International media deliver brutal Tottenham verdict – 'Not even 500million will fix this'

Tottenham's transfer business has been lampooned by the international media after a tragic start to the Premier League campaign

Even a massive summer spend on transfer hasn't been enough to raise Tottenham's standards so far this season. So much so that one international outlet has suggested Spurs would still be broken if they upped the investment to half a billion.

The club's board has demonstrated its faith in Roberto De Zerbi by bringing in a sea of new signings for a combined spend of around £320m. Tottenham have also sold off around £150m worth of talent, making for a much more manageable net spend of around £170m.

However, that hasn't been enough to avoid consecutive defeats at the start of the new Premier League campaign. A humbling 3-0 loss at Brentford last weekend was followed by an arguably even more frustrating 2-0 defeat at home to Newcastle on Saturday.

Catalan newspaper Sport let rip with the headline suggesting "not even €500m (£428m) will fix this Tottenham." However, that won't stop the north Londoners from trying as they continue to be linked with Liverpool's Cody Gakpo, who could set them back another £85m.

Per the report, Spurs' midweek win over Charlton in the EFL Cup now looks like little more than "a mirage." And it wasn't lost that the £235m trio of Sando Tonali, Mateus Fernandes and Omar Marmoush (who is on loan but would cost £50m next summer) struggled to make the desired impact against Newcastle.

"After two matchdays, Tottenham are bottom of the Premier League with zero points and zero goals scored," read one passage from the review, contrasting the situations of two squads that have each undergone transformations this summer.

"Newcastle, on the other hand, have four points after facing Liverpool and Tottenham themselves, confirming that the Magpies are ready to compete despite the changes they've undergone during the summer."

Madrid-based daily Marca went with the slightly less cataclysmic headline: "Everything remains the same at Tottenham." Though, depending where you stand, that could be just as daunting from a Spurs perspective.

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The report surmised that the Premier League competition thus far has "held a mirror up to Spurs." And fair to say De Zerbi's side haven't liked what they've seen thus far.

"Beyond a fine save from the towering [Newcastle goalkeeper Lukas] Hornicek on a Marmoush shot from inside the box, Tottenham failed to create any clear-cut chances to reduce the deficit and tighten the game in the final stages," it read. "This is just the beginning, and on paper, they consider their transfer window closed. However, it seems that nothing has changed in north London."

Dutch daily Voetbal International also bemoaned the lacking performance despite the amount of money Spurs have spent.

An excerpt of the report read: "Thus, Tottenham remains pointless in the Premier League, despite summer spending of over 350 million euros – excluding the mandatory purchase option of 60 million for loanee Marmoush."