Spurs made their final signing of the summer at 9.30pm on Deadline Day – Spanish international Maite Oroz becoming the seventh incoming player. The club also released or loaned out ten senior players.

With the transfer window now closed, this blog reflects on those comings and goings, with five Spurs watchers/supporters evaluating the highs and lows of the 2024-5 window.

First a full list of Spurs Women transfers.

Players In

• Amanda Nildén (Juventus). Loan to permanent confirmed.
• Ella Morris (Southampton FC).
• Clare Hunt (PSG)
• Hayley Raso (Real Madrid)
• Anna Csiki (BK Häcken)
• Katelin Talbert (West Ham). Loan until Jan 2025
• Maite Oroz (Real Madrid)

Players Out

• Shelina Zadorsky (West Ham)
• Ramona Petzelberger
• Ellie Brazil (Charlton Athletic)
• Ria Percival
• Asmita Ale (Leicester City)
• Gracie Pearse (Charlton Athletic)
• Nikola Karczewska (AC Millan)
• Barbora Votíková (SK Slavia Prague)
• Celin Bizet (Manchester United)
• Rosella Ayane (Chicago Red Stars). Loan until Jan 2025

Player Development

We also saw the return of young players who had been on dual-registration in 2023/24:

• Lenna Gunning-Williams (had been at Ipswich)
• Araya Dennis (had been at Crystal Palace).

And players going out on dual registration for 2024/25:

• Elkie Bowyer (Watford)
• Maia Lazaro (Watford)

Positions

Given manager, Robert Vilahamn’s looseness around position, possible formation changes and the positional flexibility of some incoming players, it is not clear where new players will be deployed, nor who will be starters. The below is therefore a rough sketch, to outline the squad’s increasing depth with (at least) two players capable of playing in every position.

Reflections on the window

Five Spurs supporters and writers (Tonaliana, Harsh, Jack, Alfred and Rachel) get stuck into the nitty gritty of the window, answering eight questions below. Read on to see whether you agree.

1. Which summer signing will have the most immediate impact on Spurs Women and why?

TONALIANA: For immediate impact, I primarily look at Clare Hunt. Given the uncertainty about the starting eleven and the setup Vilahamn will choose to adopt, Hunt seems like the clearest attempt to upgrade from last year’s line-up. Her aerial ability should help the team defend against crosses and set-pieces, areas where the team has struggled significantly, and her ball-playing skills fit perfectly with ‘Rob-ball’

JACK: The Spanish sensation Maite Oroz! Surely she’ll start from week one and, while it may take a few games for her to build up match fitness and form on-pitch rapport, I expect her technical ability to shine through immediately. From the clips I’ve seen, she’s a very Spanish midfielder in the best sense – creative, superb on the ball, hard-working and with great on-pitch smarts. I hope and expect Maite will play the killer passes that unlock defences and take our attack to another level. Last season, we struggled to create good chances, especially against packed defences and were over-reliant on individuals and transitions to fashion chances. As great as Grace Clinton was, passing and decision-making were the weaker parts of her game. While Maite lacks Grace’s physicality and ball carrying, she is I believe superior technically and will make better decisions with the ball. She should improve our passing and I’m really excited to see how she elevates our overall play in possession. To sign a player of her calibre is tremendous. If the team can revolve around her on-pitch – as happens with all good number 10s – we become a better team.

HARSH: Oroz and Csiki (equally) are my picks. With Grace and Celin leaving, there was an evident hole in the creative midfield and wing positions. I’m hoping that at least one of them can hit the ground running. Oroz might slightly edge Csiki, as she has the ability to play in the centre and turn in and around pressure.

ALFRED: Hayley Raso. With Celin gone we desperately needed someone to play RW for us and Raso is a very high-level player so I imagine she’ll quickly find her footing and start to contribute in a big way. Raso is a bit of strange case as she’s moved around quite a bit and both at Man City and Real Madrid she was mostly used as a substitute. However, whenever she got the opportunity to play she has consistently looked very good, which might mean that she doesn’t have the cardio to play the full 90. But when playing for the Matildas she regularly does that. Maybe she does not ‘train well’ and does not earn her coaches’ trust? It’s a small quirk that’s hopefully nothing to worry about because, again, whenever she plays she’s really good and I expect her to do well at Spurs.

