Ten years ago, the idea of Leicester City lifting the Premier League trophy was treated as a punchline. The Foxes had finished 14th in 2014-15 and were offered 5000-1 by the bookies to be crowned champions. Twelve months later, Claudio Ranieri’s side had done just that, amassing 81 points and finishing ten ahead of Arsenal. It remains the greatest underdog story the English game has ever produced.
So this is the question every long-suffering supporter silently asks after a couple of sad years: could Tottenham Hotspur get a Leicester of their own in 2026-27? At first glance, the suggestion sounds absurd, but dig a little deeper and the parallels are more interesting than you might expect.
The Leicester project: from 14 to champions
Leicester’s triumph was no fluke born of a hot streak. It was built on a settled backbone, a clear identity, an attack led by Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, and N’Golo Kante’s relentless drive in midfield. Crucially, the Foxes had no European football to distract them, allowing Ranieri to drill the same eleven week after week. You can relive this miraculous campaign in its entirety on our First League 2015-16 page, and see how rare a feat like this is by browsing the full page list of Premier League champions. Only seven clubs have ever lifted it.
Spurs have hit rock bottom
If a title charge tends to follow a season at the bottom, Tottenham have certainly provided the bottom. Spurs have now finished 17th in back-to-back campaigns, a sequence unprecedented in the club’s modern history. The 2025-26 season was particularly brutal: three managers, an early exit from every cup competition and survival was only confirmed on the final day with a nervy 1-0 win over Everton that knocked West Ham into their place. You can put those finishes in context against the club’s proudest eras in ours All-Time Spurs Stats hub. Compare that to Leicester, who escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth in 2014-15 before their fairytale run. Sometimes the only way is up.
A point to prove under De Zerbi
The man in charge of the rebuild is Roberto De Zerbi, who steadied a sinking ship after taking over at the end of March and guiding Spurs to 11 points from their last six games. The Italian now has a full pre-season, a clear playing philosophy and, for the first time in years, no European football to juggle. That last point is no small feat: only Leicester in 2015-16 and Chelsea the season after have won the Premier League while sitting out the continental competition. You can see how De Zerbi compares to its predecessors in ours Tottenham manager records page Add to that a team fired up after two miserable seasons, and the motivation could hardly be clearer. Nobody at the club wants another doomsday scrap.
Summer signings build a platform
Spurs have moved early and shrewdly in the 2026 window. The main arrival is Andy Robertson, signed on a free transfer from Liverpool, where he won two Premier League titles and the Champions League in nine years and 378 appearances. De Zerbi hailed the Scotland captain as “a proven winner at the highest level”, while sporting director Johan Lange noted the leadership and character the 32-year-old brings to a young dressing room.
Alongside him is Marcos Senesi, the Argentine international centre-back signed from Bournemouth to add steel and calm to a defense that conceded too many goals last season. With the club promising more investment and pursuing several more targets, the backbone of a much more competitive team is taking shape.
So could the Spurs really do it?
Let’s be honest. Arsenal are the reigning champions, Manchester City are still a force and Liverpool will charge again. The smart money says that Tottenham’s first order of business is simply to claw their way back towards the European places. A 5000-1 shock is, by definition, a 5000-1 shock.
But that’s more the point. Leicester were also 5000-1. They had a fresh approach, no European baggage, an established group and a major chip on their shoulder. The Spurs already tick three of those four boxes, and the fourth can fit with a good start. Will Spurs do a Leicester? Probably not. could they In football, you should never say never.
