Tottenham added much-needed quality to their squad in certain areas, but there are a few key targets that Spurs’ recruitment team missed out on.

Lilywhites boss Thomas Frank was backed by the arrivals of Kevin Danso, Mathys Tel, Kota Takai, Mohammed Kudus, Joao Palhinha, Xavi Simons and Randal Kolo Muani before Monday’s 7pm deadline, but partly due to complications with their locally trained quota, some were forced to miss out on their 22-man Champions League squad for the league phase.

Villarreal (home)

September 16

Bodo/Glimt (away)

September 30

Monaco (away)

October 22

FC Copenhagen (home)

November 4

PSG (away)

November 26

Slavia Prague (home)

December 9

Borussia Dortmund (home)

January 20

Eintracht Frankfurt (away)

January 28

Both Tel and Takai won’t be playing Champions League football for Spurs this season, at least until they’re allowed to amend their selections past the league phase, if Frank’s side do indeed make it that far.

Nevertheless, whilst Tel and Takai will feel hard done by as absentees from Europe, both men are likely to play a key role in the Premier League.

A high-ranking recruitment team of chairman Daniel Levy — who’s now resigned after a shock announcement — CEO Vinai Vinkatesham, technical director Johan Lange and unofficial advisor Fabio Paratici eventually managed to navigate what was a notoriously tricky window, with plenty of bumps along the way.

Tottenham were involved in two of the most dramatic transfer soap operas of the summer, and ultimately felt a devastating effect from both of them.

Morgan Gibbs-White was on the verge of joining Spurs for around £60 million before Nottingham Forest blocked the deal, threatened legal action and convinced the 25-year-old to sign a club-record contract – humiliating Levy in the process – while Arsenal sensationally hijacked their rivals for Eberechi Eze at the eleventh hour in very public fashion.

Eventually, Frank got his hands on a much-needed playmaker to replace the injured James Maddison by signing Simons from RB Leipzig for £52 million – mounting a hijack of their own on Chelsea and restoring some pride.

In the final hours of the window, Tottenham also sealed an “un-Spurs-like” straight loan deal for PSG striker Randal Kolo Muani, perhaps in reaction to Dominic Solanke’s latest injury, but it is worth nothing that the Frenchman can also play out wide.

In terms of their other transfer pursuits, Spurs were targeting a left-winger and centre-back in the final weeks of the window (Sky Sports), but to no avail.

Manuel Akanji, before his move from Man City to Inter Milan, and Brentford captain Nathan Collins were among the names linked with moves to N17 before the deadline, but neither came through the door.

The same can be said for Akanji’s former teammate, Nathan Ake.

Tottenham plan Nathan Ake talks in January after Thomas Frank request

Tottenham reportedly held discussions over a late summer swoop for Ake, but the £160,000-per-week centre-back ultimately stayed at Eastlands despite his struggle for game time ahead of Rayan Ait-Nouri and Josko Gvardiol.

Now, as per CaughtOffside, it is believed that Spurs are planning to reopen talks for Ake in January, as Frank wants to add more experience to his squad.

Their interest in the Netherlands international stems from wanting an alternative to Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie on the left, with Ake versatile enough and capable of playing both roles.

City value Ake at a minimum £15 million with just two years left on his contract, which could be seen as great value for a prestigious player who Virgil van Dijk called “underrated”.

Ake also played an under the radar role in helping the Sky Blues win their historic 2023 treble, with Pep Guardiola calling him a “proper defender”.

“He [Ake] has been fundamental,” Guardiola said after City’s title-winning victory over Chelsea at the Etihad in 2023.

“I learned this season when you play against (Bukayo) Saka, Vinicius (Jnr), (Gabriel) Martinelli, (Mohamed) Salah or (Sadio) Mane in the past, you need a proper defender to win duels one v one.

“Or, in the Champions League, at that level, they need one action to beat you and Nathan gave us that boost that I didn’t have in the past.

“The biggest boost was having a proper defender and in the past we didn’t have it and Nathan, (Manuel) Akanji and [Kyle] Walker did it.”