RACHEL: Not counting Nilden, whose impact we have already felt and focusing only on wholly new signings I’m guessing we will perhaps see Clare Hunt getting the most minutes this season. Her height will be a massive plus in shoring up what’s been a less-than-stellar aerial-defence. That said I would love to see either Csiki or Oroz come in, link up play and transform our chance creation (something we struggled with last season). But without knowing who will be playing where it’s harder to make meaningful predictions about the midfield.

2. Which summer signing will be the most exciting long-term prospect and why?

TONALIANA: Anna Csiki. It’s a signing with some question marks both in terms of her physical fitness and the position she will play at Spurs. However, from the games and clips I’ve managed to gather during preseason, Anna Csiki seems like a very interesting player. Technically gifted, she can bring the creativity that we’ve lost due to departures and injuries, especially in between the lines. Additionally, she has a significant physical presence that the team desperately lacked, this could become an extra weapon. Very versatile, she can cover many offensive positions, it will be interesting to see where Vilahamn sees her on the field. Certainly, he seems to have quite a bit of faith in Anna given that he gave her a long-term deal even after a serious injury, and she was a regular starter under him at Hacken.

JACK: Maite Oroz! Perhaps in the heat of the moment I am biased. But she’s only 26 and has signed a four-year contract – three or four years of Oroz has the potential to be enormous for Spurs, on and off the pitch. She makes us a better team now, while her signing shows we have the ability to attract the calibre of player we have hitherto not been able to bring in long-term. I have two other honourable mentions here – firstly Ella Morris, who if there was an award for Young Player Robert Vilahamn Really Likes would win, given his public pronouncements about her. I admit to not having seen her play but given the hype, am excited to see how she goes. Secondly, Katelin Talbert – her reflexes, athleticism and shot-stopping ability look remarkable on the highlights I have seen. She also has the confidence and swagger I love in goalkeepers. Three quarters of her game looks good to exceptional… but the other quarter, her distribution, looks dodgy. If we can somehow coach her to be efficient passing the ball, we might have a fantastic keeper on our hands. Then again, if she never played, quietly returned to West Ham in January and was forgotten by all but Spurs Women diehards, I would not be shocked.

HARSH: I’m hoping it’s Ella Morris. In one of the recent videos released by Spurs, she was described as one of the fastest in the squad. Hopefully she can gradually settle in and eventually take Ash’s place.

ALFRED: Maite Oroz. She’s a Spanish midfielder and has everything you’d imagine that entails. She’s skilled when it comes to dribbling, has great vision and passing ability and in Liga F she’s shown herself to be press resistant. I have questions about her physicality in transitioning from Liga F to the WSL, she is a tiny player and that could result in her being bullied off the ball in a very physical league. An obvious comparison is Yui Hasegawa, an amazing player with no issues retaining or reclaiming the ball. However Yui is a great technician and surprisingly strong for her size and there isn’t evidence that Maite possesses the same hidden strength, so there might at least be an adjustment period. The other question mark about her, similar to Hayley Raso, is her lack of playing time. Two seasons ago Real Madrid had just signed Caroline Weir who took the league by storm and was clearly their best player but last season Weir was injured and Maite still wasn’t given much of a chance, almost exclusively used as a sub in the 60th-70th minute. I don’t know if that was because she was Alberto Toril’s fourth favourite midfielder in a 3-player system or that she was not comfortable playing the full 90. I assume the former. All of this is to say that I think Maite Oroz could prove a worthy substitute for Clinton in terms of creativity but she might need a bit of time to find her level. Positionally, she’s been used both as an 8 or 10 but I’d imagine she was signed as a 10, especially as that’s the number now on her back.

