Tottenham’s top five biggest January surprises – Including transfer saga for Champions League winner
January has been an unusual month for Tottenham Hotspur, with all sorts going on, including the good, the bad and the truly bizarre.
Let’s take a look at the five most surprising moments from the opening month of the 2026 calendar year.
Brennan Johnson leaves Tottenham for Crystal Palace
In May, Brennan Johnson was the hero who scored for Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final. However, the winger lost favour with Thomas Frank and unexpectedly ended up departing North London.
Johnson is a player who scores goals, but his overall contributions during matches often leave room for improvement.
It is unsurprising that the Welshman lost his place in the first-team, but his January transfer to Crystal Palace did come as a bit of a shock. After all, Spurs already had a shortage of left wingers, which is the position Johnson had mostly been occupying this season.
Credit: @thefrederikkejensen / Instagram
Thomas Frank gets a new assistant coach at Spurs
There has been a lot of speculation around the future of Frank due to Tottenham’s worrying position in the Premier League table. For the most part, the dialogue on the Dane is not about whether he will be sacked. Rather, it is a matter of when his inevitable departure will occur.
Despite this, Spurs appear to be giving Frank more time to change the club’s fortunes and they have even brought in John Heitinga to act as his assistant.
This move was surprising, not just because of the mounting pressure Frank faced, but because Heitinga was recently the head coach at Ajax. It would actually make sense for the Dutchman to be appointed as the club’s interim manager if Frank does get the sack, but this does not appear to be the plan, at least for now.
Andy Robertson almost joins Tottenham
It was surprising to see Conor Gallagher make the switch from Atletico Madrid to Spurs, with a rumoured move failing to come to fruition in the past. Still, this was nothing in comparison to rumours that Tottenham made an approach to sign Andy Robertson from Liverpool.
This felt like a very random move, as Spurs were already strongly linked with Souza, while the Scotsman is not exactly in his prime at 31 years old.
In the end, Liverpool blocked Robertson’s move to Tottenham, which does mean Frank is missing out on a player who would bring valuable experience to his dressing room. However, there are other areas in the squad in much greater need than the left-back position.
Credit: @thefrederikkejensen / Instagram
Spurs turn on the style in the Champions League
Tottenham in Europe is something nobody can seem to wrap their heads around. Finishing in the top eight of the Champions League league phase seemed like a possibility at the beginning of the month, but it was by no means guaranteed.
Nevertheless, Spurs sealed an impressive 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund before getting the job done with a win on the road against Eintracht Frankfurt.
This meant they not only made the top eight, but recorded a greater points tally than every other team in the competition, except for Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Liverpool.
Tottenham fail to win a Premier League fixture
What makes Tottenham’s European success even more surprising is how dreadful they have been in the Premier League.
Spurs have taken on five teams in the league throughout January, three of whom were either in the relegation zone or in danger of dropping to those depths. Despite this, Frank and his team are yet to record a victory in the English top flight since December.
The expectations of most Tottenham supporters were pretty low, but losing to Bournemouth and West Ham can come as a surprise no matter how poor the team have been.
February will be a difficult month for Spurs
With Tottenham out of the FA Cup and straight through to the Champions League last 16, February will be less demanding than January.
However, Spurs have upcoming clashes against Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United and Arsenal.
Perhaps Tottenham will finally be able to replicate their European form in England, but if not, this could be the month that puts the North London club on the brink of the drop zone.
READ MORE – Thomas Frank names three young players he thinks will ‘score a lot of goals’ for Tottenham
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