a few headers, finding a way to score consistently for an otherwise unspectacular side. She currently plays for the Norwegian NT.

Where would she fit in the squad? Probable starter
How realistic is the signing? 3/5 She’s a free agent in a league where everyone just saw how good she is, so there’s competition. In her current form though she’d be our best striker and I’m not sure if any higher ranked team could say the same.
Contract expired this summer

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If you have thoughts about this list or alternative suggestions from leagues in other parts of the world, reply in the comments (or get in touch if you have ideas for your own blog). You can also find Alfred on twitter on @arnebjrnarne.