Last season Spurs were a bit of a trainwreck but were finding ways to win games and get in Champions league consideration. Then the trainwreck became an actual trainwreck and not even the goals of Harry Kane could stop them from dropping out of European competition whatsoever. What next for both him and the team…? 

Last Season: 8th

Top Scorer: Harry Kane (30)

Transfers In: James Maddison – Leicester, £46.3m, Pedro Porro – Sporting, £40m, Dejan Kulesevski – Juventus, £30m, Guglielmo Vicario – Empoli, £20m, Ashley Phillips – Blackburn, £2.3m, Manor Soloman – Shakhtar, Free.

Transfers Out: Harry Winks – Leicester, £11.6m, Lucas Moura – Sao Paulo, Free.

First game: Brentford (A)

Bit of behind the curtains stuff here but I am writing this on the morning of Tuesday 1 August and there are plenty of reports that Bayern Munich are closing in on the signing of Harry Kane. Clearly what happens in that situation will heavily influence how Spurs will do this season.

Should Daniel Levy stick to his guns and not sell his star striker then it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that he is their key man. The England captain has been the most consistent top flight goalscorer since Alan Shearer and anytime you put his name down on a team sheet then your team has a real chance.

If however a deal is struck to let him depart for the German champions then suddenly Spurs will have more questions than answers. They might have the best part of £100million in the bank to spend on new players but without the attraction of Champions League football, will they be able to attract the type of quality that will help them get back into Europe’s top club competition? Many fans will remember how they spent the Gareth Bale money and I’m not sure the nightmares have subsided yet.

Richarlison will obviously be talked about as a potential direct replacement for Kane that is already in situ but despite his hefty transfer fee, it is tough to see him leading the line and being as prolific as the man he might be replacing.

Whatever happens with Harry Kane, another key aspect of how Ange Postecoglou’s side will do this upcoming season is whether or not he can get the best out of Son Heung-Min. The South Korean attacking midfielder took home a share of the Golden Boot in 20/21 but his 21/22 season was significantly below what we’d come to expect. Was that a mere blip or are we seeing the decline of the 31 year-old as a top calibre player? I have concerns it might be the latter but desperately hope he proves my instincts wrong.

The addition of James Maddison is a real sparkle of class for the midfield. Spurs’ have been more workmanlike than creative in those positions ever since Dele Alli started his drop-off from being one of the best attacking midfielders in the world. The former Leicester man has scored double-digit goals in both of his previous two seasons and has one of the best set piece deliveries in the top flight. He’ll be big and feels like a good addition to the side.

With or without Harry Kane, Betfred make Spurs the seventh choice in the Top 4 market, which indicates a predicted finish of a Europa Conference League place. That would be mightily disappointing for the club who believe they should be pushing to play at Europe’s top table. I’m of the thought that they won’t even make Europe’s third-tier club competition and it will be a season of discontent at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.