Tottenham Hotspur sporting director Johan Lange has insisted he never feared for his job as the club narrowly avoided relegation last season, and has defended the club's heavy summer spending as a necessary response to Premier League competition.
Lange, who joined the Tottenham hierarchy in late 2023, has overseen a turbulent period that included Europa League glory in Bilbao alongside two 17th-place finishes in the Premier League. The 2025/26 campaign proved particularly fraught, with Spurs going through three managers and securing top-flight safety only on the final day of the season.
£300m Summer Overhaul
In an effort to avoid a repeat, Spurs invested well over £300m this summer to reshape Roberto De Zerbi's squad, bringing in eight first-team players including Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Savio and Jan Paul van Hecke. All but Fernandes, who arrived from relegated West Ham, were signed from within the Premier League.
This approach marked a departure from the growing trend of buying high-potential young players from lesser leagues as investments, a strategy favoured by clubs such as Brighton and Brentford. Improvements have not been immediate, with De Zerbi's side managing their first win of the campaign only this week, a 3-1 victory over newly-promoted Coventry City.
No Overpayment, Says Lange
Lange was adamant that Spurs did not overpay for any of their targets and dismissed the idea that the club faced extra pressure because of the outlay. Speaking to Danish magazine Borsen Pleasure, he said: "Well, the prices. To a certain extent, you get used to them."
He added: "After all, these are the same amounts that competitors pay. All clubs' scouting networks are so good these days that finding a player that others have overlooked, in a league that no one has heard of, for a tenth of the price – that race is over."
"(The money spent) certainly raises expectations. But it's not because I think about it every day. I think all clubs think it's hard to find good players. For people who aren't into football, it might sound completely insane that there aren't a lot of players to choose from when you have £80m. But how many players have the quality to justify such an investment?"
Lange also explained the complexity of the transfer market: "For every player you buy, you might have three or five clubs you talk to. If we need a right winger, we might be talking about five different players, five clubs, five agents. That's a lot of balls to keep in the air at the same time."
No Fear for His Job
On his own position during the relegation scare, Lange said: "I actually didn't. Our CEO, the owners and the board could see that Tottenham had ended up here because of something that had happened over many years. And they agreed with the strategy and could see that we were on the right track in several areas. So no, I never felt insecure in my job."
