The Times

Ange Postecoglou had promised his Tottenham Hotspur side would improve with his best players back and his argument was supported by a third straight league win for the first time since December 2023.

He had options on the bench to better manage and change a breathless encounter after the break, although the final scoreline flattered them. They might have fallen behind inside 25 seconds and were thankful to an offside decision that prevented Ipswich Town equalising, with the score at 2-1, which would have brought back memories of throwing away a 2-0 lead against Brighton & Hove Albion in October.

Ipswich never took their early opportunities, cursed mistakes and were too easily opened up. More painful than this defeat for third-from-bottom Ipswich, though, will be

Manchester United’s part-owners, Ineos, are seeking an early termination of their multi-million-pound sponsorship deal with Tottenham Hotspur as Sir Jim Ratcliffe continues the drastic reduction of his investment in sport.

In 2022 Ineos struck a five-year deal with the north London club to promote their 4×4 Grenadier car, displaying their logo on the seats in both dugouts and on the digital advertising hoardings during matches. It could be seen during United’s Premier League encounter at the Tottenham Stadium last weekend.

Even in the toughest moments, Ange Postecoglou has tried his best to laugh. In one game he feigned a hamstring injury after stretching for a ball on the touchline and in press conferences he has regularly invited journalists to make up the numbers in sessions. “You blokes could have joined in our training,” he said on Friday, “and I mean that seriously.”

Yet after defeat at Villa Park rounded off another miserable week in a miserable season for Tottenham Hotspur, the head coach shook his head and covered his face with his hands. Does this still look like a Postecoglou team? “I really don’t know how else to explain it,” he replied. “If you can’t see this team is trying to play with no rest,

Ange Postecoglou hopes to have Destiny Udogie, James Maddison and Guglielmo Vicario back for the game against Manchester United on Sunday as he looks to prove he can revive his Tottenham Hotspur team once their injury crisis subsides.

The three players, all key members of Postecoglou’s squad, are set to return to training this week, putting them in contention to play against United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Brennan Johnson and Wilson Odobert are also due to rejoin training in the coming days, with Timo Werner and Dominic Solanke not far behind. After the defeat by Aston Villa on Sunday, Postecoglou said Spurs would be “an outstanding team” again when he has injured players back.

The Tottenham chairman, Daniel Levy, and the club’s technical director,

The two Tottenham Hotspur boys are squeezed between laptops, tripods and a shelf full of energy gels, the pair of them sat together on a balcony at the back of an old clubhouse, where down below a squash court is doubling up as Leyton Orient’s physio and massage room.

It is only ten miles from Hotspur Way but a world away from the plush, sprawling Spurs training ground, with its salmon and avocado omelettes, hyperbaric chambers and steam boxes that warm the players’ boots before they play. Here, at the Old Chigwellians’ Club where Orient train, the equivalent is a muddy brush bolted into the grass outside the front door.

Yet Jamie Donley, a 20-year-old attacking midfielder, and Josh Keeley, a 21-year-old goalkeeper, are loving

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Negotiations centre around the £50million buyout clause in González’s contract. City do not want to pay that amount, especially not in one sum, but Porto are adamant that they receive the money before allowing the 23-year-old to complete a medical and sign a contract. As of 3pm, no agreement had been reached on a fee.

González, who has been on City’s radar for the past four years, can play as a defensive midfielder or a ball-carrying box-to-box player. He has played as an attacking midfielder for Porto, who signed him from Barcelona in 2023 for around £7million.

Charlotte Duncker

Another club expecting a quiet day is Leicester City. Ruud van Nistelrooy said the club would work until the “last second” to bring in more players but it looks like it is going to be a tranquil end to the window.

Woyo Coulibaly, the right back they signed from Parma for £3million, is the only addition this month as they look to strengthen to avoid relegation.

They confirmed the loan deal of winger Will Alves to Cardiff City this morning to get him more minutes, but unless there’s a significant last-minute outgoing it seems they are unlikely to bring anyone in before the deadline as they battle with tight PSR figures.

Gary Jacob, Tom Allnutt

Mathys Tel, the Bayern Munich forward, has agreed to join Tottenham Hotspur on loan and is travelling to London to complete a move.

The Tottenham technical director Johan Lange travelled to Munich to watch Tel, 19, play for Bayern in their Champions League win over Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday. Tel had rejected a move to Spurs earlier in the window amid interest from Arsenal and Manchester United but it appears he has now changed his mind.

The terms of the move are still to be worked out — Spurs had agreed a €60million (about £49.8mllion) package with Bayern for a permanent move last week but a loan deal is now more likely.

Paul Joyce

Everton are still on course to announce the loan signing of Carlos “Charly” Alcaraz, the Flamengo midfielder.

