The New York Times

Tottenham Hotspur have reached an agreement to sign Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United in a deal that could reach £100million ($133m).

The north London club stepped up their pursuit of the Italy international late last month by initiating club-to-club contact with Newcastle.

They have now struck a deal which, if completed, would be a new club-record transfer eclipsing the potential £85m they have already agreed to pay West Ham United for fellow midfielder Mateus Fernandes.

Tottenham will pay an initial £92.5m for Tonali, 26, with an additional £7.5m in proposed add-ons based on multiple Champions League qualifications.

Spurs have already enjoyed a busy summer with Andy Robertson and Marco Senesi arriving as free agents and Jan Paul van Hecke joining from Brighton & Hove Albion for £52m.

Tonali and Fernandes will join a deep Tottenham midfield that currently includes Conor Gallagher, Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Matar Sarr, Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall, though the Sweden international has informed the club of his desire to seek a new challenge elsewhere.

Tonali made 53 appearances for Newcastle in all competitions last season, scoring three times, as they finished 12th in the Premier League and reached the last-16 of the Champions League.

He moved to the club from Milan in July 2023 for a fee in the region of £60.5m, but received an immediate 10-month suspension in October of that year after being found guilty of breaching rules on gambling by the Italian Football Federation.

Tonali subsequently missed the remainder of the season and Italy’s 2024 European Championship campaign.

Since his return in August 2024, he has made 110 appearances for Newcastle, scoring 10 goals and proving 10 assists, forming a strong partnership with club captain Bruno Guimaraes in midfield.

Guimaraes was the subject of a verbal offer from Arsenal worth less than £60m earlier this week which was rejected.

Tonali is not featuring at this summer’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico after Italy failed to qualify.

Statement signing for Spurs

Analysis by Tottenham Hotspur correspondent Elias Burke

Tonali is among the very best central midfielders in the Premier League. Having finished 17th in successive seasons, Tottenham beating competitors, including Manchester City, to sign him at a club-record fee is another strong signal of intent that the Lewis family is serious about contending next season and beyond after agreeing another club-record deal to sign Fernandes yesterday.

Having shone for Newcastle last term in various roles in central midfield, Tonali appears a strong fit for Roberto De Zerbi as he looks to revamp Tottenham’s squad in his image. He is technically secure, an impressive athlete and an ambitious passer, which should help Tottenham’s protracted issues with central progression.

He also shares a strong personal connection with De Zerbi, having progressed through the Brescia academy, the town where the Spurs head coach was born and raised.

With four signings in defensive areas, Fernandes and Tonali provide steel and plenty of technical quality to their midfield. With attacking reinforcements still on the agenda, indications suggest that their business is far from done as the club looks to return to contending for Champions League qualification.

Optics bad, but this is Newcastle’s financial reality

Analysis by Newcastle United correspondent Chris Waugh

When it comes to the pure optics of Newcastle agreeing to sell Tonali to Spurs, having already sold Anthony Gordon to Barcelona in May and having lost Alexander Isak to Liverpool last summer, then they are really not good.

Spurs finished 17th in each of the past two seasons and, while Gordon and Isak leaving was frustrating, that was also understandable. Tonali opting to move to a rival, who finished lower in the table and are completely rebuilding, does not send out encouraging noises.

However, this is the financial reality Newcastle are operating within. Gordon had to be sold for Newcastle to try and comply with UEFA’s financial rules, having already accepted a fine for breaching them previously.

Tonali’s sale will allow Newcastle to reinvest, with a goalkeeper, at least one full-back, two midfielders and an attacker on the agenda for head coach Eddie Howe.

Losing Tonali and Gordon before a first-XI signing has arrived is not great. But Newcastle are confident this gives them the capacity to significantly strengthen the squad now.

Time will tell. They need incomings and quickly to turn the mood.

Brighton & Hove Albion have agreed a deal to sign Luka Vuskovic from Tottenham Hotspur in a deal worth up to £50million.

Tottenham will receive an initial fee of £46m, with add-ons potentially taking it to £50m. They will also retain a 20 per cent sell-on clause as well as matching rights for any potential future sale.

Vuksovic, 19, is currently at the World Cup with Croatia who play Portugal on Wednesday. The centre-back will undergo a medical after Croatia’s World Cup campaign is over.

The Athletic reported on June 19 that Brighton had made an improved offer for Vuskovic after previously making a £30million ($39.7m) bid.

