Overview
After two consecutive seasons only finishing in 17th place in the Premier League, Tottenham has entered the summer of 2026 with the determination to comprehensively refresh the squad. The North London club's leadership has placed their trust in coach Roberto De Zerbi and invested heavily in the transfer market to bring Spurs back to the competitive group.
The Tottenham Hotspur home team continuously broke the club's transfer record when spending 85 million pounds to recruit Mateus Fernandes. Not stopping there, Spurs also completed the Sandro Tonali deal with a fee that could exceed the 100 million pound mark.
Not only strengthening the midfield, De Zerbi also strengthened the defense with signings of Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi, Andy Robertson and experienced goalkeeper Martin Dubravka. These additions show that Tottenham wants to build a more balanced team after a season that revealed many weaknesses in all three lines.
Except for some players who are still resting after participating in international tournaments, most Tottenham players have returned to training to prepare for the 2026-2027 season. In front of them is a summer tour in New Zealand and Australia with matches against Auckland FC, Sydney FC and Chelsea.
However, Spurs will start the friendly campaign with a reception of MK Dons at the Enfield training center. Although only for warm-up purposes, this will be an opportunity for De Zerbi to test new players as well as test the new tactical system before entering the dense schedule.
The "Roosters" will have about a month left for a friendly match before entering the challenging Premier League opening match against Brentford. The coaching staff expects this time to help the newcomers integrate and the whole team reach the best physical condition.
On MK Dons' side, the League One representative entered the match with a better physical foundation after playing many friendly matches. Coach Paul Warne's team once won 4-1 against Maidenhead United and lost 1-2 to NK Istra in the process of preparing for the new season.
MK Dons just won promotion to League One after finishing last season as League Two runner-up.
Personnel situation
Tottenham is likely to give debut opportunities to two new signings Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali in the first friendly match before the season. Due to not participating in the 2026 World Cup, both have gathered early and may be brought onto the field by De Zerbi from the bench.
Conversely, Jan Paul van Hecke and Andy Robertson are unlikely to participate. Meanwhile, captain Cristian Romero and right-back Pedro Porro have just played in the World Cup final, so they will be on leave before returning to training.
On the opposite side, MK Dons continue to strengthen their forces after winning promotion to League One.
Paul Warne's team recruited midfielder Dan Barlaser on a free transfer after this player left Middlesbrough. Barlaser once played prominently on loan at Hibernian and was also Warne's former student at Rotherham United.
Expected lineup:
Tottenham: Austin, Adewole, Dorrington, Phillips, Souza, Gray, Gallagher, Donley, Maddison, Moore, Lankshear.
MK Dons: MacGillivray, Ekpiteta, Nelson, Goode, Jones, Wintle, Gilbey, Barlaser, Bramall, Hepburn-Murphy, Mendez-Laing.
The match between Tottenham Hotspur and MK Dons takes place at 11:00 p.m. on July 22 (Vietnam time).