The search for striking reinforcements is more difficult. With Youssef Chermiti three weeks away from fitness and Armando Broja five weeks away, there might be a feeling that there is not the level of quality available in the marketplace within the constraints Everton are having to work to because of profit and sustainability rules.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin is six to eight weeks from a return. Beto scored twice in the thumping victory over Leicester City.

Peter Rutzler

The Chelsea defender Caleb Wiley has been recalled from his loan at Strasbourg and has joined Watford for the remainder of the season.

The American was one of three Chelsea players on loan at Strasbourg, the maximum number that the French club can sign from one team. Wiley’s return opens up an extra space at Strasbourg for a Chelsea player, but it also crucially frees up one international loan slot as well.

Chelsea will have three international loan slots available out of the six permitted under Fifa rules, once Wiley is recalled. However, one will be taken up by Carney Chukwuemeka, when he completes his loan move to Borussia Dortmund, while Deivid Washington is set to join Santos in Brazil on loan too.

AC Milan are interested in João Félix, a move that would need to entail a loan, while Marseille were hoping to sign central defender Aaron Anselmino until the end of the season. At the moment, though, Anselmino’s deal is not progressing, and it may be this is the deal that does not make the cut.

Charlotte Duncker

Wolverhampton Wanderers are anticipating a busy end to deadline day as they look to bring in a centre back and a midfielder.

A £15million deal has been agreed with Reims for the midfielder Marshall Munetsi while a fee of just under £10million should see the defender Nasser Djiga sign from Red Star Belgrade. Both will undergo medicals in Paris in the hope of completing moves before tonight’s deadline.

The head coach Vitor Pereira has been speaking in recent weeks about the need to strengthen in both positions as they look to avoid relegation. Wolves had hoped to sign Kevin Danso, before he made a last-minute change to sign for Tottenham.

Peter Rutzler

Bournemouth are working on a deal to sign the striker Eli Junior Kroupi from sister club Lorient, with a view to loaning him back to the French club.

The 18-year-old forward has been tracked by a number of clubs but Andoni Iraola’s side are still looking to make an agreement work before the deadline. Links with a move to Lyon are wide of the mark.

Bournemouth lost both Evanilson and Enes Unal to injury this month and have been monitoring the market for possible reinforcements. Kroupi is a French youth international, who has represented France up to Under-19 level. He made his professional debut for Lorient in June 2023 and this season, he has made 17 appearances in Ligue 2, scoring nine goals.

Constantin Eckner

Carney Chukwuemeka is currently in Germany to undergo a medical with Borussia Dortmund. Dortmund have been interested in the 21-year-old because of his profile and the fact that midfielder Felix Nmecha recently suffered a ligament tear.

Dortmund will loan Chukwuemeka from Chelsea with the option to buy him. He was born in Austria to Nigerian parents and then later moved to Northampton Town. He joined Chelsea from Aston Villa for a transfer fee of £20million in 2022.

Meanwhile, Dortmund’s bid to sign Rayan Cherki was rejected by Lyon. The German side offered £18.7million. Cherki has been targeted as a replacement for Donyell Malen who signed with Aston Villa three weeks ago. Last summer, Cherki was linked to numerous clubs including Fulham.

An enormous amount of money has already been spent in this transfer window, but despite that the inevitability is that many of the deals simply won’t work out. In fact, the success rate is roughly 50 per cent, according to Hamzah Khalique-Loonat — but why?

Our data reporter has come up with seven reasons in an attempt to explain the phenomenon.

• Read the full piece here

What felt like the dominant story of this January transfer window came to an end yesterday when Marcus Rashford left Manchester United to join Aston Villa on loan.

The forward, who had lost his way at Old Trafford following poor form and a falling out with Ruben Amorim, will be hoping he has better luck at Villa in the final few months of the season.

And it falls to Unai Emery, the Villa head coach, to get the best out of him — our reporter Charlotte Duncker believes the Spaniard’s track record of bringing the best out of players at a crossroads bodes well for 27-year-old forward.

• Read her analysis here

Gary Jacob

Tottenham Hotspur have had a £55million bid rejected for Marc Guéhi, the Crystal Palace centre back. Guéhi has 18 months left on his deal at Palace and has been a long-term target for Spurs.

Newcastle United had several offers rejected for Guéhi last summer, the last being around £70million. Chelsea also showed interest in re-signing Guéhi this month.

Charlotte Duncker

Nottingham Forest are expecting a quiet deadline day which is in contrast to the hectic final days of the window we have seen in previous years from the East Midlands club.

The priority for this window was keeping the current squad together and they have managed to keep all of their key players while also tying down Murillo and Chris Wood to new long-term deals.

A deal for another centre forward has been explored with a bid for Yoanne Wissa rejected from Brentford but club sources have been adamant they would not just go after any player if they couldn’t get their target. For someone to join it would have to be the right fit and as it stands they are not expecting any last-minute business.