RACHEL: Am changing my mind daily on this one. But today’s answer is Ella Morris. She got signed very early in the window and we know other clubs were also interested. She may not play a lot this season as she’ll be competing with Ashleigh Neville for minutes. But reports are that she is a very exciting prospect – with speed, dynamism, strong defensively and going forward. Could it be that one day we actually see a Spurs right-back play for England?

3. Which transfer-out will be the biggest loss for Spurs?

TONALIANA: Considering last year’s performance, the playing time, the importance she had within the team’s strategy, her creativity, the unique skillset that’s rare to find in a single player, and the outright potential she has: it can only be Grace Clinton. Trying to replace her, at least partially, was our biggest challenge for this transfer window.

JACK: While I would like this answer to be someone else, it has to be Celin Bizet. [As Grace Clinton was only a loan signing last season, I am not including her as a ‘transfer-out’ under the terms of this question]. In isolation, I don’t think Bizet’s departure was the disaster it seemed when it happened. She showed flashes, but there was only occasionally end-product with a combined five goals and assists last season – not huge for a starting winger. And she seemingly flew at the chance to join Man Utd, quite literally to join their overseas pre-season training camp, where she will spend the season getting changed in a portacabin and likely spending most games on the bench. Given she was so keen to leave, I am happy for her to go and us to receive £60,000 when she would have likely left for free this summer. I don’t think any of our transfer outs will be huge losses – although I am sad that Bara Votikova left, I felt she deserved more game time last year and had she formed better relationships with the defenders around her would have become a solid starting keeper for us.

HARSH: If Grace counts as a transfer-out then it’s obviously her, otherwise it is Celin. Both were mainstays in their positions and both of them leaving at the same time means we have had to fill two positions from the first eleven, which is not an easy task at all.

ALFRED: Grace Clinton if we’re allowed to count her. If we don’t count her, since she wasn’t strictly speaking ours to begin with, then Celin. I don’t think Celin has a ceiling nearly as high as Grace (mostly due to how highly I rate Grace) but she’s still a very high potential player and one of the first statement signings Spurs made and which indicated that the club cared enough about the team to do long term investments. Other than those two I don’t we’ve had any bad outgoings from a project standpoint, however there’s some sentimentality for a player like Ros of course.

RACHEL: On the basis of her potential and how she fit into Robert Vilahamn’s system: Grace Clinton. While Spurs were not the one-woman team some commentators presented us as and Clinton’s influence was less in some games – and marginal in our cup-run – her ball skills and ability to drive through players (especially Arsenal players) is not going to be replaced easily. In terms of emotional loss, it was sad to finally say goodbye to Ria Percival, a fully COYS player and one who was an absolute mainstay before her 2022 ACL injury.

4. Now that the dust has somewhat settled how well or poorly did Spurs emerge from the ‘trade’ of Celin Bizet for Hayley Raso + £60k (approx.)?

TONALIANA: Celin’s departure definitely felt unexpected and probably did somewhat alter our plans. According to reports of a buyout clause the Club had little to say on the matter, however. I feel like getting Raso as soon as possible was therefore the best possible outcome given the situation. She should provide similar attacking quality and maybe even better finishing than Bizet in the short term. Although the Norwegian did provide a lot of defensive cover as well, so finding a new balance in the starting 11 is going to be a key issue for the upcoming season.

JACK: In hindsight…quite well. When it happened, losing Celin to Man Utd was disappointing. The fact it was Man Utd who signed her was tough to swallow, while the manner of the departure left a sour taste. The release clause being £60,000 remains frustrating and I doubt we will find out anytime soon if we tried to remove that clause from her contact and Celin refused, or we simply dropped the ball and cost ourselves the chance of a higher fee. But time is a great healer and looking at the situation from a greater distance, particularly knowing how keen she seemingly was to leave, I am at peace with her departure. She wanted to go, we received some money, even if not as much as it should have been, and with other new signings, our attack should overall be stronger than it was last season. I am not in love with the signing of Raso – I would have hoped for a younger player with more upside than Raso (30) coming off underwhelming stints at Man City and Real Madrid. That said, she may well give us more end-product than Celin would have given us this season and if we can sign a young, talented winger in January or next summer, all good.

