Tottenham eyes Jules Koundé in €65m move that never quite crossed the finish line

Tottenham Hotspur spent a significant chunk of their summer chasing Jules Koundé, the French international defender who has become one of Barcelona’s most reliable assets. The move never happened, but the pursuit tells you a lot about what new manager Roberto De Zerbi was trying to build at Spurs. Reports from late July 2026 placed a €65m (roughly £56m) offer on the table for Koundé, a player whose ability to slot in at right-back or central defense made him an unusually flexible target for a club that needed reinforcements across the backline. The deal that got away The summer transfer window closed on September 1 without Tottenham and Barcelona reaching any agreement over the Frenchman. Koundé remained at Camp Nou, and Spurs were left to redirect their resources elsewhere. Tottenham’s summer spending reached somewhere between £300m and £469m depending on which estimates you trust, making it one of the more aggressive rebuild attempts in recent Premier League history. The headline signings were hard to miss. Sandro Tonali arrived from Newcastle for £92.5m, a significant fee for a midfielder who had only recently returned from a betting-related suspension. Mateus Fernandes followed...