The New York Times

Fabio Paratici’s first official spell at Tottenham Hotspur lasted just under two years. His second will last just over three months.

Paratici’s departure to Fiorentina after this transfer window closes in early February will bring an end to his four-year association with Spurs. First, as managing director of football from June 2021 to April 2023, before he was brought down by the plusvalenza scandal. Then, while he was banned from football, for two and a half years as a consultant. And this autumn and winter, for roughly 16 weeks, as one of the club’s two sporting directors.

Football executives appear two times, as Karl Marx might have put it. The first as tragedy, the second as farce.

It has been a tumultuous time at Tottenham, a year of extreme highs and lows, where more changed than anyone might have thought possible. So perhaps it is fitting that 2026 has started this way. With the much-vaunted new football structure — Paratici and Johan Lange working simultaneously as sporting directors — lasting from October 15 until the end of the winter window. Even Nuno Espirito Santo, who Paratici appointed as head coach in June 2021, managed four months before being sacked.

In recent months, sources in the football industry have wondered how long this new balance would hold for, how long Lange or even Thomas Frank would last with Paratici back in an official position of power at the club. Paratici did not see Brentford boss Frank as the right fit for Tottenham, and wanted his own man in place on the bench. But the clear view of the Tottenham hierarchy is to stick with their new head coach. And, to the surprise of many, it is Paratici, rather than Lange or Frank, who will be first out of the door.

When Paratici was brought back in October and placed at the heart of Spurs’ new structure, the hope was that he would be able to hit the ground running in this transfer window. Chief executive Vinai Venkatesham explained the division of labour between Paratici and Lange in a video interview for the club, saying that the Italian would be focused on “players, the transfer window and the loans and pathways department”.

The hope, for many fans at least, was that Paratici would do again for Spurs what he had done in previous windows. That he would fly his sleigh into Hotspur Way and unload some late Christmas gifts for Frank to unwrap: a midfielder who could move the ball forward, maybe a reliable goalscoring striker. They would go straight into the team. And the decision to bring Paratici back would suddenly look astute and far-sighted.

Maybe that will still happen. But these next few weeks will be Paratici’s last at the club. After the window shuts, his sleigh will not be returning to north London. He will be delivering players to Fiorentina in the summer instead. It adds an extra potential distraction to what is already one of Spurs’ most significant midseason transfer windows in recent years. The team looks desperately in need of reinforcements after an unconvincing first half of the 2025-26 campaign. And the majority-shareholding Lewis family, under more scrutiny since their dismissal of chairman Daniel Levy in September, need to convince the fans that they have the ambition to deliver success on the pitch.

In time, there will be more questions about Spurs’ strategy in future windows. In one sense, the Paratici restoration was required because of Levy’s dismissal. For almost 25 years, Levy had taken so much responsibility for transfer negotiations that his departure in September left an experience gap. There were questions in the football industry about who at the club would get their hands dirty in the market. So Paratici’s return felt like an acknowledgement that Tottenham needed his contacts book and his ability to get deals done. When his re-appointment was announced in October, Venkatesham hailed his “fantastic network”. One of the many questions for 2026 is how recruitment is going to work post-Levy and post-Paratici, with a new director of football operations set to join.

What makes Paratici’s sudden departure even more dramatic is the fact that his arc over the past three months was already surprising enough.

When Levy was sacked, the conventional wisdom was that Paratici’s four-year connection with Tottenham was over. Because Levy was always his patron at Spurs. It was Levy who reorganised the club to bring him in as their first (and only) ‘managing director of football’ in June 2021. It was Levy who stuck by him when he was banned. And it was Levy who leant on him as a consultant during his wilderness years, seeking his advice in the transfer market and also regarding managers. So once Levy was told to clear his desk, it felt like Paratici would have to look elsewhere for work, too.

But all of those expectations were confounded by what actually happened.

On October 15, less than six weeks after Levy’s dismissal, Paratici was unveiled as one of Spurs’ two new sporting directors. After two and a half years acting as a consultant, he was back in a big, visible role; one of the public faces of the club. It was a striking return to favour, Paratici working for a new patron, just weeks after his original backer had been ruthlessly removed.

It was not a universally popular move. There have always been staff at Tottenham who thought that the scandal which brought down Paratici tarnished the club’s reputation, especially when they were so keen to stick by him at the start of 2023. So some were aghast this autumn when the club decided to re-attach themselves to Paratici in such a visible way.

It left a series of questions hanging over his restoration. Was this the start of a new era at Spurs, one with Paratici and Lange working in harmony, bringing their complementary skills together? Or would there only be room for one of the two of them? What did this mean for Lange’s data-led focus on signing younger players? Would the club go back to a more traditional contacts-led approach to recruitment? (One associate once said that, during a transfer window, Paratici would speak to leading agent Jorge Mendes “15, 20 times” a day.)

