The Times

It took about an hour for the first ­Manchester United fans to call it a day and head for the exits, chuntering as they went.

Some of those who saw it out until the bitter end booed and they had every right to. Few would have criticised them if they had left earlier, much earlier in fact, given the rubbish that their team had served up.

The first-half performance at Old Trafford was the worst of Erik ten Hag’s reign, one in which Tottenham ­Hotspur racked up 12 shots. That Spurs beat André Onana only once before the half time whistle was a testament to the goalkeeper’s performance.

The rest of the United team lacked composure, fight, alertness and ultimately, skill. Save for a decent

Arsenal are closing in on a £29.8million deal to sign Mikel Merino from Real Sociedad, the Spain midfielder who has entered the final year of his contract.

The 28-year-old, who was part of his country’s Euro 2024-winning squad, can play as a holding midfielder or No8 on the left of midfield, where he spent the majority of his time at Sociedad.

Merino, who is 6ft 2in, joined Newcastle United in 2017, initially on loan from Borussia Dortmund, but a year later joined Sociedad. He has agreed personal terms to move to north London.

This summer Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, has signed Riccardo Calafiori for up to £42million, joining David Raya, whose move from Brentford was made permanent for £27million. Arteta also wants an attacking

Richarlison has said that he does not want to leave Tottenham Hotspur to move to a club in Saudi Arabia because his “dreams are bigger” than his desire for a huge salary.

Tottenham want to offload the Brazil forward, who cost about £50million from Everton in July 2022 and has three years left on his contract. He was on Tottenham’s pre-season tour to South Korea but has been recovering from a hamstring injury since May.

Richarlison, who is wanted by Al-Ahli, told ESPN Brasil that he had already made his decision and that moving to Saudi could affect his chances of playing for Brazil at the World Cup in 2026. “There has been an offer but my dream of playing for the Brazilian Seleção and

Tottenham Hotspur are increasingly confident of ending their search for a striker by signing Dominic Solanke before the start of the season.

The forward has given the green light to a move after enjoying his best campaign last season, when he scored 19 league goals for Bournemouth. He managed a combined nine league goals in the two previous campaigns for the club in the Premier League.

Tottenham, who begin their campaign away to Leicester City a week on Monday, would break their transfer record if they met Solanke’s £65million release clause and the dealcould be partly funded by Richarlison’s potential exit.

The Brazil forward is wanted by Al-Ahli but would need to be persuaded to move to Saudi Arabia. He said at the end of

Tottenham Hotspur is in talks to sell a minority stake in a deal that could value it at up to £3.75 billion and pave the way for Joe Lewis and his family to sever ties with the Premier League football club.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is seeking an investment that values the club at between £3.5 billion and £3.75 billion, including debt. While the terms of any deal have not been finalised, City sources expect Spurs to sell about 10 per cent. The club is being advised by bankers from Rothschild on the sale.

Tottenham wants to raise fresh capital for new player signings and to help fund the development of an academy for its women’s team, as well as a 30-storey hotel next to

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is set to sign for Marseille as Ange Postecoglou continues to remodel his Tottenham Hotspur squad.

Marseille have agreed to sign Hojbjerg initially on loan for a year, with an obligation to make the transfer permanent in a deal worth €20million (about £16.8million). Tottenham have also inserted a sell-on clause into the deal, meaning they will take a portion of the midfielder’s next transfer fee.

Hojbjerg has attracted interest from several clubs, including Napoli and Atletico Madrid. Marseille’s new head coach, Roberto De Zerbi, has spoken to the 28-year-old personally to convince him to move to France.

Hojbjerg joined Tottenham from Southampton for about £15million in 2020 and was at his best under Antonio Conte. But he has been an awkward fit in

Arsenal hope to announce the signing of Riccardo Calafiori on Monday evening after they agreed a deal with Bologna for the Italy centre back worth £33.7million plus £4.2million in add-ons.

Jakub Kiwior has been reluctant to move in the opposite direction and the Poland centre back hopes for interest from AC Milan or another Italian club.

Arsenal are in talks to offload Eddie Nketiah, the forward, to Marseille, who have also considered Hwang Hee-chan, the Wolverhampton Wanderers forward.

The north London club are also the frontrunners to sign Mikel Merino, the Spain midfielder who is expected to leave Real Sociedad after he entered the final year of his deal. He has also been linked with Barcelona.

Speaking at Arsenal’s pre-season training camp in Thousand Oaks,

Tottenham Hotspur have offered Aston Villa £20million for Jacob Ramsey in a deal that would involve Giovani Lo Celso moving in the opposite direction.

The north London club are trying to take advantage of Villa potentially needing to sell players before the end of the month to stay within the Premier League’s financial rules.

Villa rejected the bid as they value the 23-year-old midfielder at between £40million and £50million and he has three years left on his contract. Ramsey has done best when given freedom to dribble into the opposing area, helping to score or make 13 league goals two seasons ago, but he contributed only two in the past campaign, which was cut short by a toe injury.

Lo Celso, the midfielder who has

Rodrigo Bentancur could face a ban for suggesting that South Korean people all “look the same” as his Tottenham Hotspur team-mate Son Heung-min, with the FA considering whether to charge the midfielder.

Bentancur was being interviewed on the Uruguayan television programme Por la Camiseta last week when the host asked him for a Tottenham player’s shirt. Bentancur replied “Sonny’s?” before adding: “It could be Sonny’s cousin as well because they all look the same.”

After Bentancur issued a public apology on Saturday, Son confirmed on Thursday that he had spoken to his team-mate and that they were “past this” and “united”.

Bentancur could still face punishment from the FA, which is aware of the incident. The governing body is looking into the matter to decide

Former Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris discusses leaving for Los Angeles FC, his enduring bond with Mauricio Pochettino and Harry Kane’s penalty miss against him at the 2022 World Cup