The £90m striker that will be Tottenham's biggest signing of the summer - according to new prediction
Spurs have a busy summer ahead of them - so we asked AI to work out who they’ll spend their transfer budget on.
It would be a fairly substantial understatement to say that Tottenham Hotspur’s season hasn’t gone precisely to plan. Whoever the head coach is next summer – and whichever league they find themselves in – a significant rebuild surely lies in wait. Spurs have too many underperforming players and too much spare cash not to try and make a splash in the summer transfer window.
Exactly where they mind spend that money remains unclear. There are problems all over the pitch and key players such as Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven look increasingly likely to move on. In order to work out how Spurs might use their resources, we decided to use this as an opportunity to put AI to the test…
Spurs to sign £90m striker in the summer – according to AI
We asked a well-known AI algorithm to predict the single most expensive signing that Spurs will make in the summer transfer market – assuming they dodged the drop - and it decided that the club’s transfer team would focus their financial firepower on finding some extra firepower up front – and spend a hefty £90m on Porto forward Samu Aghehowa.
The Spain international has been routinely linked with a move to the Premier League ever since a proposed transfer to Chelsea collapsed back in 2024. The 21-year-old has flourished in Portugal since heading there instead, scoring an impressive 47 goals in his 76 games to date – and Spurs are one of several sides supposedly tracking his progress.
The £90m suggested by the AI is probably a little on the steep side, not least because it’s a few million more than Aghehowa’s reported €100m (£87m) minimum fee release clause – but someone will surely spend big bucks on him this summer, and it’s as likely to be Spurs as anyone else.
Concerns over the long-term fitness of Dominic Solanke mean that a centre-forward is very much on the table this summer, especially as several recent stories suggest that Randal Kolo Muani could head back to Juventus, where he spent some time on loan last season – while Richarlison seems likely to leave as well.
With all that in mind, a big splash on the free-scoring Aghehowa seems like a sensible suggestion from the algorithm. But is the Spaniard the striker that Spurs need?
Is Samu Aghehowa the answer to Spurs’ striker prayers?
There’s little arguing with Aghehowa’s scoring record, but it’s fair to observe that it hasn’t been proven at the very highest level – success in the Primeira Liga is one thing, but in Aghehowa’s only full season in La Liga, on loan with Alavés as a teenager, he managed a relatively modest eight goals.
He’s also failed to score in any of his four appearances for Spain so far, and it’s difficult to judge whether he would be a striker who makes the step up with ease, or another of the many forwards who have scored consistently in second-tier leagues but struggled to make the grade at a slightly higher level.
On paper, at least, Aghehowa has all the tools required. Strong, fast and physical, he’s capable of operating both as a traditional target man, bullying centre-backs and bringing his fellow forwards into play, and as an off-ball striker who hits the channels and works his way into pockets of space.
His finishing is impeccable and he has comfortably exceeded his expected goals total since joining Porto, always a good sign that his performances will carry forward to a top-level league – the only other real question is whether Spurs will appoint a manager whose methods suit Aghehowa’s playing style.
The young striker is likely at his best in a more direct system, when his pace and strength come into play more frequently, and isn’t the kind of technical player who readily fit into a system focussed on short passing.
Spurs’ next managerial appointment (let’s face it, you’d get long odds on Igor Tudor getting the job full time right now) will determine whether Aghehowa is a sensible signing or not – but it would certainly be a deal worth getting a little excited about if it took place. Spurs will have to survive first, however…