Spurs and Brighton have already done business this summer, with fellow centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke swapping the south coast for north London in a £52m deal.

Van Hecke has joined a Spurs centre-back contingent which includes Micky van de Ven, Kevin Danso, Marco Senesi, Cristian Romero and Radu Dragusin. Spurs felt they could not offer Vuskovic the first-team minutes he would desire.

Vuskovic spent last season on loan at Bundesliga club Hamburg, where he made 30 appearances in all competitions and scored six goals. He has five years remaining on his Tottenham deal, which he signed after officially joining the club last summer. Vuskovic, who has not yet appeared for Spurs, agreed to join the north London club from Hajduk Split for £12m ($16m) in September 2023, though the move did become official until he turned 18.

Brighton, meanwhile, have already completed a deal for one centre-back, with Pascal Struijk joining from Leeds earlier this week.

Explaining Spurs’ sale

Analysis from football writer Seb Stafford-Bloor

It’s natural to ask why. Tottenham pulled off a coup in signing one of the great centre-back prospects of the coming generation, only to see him leave within 18 months, before he has even played a game for them.

But there is some sense here. It’s clear from Spurs’ summer transfer activity so far, which has included two incoming centre-backs in Jan Paul van Hecke and Marcos Senesi, that playing time would be scarce for Vuskovic. And with the player keen on remaining a starter — as he was in Hamburg — and not eager for a further loan, a move to a club of Brighton’s standing where there is a defensive vacancy is far from illogical.

Having agreed to sign Mateus Fernandes from West Ham for roughly £85m and with further additions planned, this is also a valuable sale for Spurs.

But there are some questions. Vuskovic has so far proven most comfortable in a back-three, whereas Fabian Hurzeler’s Brighton almost exclusively played with a back-four last season. How will that work? Similarly, Vuskovic’s lack of acceleration was noted in the Bundesliga and while he has worked on that flaw and is still very young, the speed of the Premier League will demand a further adjustment.

But what a prospect. He might be among the most physical dominant teenage defenders the modern game has seen and will not struggle at all with that aspect of English football. It’s also not difficult to imagine him heading towards the very top of the game in the next few years, for considerably more money than Brighton are paying now.

It is time, at last, for Tottenham to be serious.

The club will have broken their transfer record if they go on to complete the signing of Mateus Fernandes from West Ham United. The Portuguese midfielder has a progressive profile that Spurs have been lacking for several seasons and so Fernandes’ arrival, for a fee of £85million ($112.7m), would hopefully cure a range of technical problems and make Roberto De Zerbi’s side more potent, more dangerous and — ultimately — more equipped to compete in the Premier League.

But the abstract worth of this moment is more valuable.

The club’s fans have been here before, refreshing social media and begging for updates about a transfer saga that, deep down, they knew would swing in someone else’s direction. Think of Sadio Mane before he joined Liverpool. Eden Hazard before he left Lille and moved to Chelsea. Or, more recently, Eberechi Eze and Antoine Semenyo last summer. They eventually became Arsenal and Manchester City players.

Those situations were not all the same. But if there is a commonality, then it was in knowing — or at least suspecting — that during the hours that mattered most, when it was time pay up and mean business, Spurs would come up short.

They would always have a good reason for doing so. It could be rationalised as deference to the wage structure or another club’s financial advantage, but the result would be the same: no player, no improvement, no steps forward.

Well, not quite no player. One of Tottenham’s worst tendencies over the past few decades was to identify a player, be outmuscled in their attempt to sign him, and then settle for someone cheaper and worse. Less aiming for the moon and landing in the stars, more wanting Mateo Musacchio and instead signing Federico Fazio.

Or nearly signing Joao Moutinho, but actually buying Lewis Holtby six months later.

It was always fine, OK, better than nothing — acceptable because others had it much, much worse.

Deep down, though, those moments were accompanied by the knowledge that it was a corner cut and that, because modern football teams are so good at finding and exploiting each other’s weaknesses, it would come at a cost within one of those games that decides a season.

A botched clearance. A missed header. A pass not seen or a chance not taken.

The point is not to denigrate the players from Tottenham’s past, but to express frustration with the habit with which they are associated — of wanting to be seen as a big club, but without having to actually behave and spend like one. But this is a big-club move. At least in terms of being a deal proportionate to the grandeur of the stadium Tottenham call home and the prices they charge for admission. Those sums matter and on this occasion they add up.