HARSH: A negative for me, without any doubt. Celin is still yet to hit her prime and has been our starter for a while now. Losing your yet-to-peak starter totally out of the blue is no doubt a big hit to the squad. It should be a lesson for the management for the future.

ALFRED: I imagine Raso could easily fill the Celin shaped hole in our team right now, but she’s obviously much older so looking ahead it’s not as rosy an outlook. We’re losing one of our brightest stars and young players. Someone who could have easily become a club legend had she stuck around for a few more years. We actually have a fairly old team now, which could be a cause for concern. And after those two years (of Raso’s contract) are up we are certainly worse off than we were before. Potentially Raso might be extended another year or two but she’s an explosive winger, now on the wrong side of thirty, so I’m 50/50 on that. It’s simply not a position most people are allowed to age gracefully in. That said, I imagine the £60k is roughly what we paid for Csiki so let’s see how she does and add it to the equation. And the bigger lesson is probably to demand higher release clauses in our contracts as the game is evolving so rapidly that whatever might have been a deterrent a few years ago could easily be pocket lint by the time the player has proven herself.

RACHEL: It may end up a bit of a wash. There was a lot of bitterness about losing Bizet to Manchester United along with Grace Clinton, especially after a season in which she had made big steps forward and had scored a few important (and very pretty) goals. But similarly, Bizet was at times inconsistent and not always able to impose herself on a game. So, if Raso can find the form she’s had for Australia (as opposed to the less consistent form she had at Real Madrid) we may even find she’s an upgrade, at least in the short term. Given her age (30), there is obviously less room for development than there was for Bizet (22), but with Csiki, Dennis and Gunning-Williams all also potential wingers, and given Naz has experience playing there Spurs have options for the future.

5. Which summer signing are you most gutted that Spurs missed out on?

TONALIANA: Not someone specific but one of my goals for this transfer window was to get a starting goalkeeper, as I think it’s one of the positions on the field where we could actually get a clear upgrade. Even though the short-term loan of Talbert does suggest there might be January plans involved.

JACK: Rosa Kafaji. When it became clear Clinton wasn’t signing permanently for us, Kafaji was the player I hoped would be her replacement. She fitted the bill perfectly – a number 10 with huge talent who to the month was the same age as Clinton. It wasn’t unrealistic either – she was a Hacken player at the start of the summer, where she had previously been coached by Robert Vilahamn. We signed Matilda Vinberg in January, like Kafaji a young Swedish player of considerable hype and indeed Tilly turned down Chelsea and Man Utd to sign for us, so we can sign talented young players from Scandinavia.  Money wouldn’t have been an issue signing Kafaji either. I hope we at least tried. Watching her play for them lot down the road will sting, potentially for years to come.

HARSH: With the rumoured names being few and far between, I do not have a name to suggest for this. But I would have liked us to have signed a high-calibre starting goalkeeper in this window.

ALFRED: I mean, I wrote a whole list of players I thought we could go for but ultimately none of those came to fruition. Because I’m far from certain that she was actually available this window I’ll merely mention Adriana Nanclares in passing. However, there were two players that were available this window that I’d argue we’ve missed out on: Rosa Kafaji and Olivia Holdt. Rosa Kafaji (who joined Arsenal this window) is especially tough because we had so many things going for us here. She was signed by and played for Vilahamn at Häcken and they won the league together. Moreover, Amanda Nildéns sister, Matilda, is her teammate so surely we had at least one foot in the door this window. From a playing perspective she’s probably the closest thing to a 1-1 replacement for Clinton there is – two-footed, a great dribbler, terrific vision and passing; not afraid to take a shot from outside the box and just enough aggression and hubris to take on duels all over the pitch. She’s a game changer and would have been a fantastic building block for the future, although presumably quite expensive. Maybe it was never to be and she always had her sights set on Arsenal. But I think we’ll come to rue the day we not only missed out on this signing but she went to our arch rivals instead. Hell, I’m rueing it already.