Paul Hirst

It could end up being a quiet deadline day for Manchester United despite their struggles. United dropped to 13th in the Premier League after a 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on Sunday.

United lack a goal threat as Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have only scored five Premier League goals between them this season and Marcus Rashford has been loaned to Aston Villa after falling out of favour with the United manager Ruben Amorim.

Still, given that United are very close to their spending limits on FFP rules, they are unable to make a big-money signing today, and talks with Bayern Munich and Chelsea have stalled over Mathys Tel and Christopher Nkunku. United felt that neither deal represented good value for money. They are conscious that a big revamp of the squad will be needed in the summer and if they spent a big transfer fee on a player now, it would impact the summer transfer budget.

The Sporting Lisbon winger Geovany Quenda is among their summer transfer targets. United have brought in Ayden Heaven from Arsenal and the Denmark left back Patrick Dorgu for £29million in this window.

Paul Hirst

Manchester City could still sign a central midfielder before tonight’s deadline. Nico González, the flexible Porto midfielder, is their No1 target but City are unwilling to pay the 23-year-old’s £50million release clause.

City retain an interest in Douglas Luiz but Juventus are insistent that any loan deal must contain an obligation to buy him this summer. City are not willing to do that so it looks like the Brazilian will remain in Turin unless the Italian club change their stance.

They looked into the possibility of signing full back Andrea Cambiaso from Juve but were told that they would need to bid £60million for the Italy international, who will be targeted by City in the summer transfer window instead.

It looks like James McAtee will stay at City for the rest of the season, particularly if they do not sign a midfielder. The academy graduate has attracted the interest of Bayer Leverkusen but Pep Guardiola thinks he can play a role for City in the second half of their season.

Constantin Eckner

Brighton & Hove Albion have confirmed the signing of FC Nürnberg forward Stefanos Tzimas. Brighton, who had scouted the Greek player for quite a while, will pay Nürnberg an initial £20.8million for the player’s services, plus £1.7million in add-ons.

Tzimas will play for Nürnberg on loan until the end of the season, before joining Brighton in the summer.

Peter Rutzler

Chelsea forward Christopher Nkunku is set to stay at Chelsea for the remainder of the season as it stands. Nkunku has attracted interest from Bayern Munich and Manchester United but as of this morning, no deal is in progress. For now, and notwithstanding any late developments, it is likely he will remain at Stamford Bridge.

Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur have withdrawn from the race to sign central defender Axel Disasi from Chelsea. The France international has also been subject to interest from Aston Villa and it is understood Chelsea are open to a loan with no option to buy. Villa’s hopes of landing Disasi were played down yesterday but that may change with a softening of stance by Chelsea.

Villa also looked at João Félix, but he has interest from AC Milan. It is not clear yet whether an agreement for the Portugal international will be possible before deadline but he remains one to watch.

Chelsea currently have five players on international loans, when there is a limit of six. The sixth international loan spot is currently set to be taken by the midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka, who is in Dortmund this morning to complete a loan move for the rest of the season.

Charlotte Duncker, Gary Jacob

James Ward-Prowse will return to West Ham United at the request of Graham Potter, the new head coach. Nottingham Forest agreed to terminate his season-long loan despite the deal having no recall option.

The midfielder only made nine league appearances for Forest after joining the club from West Ham in the summer.

Meanwhile, West Ham have been unable to persuade Celtic to sell Daniel Cummings, the 18-year-old forward, before his contract expires this summer. Should he move to the east London club as a free agent in the summer, Celtic will be due £350,000 in compensation. Cummings made his competitive Celtic debut as a substitute in the 4-2 defeat by Aston Villa in the Champions League last week and has scored six times in the Uefa Youth League this season.

Charlotte Duncker, Peter Rutzler

Unless there is a big turnaround at some point today, Leon Bailey will not be going to Manchester United. It is understood United spoke to Aston Villa about the potential of him moving to Old Trafford in a separate deal to Marcus Rashford’s loan, but no progress was made and no agreement was reached. Sources yesterday said the deal was definitely not going ahead.

Gary Jacob

Mikel Arteta joked that he turned his phone off during Arsenal’s 5-1 win over Manchester City to avoid agents contacting him about players.

Arteta wants to sign a forward who can make an immediate impact in the first team, rather than just a squad player, and the club have been exploring a loan deal for Mathys Tel, of Bayern Munich.

“My phone has been off with the transfer window, forbidden to call me, to text me about any of that, my focus is on preparing for games, and that was the only thing I was interested in,” Arteta said.

• Read more: Audacious Arsenal humiliate Haaland as Man City go down without a fight

Over the weekend, Manchester United confirmed Patrick Dorgu as their second signing of the January transfer window, having also announced that the 18-year-old centre-back Ayden Heaven has joined the club from Arsenal.