And it’s still June. Spurs have long had the reputation of dalliers. They have always wanted the best deal and if that has come at the cost of a few weeks or even a month, then they were willing to accept that inconvenience. If it meant losing the player altogether then, at times, they would suffer that too.

There’s merit to such prudence and to sensible moves within an industry that does not always behave logically. But that mindset needs to incorporate the realities of Premier League football. It starts in August, not after the first international break in September. New signings always, always benefit from spending pre-season with their new team-mates. And, most importantly, the game is played on the pitch, where the good teams are those that take what they want, when they want it.

Sometimes the price is just the price. It’s not always possible to get the player and to win the deal. Spurs appear to understand that now.

This summer, they have already spent over £50m on Jan Paul van Hecke, who had one year left on his Brighton contract. They have probably overspent. But what is that perception of value actually worth? Is it more precious than an excellent centre-back?

No signing is ever a guaranteed success and Fernandes, like Van Hecke and anyone else moving this summer, will be subject to all sorts of variables that nobody can foresee.

But it is the trying that matters most here — the intent. Supporters are often accused of just wanting success. It’s not true. What they really want is the opportunity to feel as if they are on a journey towards something. That’s why people keep going back, buying tickets or getting up at stupid times in the morning to watch games. All they require in return is evidence that the club want that better tomorrow in the same way.

Tottenham have not always done that and they are not necessarily doing that now. Last season was very nearly an historic catastrophe and the arrival of a single midfielder does not guarantee a long-term change of thinking. But this is different enough to be welcome, and it’s a new way to feel at the end of a story which, with Manchester United lurking, seemed horribly familiar.

Tottenham Hotspur have won the race for West Ham United for midfielder Mateus Fernandes.

Spurs have made the highest offer to West Ham — believed to be worth a £85million (€98m, $112m) guaranteed fee, according to multiple sources briefed on the deal — and the 21-year-old has decided to join them.

The Portugal international has attracted interest from multiple clubs, including Manchester United, but is now set to move to north London after West Ham stood firm on their valuation.

For United, the transfer fee and the player’s salary went higher than they were willing to pay, and they will now shift their focus to other targets after seeing success from remaining patient in the window last summer.

Fernandes was one of West Ham’s standout performers during a difficult 2025-26 campaign, making 36 league appearances, scoring three goals and providing four assists. His West Ham contract has another four years to run, having joined from Southampton for around £38m in August 2025.

If completed, Fernandes will become Spurs’ fourth signing of the summer, with Andy Robertson and Marco Senesi arriving as free agents and Jan Paul van Hecke joining from Brighton & Hove Albion for £52m.

He will join a deep Tottenham midfield that includes Conor Gallagher, Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Matar Sarr, Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall, though the Sweden international has informed the club of his desire to seek a new challenge elsewhere. Yves Bissouma will officially leave the club when is contract expires at the end of this month, while Joao Palhinha’s loan spell has concluded and a permanent deal has not yet been agreed.

Fernandes made his senior debut against the United States in April 2026, although he was subsequently left out of Roberto Martinez’s squad for the World Cup.

A move to Spurs will see Fernandes join his third English club in the last two years. He made 36 appearances for Southampton, scoring twice and providing four assists, after arriving from Sporting CP in the summer of 2024. Southampton were relegated at the end of that season, the same fate West Ham suffered a year later.

Fernandes move represents a new Spurs

Analysis by Tottenham correspondent Jay Harris

Spurs have made a few eye-catching moves this summer but signing Fernandes would truly signal they have entered a new era.

Tottenham’s current club-record signing is the £65million they paid Bournemouth for striker Dominic Solanke in August 2024. Throwing their weight around to sign Fernandes for £85m ahead of their rivals would never have happened during Daniel Levy’s 24-year spell as executive chairman. Spurs are showing a ruthlessness and efficiency in the transfer market which was rarely seen under Levy who preferred to wait until the end of the window to complete deals and was reluctant to overspend on fees and wages.

Spurs have retooled their defence over the last few weeks with the signings of Van Hecke, Senesi and Robertson. Now, their attention has turned to central midfield, which has caused them problems for several years. Conor Gallagher’s arrival in January provided them with much-needed experience and the capture of Fernandes would inject extra quality.

Spurs had a lot of creativity issues last season, partially with James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski suffering serious knee injuries and missing most and the whole campaign respectively. Fernandes created 37 chances in the Premier League during 2025-26, which was more than any other Spurs player apart from full-back Pedro Porro (53). The 21-year-old has demonstrated over the last two seasons with Southampton and West Ham respectively that he is capable of influencing games at this level, and he should keep developing.

