Frank’s worst signing: The new Bergwijn looks finished at Spurs under De Zerbi

Time. It’s running out for Tottenham Hotspur, who finally found three points in the Premier League last weekend, defeating Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0.

But they are still in the relegation zone, still endangered after West Ham United found a win late on against Everton. Spurs have four games to save their season, and few fit players to help them do it.

Though rotten injury luck has tipped the scales in West Ham and Nottingham Forest and Leeds United’s favour, Tottenham know that shambolic recruitment strategies devised over the past several years have pulled them into this perilous position.

Too many arrivals in recent years have flattered to deceive in a Tottenham shirt.

Spurs’ worst recent signings

In January, Brennan Johnson left Tottenham and joined Crystal Palace. Before him, Heung-min Son departed, two years after Harry Kane joined Bayern Munich to consolidate his status as one of the greatest strikers of his generation.

All three forwards have topped Spurs’ scoring charts in recent years, and it’s hard to argue that any has been effectively replaced.

Dominic Solanke is injured once again, while Mohamed Kudus and Wilson Odobert are out for the long-term with respective muscular and knee injuries.

Xavi Simons will be lucky to feature again before 2027 comes around, the Dutch playmaker having ruptured his ACL during the win over Wolves. He had improved under De Zerbi, but the 22-year-old has still failed to provide creative sparkle for much of the campaign.

In fairness, Tottenham have struggled for some time to hit the right beats in the transfer window with consistency, with the likes of Steven Bergwijn, Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso some more historical examples of the club’s misfires.

And now, Frank might have overseen the signing of Spurs’ new version of Bergwijn, who arrived with plenty of talent but failed to direct it in the Premier League.

Spurs’ new Bergwijn has no future under De Zerbi

Bergwijn arrived at Tottenham on a five-and-a-half-year deal in January 2029, but he failed to carry over his emphatic form in the Bundesliga to the Premier League, more intense and more demanding.

The Netherlands international cost Daniel Levy co a pretty penny – £27m, to be exact – but he only scored eight times for the English outfit across 83 matches.

Now, Randal Kolo Muani is echoing the Dutchman’s struggles. Kolo Muani is a loanee, but he had arrived under Thomas Frank’s leadership last season with a weight of expectation, having found his feet out on loan with Juventus last season, unable to bring it all together for his employers, Paris Saint-Germain.

Tottenham’s injury crisis means that the France international’s playing time has increased over the past few months, even though De Zerbi’s side are failing to see and rewards. He drifts through games, ineffective, very much the loan player who will not follow the outfit down into the Championship, should they indeed be relegated.

He has had a few moments for the Londoners, notably in the Champions League, but Kolo Muani has only scored once across Tottenham’s entire league campaign, starting 18 times in total.

Kolo Muani was actually branded by journalist Kyle Freeguard as looking “lazy” during Spurs’ Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund in January, and in the Premier League this season, he has averaged only 0.7 dribbles per game, missing six big chances despite only scoring once.

Bergwijn was similarly reluctant to get stuck in. Way back in 2021, fans even branded the Netherlands winger as looking lazy in training, alongside Eric Dier.

Kolo Muani is only playing because of desperation. Tottenham have been shorn of their attacking depth, and while Kolo Muani will make up numbers over the final few weeks, the chances of him playing a role down N17 next season are non-existent, wherever it is that they end up.