Tottenham told the ‘one guy they have to keep’ in summer transfer market to stand any chance of becoming a ‘Big Six’ team again

Back-to-back 17th-placed finishes have been endured in north London. Ange Postecoglou helped to paper over a few cracks when delivering Europa League glory towards the end of his managerial tenure - as a 17-year wait for major silverware was brought to a close - but there has been little else to get excited about.

Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor passed through the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium without making any kind of positive impact, before former Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi was handed the reins and steadied the ship enough to steer a successful course to safety.

That battle went down to the final day, with Spurs left celebrating survival by the narrowest of margins as local rivals Arsenal hoisted the Premier League title aloft - highlighting the ever-widening gap between two old adversaries.

Efforts will be made over the coming weeks to awaken a sleeping giant from its slumber, but could a number of high-profile performers be offloaded while welcoming fresh faces on board? Plenty of movement is being predicted when another transfer market opens for business.

Dutch defender Micky van de Ven is among those to be generating exit talk, but ex-Spurs full-back Hutton - speaking exclusively to GOAL courtesy of casino zonder cruks - has told GOAL of the Liverpool-linked centre-half: “That's one guy that I think they have to keep, in my opinion.

“If they want to build and be stronger for next season, he's your captain in waiting because I think [Cristian] Romero will probably be off. So they need to keep these kind of guys to build around.

“If you did cash in on him and he goes to another Premier League team or whatever, you have to replace that guy and that's not going to be easy. So it's a difficult situation because these guys want to play at the highest level possible and it's going to probably take a number of windows, I feel, for Spurs to get back to that sort of level, but they have to keep the likes of Van de Ven if they want to do that.”

Pressed further on the Anfield rumours that have been raging around Van de Ven, Hutton added: “He'd be an outstanding signing. I really like him as a player. Strength, his running power, his speed, some of the goals that we've seen him score - I know it doesn't happen every week, but it's quite incredible.

“He's good with the ball, technically good. He literally ticks all the boxes. He should be playing with a Champions League team, in my opinion. So I think that's the number one priority, to try and keep hold of him.”

Spurs need to retain prized assets in order to become upwardly mobile once more. Having become stuck in a serious rut, questions have been asked of whether they can still consider themselves to be part of the Premier League elite.

Pressed on whether Tottenham are ‘Big Six’ material, Hutton said: “I don't think so, if I'm totally honest. I think you have to show that mentality of a squad that can go and compete regularly at the top end of the table and they've not done that. It's quite as simple as that.

“Probably if you look at the finances and money that's coming into the club, you'd say the business side of it has been run really well, but unfortunately that's not gone onto the pitch for them and they've really struggled. So at this moment in time, I don't see them as a ‘Big Six’ team.”

Spurs scraped over the line in 2025-26 by seeing off Everton on home soil - with victory in that contest enough to ensure that they finished two points clear of West Ham and a trapdoor that leads into the Championship.

In De Zerbi, a head coach is considered to have been found that can get the club back on track. There are, however, a number of issues for the charismatic Italian to address before dreams of Champions League qualification can begin to form again.