Holdt is another story. Her contract expires in the upcoming winter window. And since Rosengård are currently basically guaranteed to win the league they could afford to let her go and make some money instead of losing her for free in a few months. She is the leading goal-scorer in Damallsvenskan but given Rosengård’s dominance those stats might be a bit inflated. More importantly she was good last season when her team had a terrible season. Those are the types of players we should be looking for. It’s one thing to do unbelievable things when your team is dominating but we’re unlikely to be that team in the WSL so we need players who can be a bright spot in a middling performance, who can create their own chances and score against the run of play. Holdt has proven to be both and all I can hope is that we try to sign her as a free agent in a few months’ time.

RACHEL: Grace Clinton. Rose Kafaji. Onyi Echegini. Or any one of a number of goalkeepers.

6. Which existing player is most likely to step up this season and why?

TONALIANA: I expect several players to take a step forward, but if I had to choose one, I would name Olga Ahtinen. We played our best football with her on the pitch, and mainly before her injury, she had proven to be our best midfielder in terms of technique, vision, creativity, decision-making, and controlling the tempo. With a midfield that has seen many changes, I expect her to lead in those areas of the field. It’s also encouraging to see that she’s scoring in preseason.

JACK: Matilda Vinberg. While admittedly extremely raw when she arrived, I liked what I saw from her towards the end of the season and she got a deserved start in the FA Cup final. She’s quick, skilful and got a good left foot. A lot of her game still needs work – she’s almost comically one-footed, her decision making needs to get better while her inter-play with teammates wasn’t always the best either. However, we saw the potential. With Celin no longer around, there may be greater opportunities for Tilly to get game time. She should get better service too with Oroz as our number 10. Last season we saw how Vilahamn improved Clinton and particularly Jess Naz so if she stays fit I think this is a year where Tilly reaches the next level and becomes a high quality starter.

HARSH: This season might be too soon for Lenna Gunning-Williams to contribute much but it does look like she will be kept within the squad and not loaned out. My pick is Matilda. She has had half a season in the league and despite being younger than all our newly recruited attackers, I am expecting her to step up and contribute more than the last season.

ALFRED: I’m expecting Matilda Vinberg to take a big step up this season. She was a big ‘get’ for us last season, having been integral in helping Hammarby win the Swedish double. While she didn’t perform poorly in her first half-season, she hasn’t yet wowed me at Spurs. Mostly used a substitute Vinberg did not displace the starting 11 during big games. But with Clinton gone and the possibility that Maite Oroz might not be able to immediately fill her shoes one possibility is we see Vinberg as competition for that more central role. If that doesn’t work or isn’t required because Maite fits smoothly, we might see Vinberg permanently starting at LW. If you’ve never watched her play in Damallsvenskan you can rest assured she showed a lot more promise there than she has in the WSL so far. So the question is whether Vilahamn can find a way to get the most out of her.

RACHEL: I would like the answer to be Eleanor Heeps. Just because it is essential that we resolve our long-term keeper situation and since the club re-signed her until 2027 there is clearly confidence in her ability. But we are yet to see her play for Spurs so this is a real unknown. Of the players that we’ve seen play more often, Jess Naz took big steps last year, going from substitute to starter, but her goal and assist output remain relatively modest. If she builds on last year – and on the confidence that playing for England will have instilled – and increases her goal contributions that would be huge.

7. Having seen three windows under Vilahamn, can you identify the characteristics he looks for in a new player?

TONALIANA: In my opinion, two key factors stand out: versatility when possible and the ability—both technical and mental—to play the “Tottenham way.” This includes ball-playing centre backs, high-press forwards, direct wingers, and attacking fullbacks. On top of that, strong passing skills are essential to support our passing networks. Worth noting that 3 of our 6 new signings stand above 170 cm and are now our tallest players, along with Ella Morris, who’s just below that mark. This seems to be a clear effort to address last season’s struggles defending whipped crosses and to improve that aspect of our game.