Apart from winning the Europa League in 2025, the last two seasons have been miserable for Spurs. Their bullish and ambitious activity in the transfer market so far suggests they are heading in a positive direction under De Zerbi.

Leeds United have verbally agreed a deal worth £20million ($26.4m) with Brighton & Hove Albion for the sale of Pascal Struijk.

The terms of the transfer were agreed on Saturday, with Brighton set to send the offer formally to Leeds.

Multiple sources with knowledge of the deal, who spoke anonymously as they were not authorised to publicly, have confirmed the fee agreed is £20m. Struijk’s contract at Elland Road was due to expire in June 2027, which meant Leeds risked losing the 26-year-old for nothing in 12 months if he was neither sold nor tied down to new terms this summer.

Struijk departs after eight and a half years in West Yorkshire, during which time he has made 196 appearances for Leeds. The Ajax academy product played a part in each of the club’s Championship titles of 2019-20 and 2024-25.

Brighton, meanwhile, had been seeking defensive reinforcements after selling Jan Paul van Hecke to Tottenham Hotspur for £52m earlier this month. Fabian Hurzeler’s side have also made multiple bids for Spurs centre-back Luka Vuskovic, who is at the World Cup with Croatia.

What now for Leeds?

Daniel Farke’s side will now try to fill the void left in their squad by Struijk’s departure. The Dutchman was United’s only natural, senior, left-footed centre-back and they will now need to recruit someone in that mould.

United were very keen to retain Struijk. They pitched him a new contract, which would have kept him at the club through the peak years of his career, but sources close to the player made it clear he was ready for a fresh challenge.

Illan Meslier is the only other departure Leeds have confirmed this summer, while, earlier this week, The Athletic reported Harry Wilson has agreed the terms on a contract with the club, which starts on July 1.

Tottenham Hotspur have reached a total agreement with goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky over a new and improved contract.

The new deal will tie the Czech to Spurs for the next five years, with the option of a further 12 months. Kinsky’s existing contract, which he signed when he joined the club from Slavia Prague in January 2025, still had five years to run but his new deal recognises his importance to the club and new status as number one goalkeeper.

Kinsky, 23, was one of the integral players in Tottenham’s Premier League survival push last season, starting all seven games under Roberto De Zerbi and helping to keep Spurs in the top flight.

Spurs have signed free agent Martin Dubravka this summer as a new experienced understudy, with the future of long-standing number one Guglielmo Vicario in doubt.

After joining Spurs, Kinsky was initially the back-up to Vicario, playing sporadically in the 2024-25 season when the Italian was injured.

Last season Kinsky only started twice for former head coach Thomas Frank in the League Cup, and was thrown into the first team by the Dane’s successor Igor Tudor when Spurs went to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last 16 first leg. But he repeatedly lost his footing and was taken off for Vicario after 17 minutes with Spurs already 3-0 down.

But when De Zerbi took over, and Vicario required hernia surgery, Kinsky became first choice for the run-in and produced a series of impressive performances to help Spurs leapfrog West Ham United to stay in the Premier League.

An incredible redemption story for Kinsky

Analysis by Tottenham correspondent Jay Harris

What a remarkable turnaround. Everybody winced when Igor Tudor dragged Kinsky off the pitch after 17 minutes of Tottenham’s embarrassing defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. Kinsky slipped on multiple occasions and was at fault for Atletico racing into a 3-0 lead. At the time, it felt like his career with Spurs was over.

Within three months, the former Czech Republic Under-21 international has changed the narrative. The 23-year-old was given an opportunity to redeem himself sooner than expected after Guglielmo Vicario’s hernia surgery. Kinsky started five games in a row under Roberto De Zerbi and then held into his place even when Vicario recovered in time for Spurs’ final two league fixtures.

Kinsky’s quality on the ball has never been in doubt but he stood out with some superb saves against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leeds United. Kinsky’s right-handed stop to deny Sean Longstaff from scoring what would have been a stoppage-time winner for Leeds was crucial to Spurs eventually avoiding relegation by two points.

Kinsky told a group of reporters, including The Athletic, after the final day victory over Everton that the hardest part of the season was spending “six months on the bench”. A new contract is a deserved reward and suggests he might have permanently replaced Vicario as the No 1. The Italian has two years left on his contract and The Athletic has previously reported there is uncertainty over his long-term future. The best option for Spurs might be to sell the Italy international and put all their faith in Kinsky.