Tottenham Hotspur announced the signing of the Lens defender Kevin Danso, while the future of Bayern Munich’s Mathys Tel remains unclear as the likes of United and Arsenal battle for the forward’s signature.

• Catch up with the weekend’s transfer news here

Charlotte Duncker, Tom Allnutt

Having confirmed the arrival of Marcus Rashford on loan from Manchester United late last night, Aston Villa should announce the temporary signing of Marco Asensio next. The Paris Saint-Germain winger completed a medical yesterday and Villa have agreed to cover all of his wages. The club are working on a deal to bring in a centre back following the departure of Diego Carlos and injuries to Pau Torres and Tyrone Mings.

Axel Disasi is one of their targets but Villa were refusing to pay the huge loan fee Chelsea were demanding, making the deal unlikely yesterday. However, there has been a softening of Chelsea’s stance so it is possible a potential deal could be agreed. Tottenham Hotspur had been interested in Disasi but are no longer pursuing a deal.

Villa confirmed this morning that Kosta Nedeljkovic has joined RB Leipzig on loan until the end of the season with Emery wanting him to go out and get more first-team experience.

Peter Rutzler

Ben Chilwell is set to join Crystal Palace on loan for the rest of the season.

Chilwell, 28, is scheduled to undergo a medical today at the South London club’s training ground, before completing a transfer that will bring his exile at Chelsea to a close.

Chilwell has been a peripheral figure under Enzo Maresca, making only one appearance for Chelsea this season, in the EFL Cup against Barrow. Maresca said he does not see Chilwell as a stylistic fit for his system last month, but also admitted he has felt “shame” over his situation and lack of involvement.

Palace have been looking to strengthen their defence after after losing two centre backs. Trevoh Chalobah was recalled from his season-long loan by Chelsea earlier this month, and Chadi Riad has suffered a long-term knee injury. Palace have been focused on finding a left-sided centre back, and Chilwell may be able to cover that position, as well as at wing back in Oliver Glasner’s system.

Both Chelsea and Chilwell’s representatives have been working to find a solution for the England international this month.

Paul Joyce

Everton will complete the loan signing of the Flamengo midfielder Carlos “Charly” Alcaraz today. There is an obligation to buy the Argentinian, formerly of Southampton, for around £17million should he make a set number of appearances.

Jayden Danns could be allowed to leave Liverpool on loan, with Sunderland leading the pursuit of the 19-year-old. The north east club want the forward to bolster their bid for promotion to the Premier League. The striker made his Champions League debut last week.

Another Liverpool youngster, Kaide Gordon, will join Portsmouth on loan. He was recalled from an unsuccessful spell at Norwich City. The midfielder James McConnell is staying in the first-team set-up at head coach Arne Slot’s request.

If Tottenham Hotspur were a PowerPoint presentation to be shown to a wealthy investor, every slide would go down a storm. State-of-the-art training ground, tick, and one of the plushest stadiums in Europe, tick. An inner-London location, absolutely, housing a club with a rich football history, sure, and a modern record of playing in the Champions League, perfect. And what about the numbers? Hefty wages to cover? Big transfers to absorb? Surely some Profitability and Sustainability Rules problems to solve? Nope, none of those.

This is the present Tottenham, built like an asset to sell, more than a team to succeed. Ange Postecoglou is certainly not blameless for Spurs lying 15th in the Premier League, after losing six of their past seven matches — far

On the platform at Frankfurt station on Wednesday, a Tottenham Hotspur fan en route to Hoffenheim had just declared Jürgen Klinsmann to be her preferred successor to Ange Postecoglou when Klinsmann, to the group’s delight, suddenly appeared upstairs, walking across the concourse, presumably also on his way to the game.

If only Postecoglou could work his magic so swiftly, to propel Tottenham up the Premier League table, win a cup, or even just heal one or two of his 11 injured players in time to face Leicester City today at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. When Spurs drew away to Leicester on the opening day of the season, Postecoglou’s side entertained realistic ambitions of finishing in the top four. At 2pm on Sunday, the aim is

A coach under pressure, in charge of a team sitting 15th in the league, fretting about a relegation fight after winning only one of their past ten games. Not only Tottenham Hotspur but Hoffenheim too, their opponents in the Europa League on Thursday and perhaps the only side in the competition to have endured a worse start to the year than Spurs.

Hoffenheim were even three down at half-time last week, just as Tottenham were against Everton on Sunday, even if the level of opponent gave Christian Ilzer’s side something of an alibi. It was Bayern Munich who hammered them 5-0, with Harry Kane making it three in a game the local newspaper, RNZ, described as im Debakel. Hoffenheim have also been knocked out