JACK: Yes… to a point. On the pitch, you can see the profile he looks for – players who are good technically and pass the ball well. He likes versatility and also those with above-average speed and athleticism. You see this with Morris, Tilly, Charli Grant, even Katelin in goal. In terms of the profile of player though, particularly looking at age, I don’t see a consistent pattern. Vilahamn publicly eulogises signing young players, who we can grow and develop. In January, Tilly and Charli met this criteria – but we also signed 29 year old Wang Shuang. This transfer window, aside from Morris, not one of our signings was under the age of 24. In Raso, Oroz and Clare Hunt we have signed proven commodities, not prospects. There were a number of young, England-based players available on free transfers this summer I expected us to pursue – Ruby Mace, Liz Terland and Katie Robinson for example. Naomi Layzell, though not a free transfer was also a possibility. Instead we plumped for experience resulting in a team likely to have five starters (Spencer, Neville, Spence, Raso and England) in their thirties this season. Our squad building and the profile of players we are looking for leaves me with more questions than answers.

HARSH: Csiki has the pace that he looks for in his attackers and Oroz has the ability to receive under pressure and create through the middle. Raso is the experienced but underused signing, very similar to Martha last summer and you can also draw a parallel with Hunt as the Buhler signing. Overall, the players signed this season seem to have a decent distribution of un-tapped or under-used potential and experience, pretty much replicating the distributions from the last two windows under Vilahamn.

ALFRED: I’ve thought about this and honestly, I don’t know. Our most easily identifiable trait is that we’ve gone after opportunistic dealings: Raso and Hunt were both out of favour. That seemed to be the case with Csiki as well. Talbert suddenly had to compete with Kinga Szemik at West ham. Maite Oroz has struggled with playing time and with Weir back that may worsen. Going back further in time Amanda Nildén had fallen out of favour at Juventus enabling us to get a loan with an option to buy (a great deal). Martha Thomas, similarly, had little playing time at United and could probably be easily pried away. The one obvious exception is Matilda Vinberg who was red hot and likely fielded numerous options. That signing was a statement of intent and ambition by the club, something I hoped would be a feature of this window, but it has not been – at least not obviously. From a playing perspective I’d say most of our signings have at least a good passing ability and vision, with some players excelling here. I assume that is to make the squad as a whole more press-resistant, to help alleviate the pressure by calmly passing the ball around. Most of the players we’ve signed are also willing to put in defensive work even if that’s not their primary role. Otherwise, it’s difficult to pinpoint a strong thread here – the players are of different ages and (to my eye) have different playing styles. 

RACHEL: Being Australian or having played in Sweden would be the trite answer – since that describes the majority of signings under Vilahamn’s tenure (four this window; another three in previous windows). But more seriously, positional flexibility, passing ability, speed and calmness under pressure.

8. Overall, how would you rate Spurs transfer window out of 10?

TONALIANA: Factoring the signings, timing and whether or not we had any choice about making certain moves I’d rate the window a 6/10. Faced the Bizet crisis well, strengthened the backline and got two interesting midfielders who could be really good for us. Unfortunately, the lack of a new number one goalkeeper is a major flaw for me.

JACK: 6/10. Though, without the signing of Oroz I would have scored this as a three or a four. While the signing of Oroz is lovely, I was otherwise underwhelmed. We didn’t bring in a goalkeeper who could both pass the ball and save shots, leaving us with Becky Spencer as our likely starter. She is great with her feet but is 33 now and one of the WSL’s worst shot stoppers. I would have preferred us to sign another young centre back, rather than take up the option on Amy James-Turner’s contract. And we are still short in midfield after Kit Graham’s ACL tear – unless Oroz or Anna Csiki play as central midfielders, we only have three midfielders in the squad and one of those is Drew Spence, who is 31 and struggles to last 90 minutes in games these days.