The Lewis family have injected another £100million ($132m) into Tottenham Hotspur.

The injection, via the purchase of new shares in ENIC Group Ltd., will provide fresh working capital for the club, rather than being specifically for the summer transfer market.

The investment is the fourth such equity injection in recent years, and is a similar mechanism to the investment of £100m in October last year.

The Athletic has approached representatives of former executive chairman Daniel Levy, who was deposed in September last year but still owns 29.88 per cent of ENIC via a family trust, whether he participated in the injection.

The news comes after Spurs finished the season with clear promises from the club hierarchy that there would be more investment in the summer following a second consecutive 17th-place finish in the top flight.

Peter Charrington, appointed as non-executive chairman by the Lewis family following Levy’s dismissal last year, wrote at the end of last season that the family “will provide the stability and investment needed at every level to move us forward.”

So far this summer, Tottenham have already been busy in the transfer market, signing Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton and Hove Albion in a £52m deal, and capturing free agents Marcos Senesi, Andy Robertson and Martin Dubravka. Pedro Porro has also been given an improved new contract, while The Athletic has reported that Antonin Kinsky is in talks over an improved deal.

Spurs are also targeting big-money moves for West Ham United midfielder Mateus Fernandes and Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali.

Explaining the latest cash injection

Analysis by football finance writer Chris Weatherspoon

What was an outlier is now a theme.

This latest £100m from ENIC is Spurs’ third cash injection from shareholders inside the past 18 months, and a fourth in four years. Since May 2022, £332.5m in owner funding has flowed into the club.

That is a stark departure from the two decades prior. Then, net funding from ENIC totalled just £24.6m, with Spurs being run, to all intents and purposes, off its own back. Huge debt was taken on board to build the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but the club was — and still is — required to service the payments.

The sharp shift toward a benefactor-type funding model is one born of both circumstance and necessity.

Levy’s abrupt departure in September 2025 saw the Lewis family assume control in north London, and repeated nine-figure injections — £100m was also provided last October — reflect that changing of the guard. It will doubtless be held up as a sign of the family’s ambition, and their desire to move very far away from two consecutive 17th-place Premier League finishes.

Yet anyone paying attention will not be surprised at this development. It was inevitable. The Athletic has repeatedly detailed Spurs’ precarious cash position, a point only underlined when the club’s 2024-25 accounts were published in March.

Alongside the October injection, Spurs also pulled forward a reported £90m of its Premier League distributions in a factoring arrangement, whereby they received cash upfront from a lender in exchange for taking a haircut on the payments when the Premier League makes them. It is an arrangement employed fairly regularly elsewhere but never before at Spurs, and, alongside the ENIC money, spoke to a club in need of funds.

That stems from hefty operating costs and big recent transfer spending, which have in large part not translated to on-field success. Between the summer of 2019 and the end of last season, roughly £900m net has been spent on transfers.

At the end of June 2025, a net £243m was owed to other clubs even before £159m was spent last summer. Already this close season, £52m has gone on Van Hecke, and the free transfers of Robertson and Senesi were hardly small additions to a wage bill which has previously been held at a level south of England’s elite. Big money moves for Fernandes and Tonali have been mooted and would need to be funded.

With no Champions League football this coming season and Premier League earnings mired at the wrong end following two awful domestic showings, ENIC had a choice: invest to improve, or make do. The route selected should be of little surprise.

Tottenham Hotspur have opened discussions with Antonin Kinsky over a new improved contract.

The Czech goalkeeper was one of the integral players in Tottenham’s Premier League survival push last season, starting all seven games under Roberto De Zerbi and helping to keep Spurs in the top flight.

Now the club are hoping to tie him down to a new contract on better terms, one that would recognise his importance to the club and his new status as Spurs’ number one goalkeeper. Tottenham have just signed Martin Dubravka as a new experienced understudy, with the future of long-standing number one Guglielmo Vicario in doubt.

Kinsky joined Spurs in January 2025 from Slavia Prague on a long-term deal that still has five years left to run. Kinsky was initially the back-up to Vicario, playing sporadically in the 2024-25 season when the Italian was injured.

