12 players leave Tottenham today as £30m signing quits club | Football | Sport
Tottenham Hotspur officially said goodbye to 12 players today. The club have been preparing for the new season after narrowly escaping relegation last term.
Robert De Zerbi, Spurs’ third manager of the season, guided the Lilywhites to 17th place in the Premier League, edging 18th-place West Ham by two points. De Zerbi has already looked to impose himself on the squad, having his say on transfer incomings while allowing a host of players to leave in a major shake-up. A whopping 12 players will depart today, given that June 30 marked the final day of the 2025/26 campaign. July 1 is recognised as the official start of the new football season, when new players can be officially signed. Players whose contracts expire on June 30 become free agents on July 1, allowing them to seamlessly register with a new club without any legal overlap.
One of the biggest names to depart at the end of his contract is Yves Bissouma, who was confirmed to be leaving by the club rather unceremoniously last month, having not been offered a new contract.
“We can confirm the departure of Yves Bissouma following the conclusion of his contract,” the post on X read. “Thank you for your service and all the best for the future, Biss.”
That’s despite the Mali international making 111 appearances during his time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Bissouma joined Spurs from Brighton in the summer of 2022 for a fee of £30million. A combination of knee and ankle injuries stopped Bissouma from featuring for Spurs across the entire first half of last season.
He was forced to wait until January 17 to make his first appearance of the campaign, which ended in a 2-1 defeat to West Ham. Bissouma went on to feature just 11 times for Tottenham across the rest of the season, and was an unused substitute in the final three Premier League matches of the campaign.
Elsewhere, on June 26, Brazilian side Bahia announced the signing of Alejo Veliz on a permanent deal from Tottenham, with the move officially taking effect on July 1. The Argentine completed a £7.7m transfer following his season-long loan at Rosario Central.
A further 10 players from Spurs’ academy have also left the club. Under-21 players Pele Arganese-McDermott, Tyrell Ashcroft, Leo Black, Dante Cassanova, Matthew Craig and Calum Logan have all left north London due to their deals with the club coming to an end.
Four players from the Under-18s have also left, including Elijah Upson, who rejected a contract offer from the club. Rounding off the long list of departures are Jamel Beggs, Samal Bangura and Leon Myrtaj.
However, Spurs have also made use of free agency, bringing in Marcos Senesi of Bournemouth, Andrew Robertson of Liverpool and Martin Dubravka of Burnley. The £52m signing of Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton was also announced last month.