Given the success of last season and momentum we carried into the summer, I expected more from this summer. Before the signing of Oroz, we had a worse team than that which ended last season. Now the team is just about stronger, though not by much – goalkeeper is a weakness, central defence and central midfield is alright but no more than that, while we are maybe an out and out winger short if Jess Naz plays regularly up front.

HARSH: 7/10. Being able to get experienced internationals and players with Champions League experience is a positive. But not being able to get a starter GK and losing two starters from last season’s starting eleven were the negatives.

ALBERT: 5/10. It’s a tough grade and I could have been persuaded to 6/10 if we had done all of our business earlier so that the new signings had had time to build rapport. The barometer I am using is essentially: are we a better squad now than we were at the tail end of last season? I think the answer is unequivocally no. I don’t think we’re much worse than before but we’ve somewhat weakened. It’s possibly unfair since we had two good loanees in that squad, one of which we signed the other one we lost. However, unless we strengthen our squad we’re unlikely to climb up the WSL standings and to make matters worse a lot of our competitors have had really good transfer windows.

We’ve had a lot of people move on this window and in the case of most of those players we have not lost much, frankly: Last season we had a swathe of players that played close to zero minutes so them moving on is good for everyone. But the loss of both Celin and Grace, two of our most promising youngsters, in the same window and to a close rival in the league is pretty much catastrophic. 

On a more positive note; signing Nildén on a permanent is great and Morris seems to have a lot of potential so if Neville suddenly looks old or someone gets injured (let’s hope not) we at least have real FB depth. I saw Katelin Talbert in exactly two games last season. In one she was decent but had little to do and in the other she was amazing. It’s a very short-term loan but with West Ham having signed Kinga Szemik I would not be surprised if this is us metaphorically kicking the tyres, in advance of placing a bid in January if she impresses. I do not believe that was the original idea but it could be a decent opportunity for both Spurs and Talbert. Clare Hunt is well regarded by the Matildas but had a tough time at PSG. I’m hopeful, however, and expect we will see a lot of her this season. Finally Maite Oroz has all the skills necessary to make it in our team. She’s not an upgrade on Grace but if we can integrate her into the team well enough the absence won’t be felt as much. 

My hope is therefore that we’ve strengthened our foundations enough this window that we can sign a player or two in January and then start ascending the rankings, but we might look rusty the first few games of the season.

RACHEL: Probably a 6/10. A window in which there was a clear plan – prioritising continuity while upgrading a few positions and trying to replace Grace Clinton – was derailed twice. Once by Bizet’s departure and then again by Kit Graham’s injury. On the upside it feels like the club found ways of responding, released under-used players to free up space, and the final squad looks strong, meaning that in the long run we might look back on the window as a 7 or even 8. But there are questions remaining. One is about the keeper, with us dependent on a stopgap solution (a within league loan until January). The other is about defensive midfield. Most of the midfielders brought in are used to playing higher up the pitch so in Graham’s absence we might become quite reliant on Eveliina Summanen remaining fit. On the other hand it’s quite possible we see Csiki or Bartip converted into a star holding midfielder and this will seem a needless worry. More generally it is a little concerning that Spurs do not seem to yet have a proper scouting setup on the women’s side, with players continuing to come from a relatively narrow set of national and club backgrounds. That said, clearly the club has become a more attractive destination, capable of attracting bigger players (Oroz the standout here) and it’s great that there were two players (Oroz and Csiki) given four year contracts – a sign that the club is committing to the development of a more stable women’s team.

You can find the contributors to this review on Twitter (and other social media sites).

• Tonaliana is @tonaliana
• Harsh is @simplywink
• Alfred is @arnebjrnarne
• Rachel is @spurswomenblog
• Jack is not on twitter

Further detail on the squad including contract length is on the Current Squad page.

You can also find read more about players on the Tottenham website.

If you would like to compare Spurs transfer activity to other clubs’ Girls on the Ball have a complete transfer tracker that covers both the WSL and Championship teams.

If you have thoughts add a comment below or contact us online.