Five signings, two wins: Spurs' January business is already paying off

A double-header victory against Leicester showcased the immediate impact of the January signings, signalling a tactical shift for Martin Ho’s side

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Following a busy transfer window, Tottenham Hotspur’s first games of 2026 were a double-header against Leicester City in the Women’s Super League and FA Cup. They came away with two victories, four goals and two clean sheets. Maybe it really is time to get on the bandwagon.

This might just be the year that Spurs build on a good first half of the season to finish strong. It has been two wins from two since the winter break. Okay, both have been against Leicester City. But Spurs keep winning all their winnable games. As a result, they sit fourth in the WSL, level on points with Arsenal in third and a point ahead of Manchester United in fifth. And on Sunday, Spurs cruised into the FA Cup round of 16.

If Spurs’ first victory over Leicester was cagey – poetically perhaps, an Ashleigh Neville own goal the only thing separating the two teams – this week Spurs emerged as clear winners. Indeed, the 3-0 victory was the team’s biggest winning margin against WSL opposition this season. It also marked the ninth clean sheet across all competitions, and the sixth consecutive home game undefeated. It is arguably the case that Spurs, despite not always putting in sizzling performances across 90 minutes, are perhaps – Manchester City excluded – becoming the most consistent team in the league.

The wins were both important in their own right, cementing Spurs’ league position and setting up a potential cup run, but the two games have also been an opportunity to admire Spurs’ impressive January transfer window business. After a quiet summer with just two incoming players, Spurs had signed five players by the fourth day of the January window. There have now also been two departures: club legend, Ashleigh Neville has left permanently while Martha Thomas, who for a period in 2023 carried the team but has been inconsistent since, joined Liverpool on loan.

Two of Spurs’ new players, Signe Gaupset and Chelsea-loanee Maika Hamano, were in action from the first game of 2026, while all five had at least cameos in the second. Gaupset, who won the WSL Player of the Match award in her first game, has been eye-catching from her introduction: strong on the ball, happy to run at defenders, and consistently influential. She won the corner that led to a goal in the first game and in the second, provided an assist for Drew Spence’s second goal and took a shot that rebounded for the first. Hamano had fewer minutes last week but played the full 90 this week and sparkled on the ball, constantly looking to provide an outlet, making challenges, while her elite ball control enabled Spurs to better keep possession. For the many Spurs supporters who vowed to never fall in love with a loan player after Grace Clinton’s 2024 departure, it is going to be tricky few months.