Tottenham raided their London rivals Chelsea for Mykhailo Mudryk and Tosin Adarabioyo on transfer deadline day, with the deals raising some eyebrows.
While Spurs have had a strong window, managing for the most part to deliver Roberto De Zerbi’s wish of landing their top targets, that was not the case on transfer deadline day.
Spurs pivoted to Mudryk as a last-minute option after missing out on both Cody Gakpo and Iliman Ndiaye, with the former staying put at Liverpool and the latter moving to Manchester City.
Kevin Danso’s late request to leave Tottenham also disrupted De Zerbi’s plans, with the Lilywhites securing Adarabioyo from Chelsea in a deal worth £7m plus add-ons.
What shirt numbers will Tottenham’s two deadline day signings wear?
Mudryk is set to resume competitive action after nearly two years, with the winger being hit with the doping ban by the FA back in November of 2024.
Adarabioyo is looking to rebuild his reputation, with the English defender struggling to make the expected impact at Chelsea following his move from Fulham two years ago.
Alasdair Gold has now confirmed that the defender will wear number four at Tottenham, while Mudryk will wear the number 27.
Mykhailo Mudryk is likely to get much more game time at Spurs than Adarabioyo
While the winger has been signed on loan and the defender in a permanent deal, the former is much more likely to play regularly at Tottenham this season.
With Wilson Odobert and Dejan Kulusevski currently out injured, Mudryk will likely challenge Mathys Tel for the left-wing role, and Spurs fans will hope that De Zerbi can get the best out of the Ukrainian.
Adarabioyo will be behind Jan Paul van Hecke, Micky van de Ven and Marcos Senesi in the pecking order, and his best chance of getting some game time might be at right-back, with Spurs lacking a natural cover for Pedro Porro.