Last season Kinsky only started twice for former head coach Thomas Frank in the League Cup, and was thrown into the first team by the Dane’s successor Igor Tudor when Spurs went to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last 16 first leg. But he repeatedly lost his footing and was taken off for Vicario after 17 minutes with Spurs already 3-0 down.

But when De Zerbi took over, and Vicario required hernia surgery, Kinsky became first choice for the run-in and produced a series of impressive performances to help Spurs leapfrog West Ham United to stay in the Premier League. If Kinsky’s future at the club is secured with a new deal, it points to a summer departure for Vicario.

An incredible redemption story for Kinsky

Analysis by Tottenham correspondent Jay Harris

What a remarkable turnaround. Everybody winced when Igor Tudor dragged Kinsky off the pitch after 17 minutes of Tottenham’s embarrassing defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. Kinsky slipped on multiple occasions and was at fault for Atletico racing into a 3-0 lead. At the time, it felt like his career with Spurs was over.

Within three months, the former Czech Republic Under-21 international has changed the narrative. The 23-year-old was given an opportunity to redeem himself sooner than expected after Guglielmo Vicario’s hernia surgery. Kinsky started five games in a row under Roberto De Zerbi and then held into his place even when Vicario recovered in time for Spurs’ final two league fixtures.

Kinsky’s quality on the ball has never been in doubt but he stood out with some superb saves against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leeds United. Kinsky’s right-handed stop to deny Sean Longstaff from scoring what would have been a stoppage-time winner for Leeds was crucial to Spurs eventually avoiding relegation by two points.

Kinsky told a group of reporters, including The Athletic, after the final day victory over Everton that the hardest part of the season was spending “six months on the bench”. A new contract is a deserved reward and suggests he might have permanently replaced Vicario as the No 1. The Italian has two years left on his contract and The Athletic has previously reported there is uncertainty over his long-term future. The best option for Spurs might be to sell the Italy international and put all their faith in Kinsky.

Tottenham Hotspur are in advanced talks to sign goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

The 37-year-old is a free agent after Burnley confirmed on June 10 that he will leave the club following the expiration of his contract at the end of this month.

Tottenham have been looking to add a reserve goalkeeper, with Brighton & Hove Albion’s Jason Steele among the names considered. Guglielmo Vicario has spent the majority of his three seasons in north London as first-choice goalkeeper though underwent hernia surgery in the spring. Antonin Kinsky started Spurs’ last seven games of the season, helping the side avoid relegation, and retained the starting role after Vicario returned for the team’s final two matches.

Vicario’s future at Tottenham is uncertain, with Kinsky a candidate to assume the No 1 position full-time. Academy graduate Brandon Austin has served as the team’s third-choice goalkeeper.

Dubravka made 35 Premier League appearances for Burnley last season, keeping four clean sheets, but was unable to prevent the side from finishing 19th in the table and being relegated to the Championship.

He signed a one-year deal at Turf Moor in August after spending seven-and-a-half years with Newcastle United. Dubravka had spells with clubs in his native Slovakia, Denmark and the Czech Republic before joining Newcastle on loan in January 2018. The move was made permanent that summer and he went on to feature 179 times on Tyneside. He had a brief spell on loan at Manchester United in the first half of the 2022-23 campaign.

Dubravka has been capped 60 times by Slovakia.

Aston Villa are in talks to sign Flamengo full-back Emerson Royal.

Villa are yet to submit a formal offer but have discussed the parameters of a deal. At this stage, Flamengo would be reluctant to sanction a sale of the former Tottenham Hotspur defender as the club’s other right-back, Guillermo Varela, is representing Uruguay at the World Cup. Flamengo are due to resume their Brazilian Serie A season on July 22, shortly after the tournament’s conclusion.

The Athletic reported earlier this month that finding an alternative to Matty Cash at right-back is again a priority for Villa during the window.

Villa want someone to take the load off and provide competition for Cash, and Royal is considered a more affordable option as the club attempts to adhere to financial restrictions.

Both deputy right-backs, Andres Garcia and Kosta Nedeljkovic, are expected to depart Villa this summer while young right-back Triston Rowe, 19, is likely to leave on loan once more, having spent last season on loan at Ligue 2 side Annecy.

Royal, 27, joined Flamengo from Milan last summer. His contract with the Brazilian club runs until 2028.

The 10-time Brazil international spent three years in the Premier League with Tottenham, where he made 101 first-team appearances after joining from Barcelona in 2021.

He departed Spurs for Milan in 2024 for an initial fee of €15million plus €3m in add-ons.