Tottenham Fans Blame Relegation Fears on Lack of Proper Victor Wanyama Replacement

Tottenham are in dire straits and according to some of their supporters, it is a result of the club’s inability to fully replace Victor Wanyama.

Wanyama left Tottenham in March 2020 but six years later, the fans still feel the club is crying out for a player like him, more so now that relegation is a real possibility.

Tottenham are in 17th position in the Premier League on 37 points from 35 games, just one more than West Ham, who occupy the final relegation place, and unless they can beat Leeds United, Chelsea and Everton in their final three games of the season, then they will likely be relegated.

That is hard to stomach for a club that won Europa League last season, played Champions League football this term and have been a permanent fixture in the two competitions for nearly 20 years.

However, their league form has been awful, just two wins in 2026, the first one arriving on April 25, while Roberto De Zerbi is their third coach this season after dispensing with Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor.

Tottenham have won just nine games, drawn 10 and lost 16. They have scored 45 games, and defensively, it is easy to see why the fans are crying out for want a Wanyama-type player as they have shipped in 54 goals. Only fellow relegation candidates West Ham (61) and already relegated Wolves (63) and Burnley (17) have conceded more.

According to Hotspur HQ, an outlet dedicated to Tottenham news, Wanyama’s quality, physicality, and aggression has been badly missed and the club could pay heavily for a lack of investment in this type of player.

“Victor Wanyama retired last month, and it has never been more apparent how Tottenham miss a player like him. It could be argued Spurs never effectively replaced him in the years since he left even though many seasons have passed, particularly since his dominant time in the 2016-17 season,” the outlet writes in reference to Mauricio Pochettino’s team that came close to winning the Premier League nine years ago.

“His first season with Tottenham was our last at White Hart Lane and we enjoyed an entire season unbeaten at home. It was a strong team all around but Wanyama, and his partnership with Moussa Dembele, was key to this.

“Both players had a great ability to win the ball back quickly with their positioning, tackling, and physical strength outmatching most opponents. As a result, many games saw us inflict wave upon wave of attacks on the opposition, who very often appeared suffocated.”

The outlet writes of how Wanyama’s midfield partnership with Belgian Moussa Dembele set a strong base for Spurs’ attacking players to cause havoc for opponents at a time when Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min formed a deadly attack.

“While Dembele would get forward and create more with Wanyama more often sitting, both players excelled at winning the ball and moving it quickly to our talented forwards. Wanyama created not just a screen in front of the defenders, but a wall that also served as a springboard for attacks. Despite finishing second that season, we scored both the most goals in the Premier League and conceded the fewest,” it further reported, showing how badly Spurs have fallen.

Wanyama joined Tottenham in the summer of 2016 from Southampton, signing a five-year contract after a fee of £11 million had been agreed between the two clubs, and made 97 appearances for the club, scoring seven goals, before he left for MLS side CF Montreal in March 2020.