What was clear was that the people now in charge at Tottenham had reached the same conclusion as Levy did about Paratici: that he was worth having around.

While it was initially Levy’s plan to bring Paratici back, the new hierarchy signed off on the plan after the former’s departure. And so in November, Paratici was in the Bahamas with the Lewis family (along with Venkatesham and Lange) for a series of planning meetings, and a social event on patriarch Joe Lewis’ yacht. It felt like the clearest sign yet of Paratici’s return to prominence under the revamped leadership. And it got people wondering what his plans for Spurs in 2026 would be.

The fascinating question, of course, is why Paratici would walk out on Spurs so soon after rejoining them. He loves the Premier League, and dividing his time between Italy and London. There has always been speculation about a return to his homeland: at the start of last summer, he was close to taking over as sporting director at Milan, before they went for Igli Tare instead. Ultimately, his personal circumstances have changed and some sources believe that is why he is going back to Serie A.

There is no disputing that Paratici will have far more power at Fiorentina than he has at Tottenham. He will be assuming total control of the Florence club’s football activities. And there is a theory that Paratici has found in recent months that he could not quite get both hands on the steering wheel at Spurs. He used to have quite a lot of leeway under Levy — he was even allowed to appoint Nuno — but the club have a different structure now, with two sporting directors and a CEO.

If Paratici hoped he would have total autonomy and control at Tottenham, then that was never on offer. As mentioned earlier, he did not think Frank was the right fit for Tottenham, but the position of the hierarchy supporting the Dane has been very clear in recent weeks. If Paratici thought he was getting total control, he should have known what he was walking into in the new structure.

The sudden conclusion to this story, this curtailed final act, means that Paratici will never get to write a final chapter of his time at Spurs.

He still has a clear legacy at the club, in the players that he has signed (or advised on their signings) over the years. Cristian Romero, Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur were all very good acquisitions, arriving for far less than market rates. Pape Matar Sarr and Destiny Udogie have developed well. Guglielmo Vicario, James Maddison and Micky van de Ven were all important to Ange Postecoglou’s side and last season’s Europa League triumph. Some will argue that Paratici signed some good individuals but oversaw the decline of the level of the whole group. Others will point out that the bigger strategic decisions were out of his hands.

Paratici never quite achieved what was hoped for in 2021 — that he would bring “Juventus standards” to Tottenham.

Now that he is about to disembark from the ship again, responsibility will lie with others to start turning it around.

Tottenham Hotspur are closing in on a deal to sign Atletico Madrid midfielder Conor Gallagher.

Spurs have made a bid for worth €40million (£34.7m), which is expected to be accepted — while the midfielder is keen on the move.

Aston Villa also held a strong interest in Gallagher, however no agreements were reached amid their desire to maintain financial discipline.

The 25-year-old England international has spent 18 months in Spain after joining Atletico from Chelsea in a £38m deal in the summer of 2024.

He was a regular under Diego Simeone in his first season, registering 50 appearances and four goals.

Minutes have been more sporadic this campaign, Gallagher making only four starts in La Liga — although he was named in the starting line-up for the Supercopa de Espana loss to Real Madrid on Thursday.

Gallagher came through Chelsea’s youth system and made 95 appearances for the senior side after loan spells at Charlton Athletic, Swansea City, West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace. The Athletic reported in the summer of 2025 that Palace were interested in re-signing him.

He was included in the England squad for the last three major international tournaments under Gareth Southgate but has not been called up by current head coach Thomas Tuchel this season.

Gallagher’s profile key for Spurs

Analysis by Jack Pitt-Brooke

Tottenham have been introduced in Conor Gallagher for years, ever since he was coming towards the end of his Chelsea contract and Ange Postecoglou saw him as the perfect man to add energy into their midfield. But Spurs could never do the deal, despite interest that spanned multiple windows, to Postecoglou’s frustration.

But Spurs have never really needed Gallagher as much as they do now. Their midfield has ground to a halt in recent years, suffering from under-investment and injuries to key players. Too many of the signings have not been ready, or quite good enough. Too much pressure has been placed on Rodrigo Bentancur, who is not as good as he was, and is now out for the next three months with a hamstring injury.

Tottenham desperately need someone who can set the tempo and drive forward in the middle of the pitch. A more experienced partner for Archie Gray, a more progressive alternative to Joao Palhinha.

Pape Matar Sarr will be back from the Africa Nations Cup soon but he cannot do it all himself. Gallagher would bring many of the football qualities Spurs need right now but also some of the mental qualities and experience, having proved himself at Chelsea and Atletico Madrid in recent years. It would be a statement of intent at a time when Tottenham need one.

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur is expected to be out for around three months with a hamstring injury sustained in their Premier League game against Bournemouth last Wednesday.

Bentancur, 28, was forced off in the latter stages of Tottenham’s 3-2 defeat by Bournemouth. Head coach Thomas Frank confirmed at full time the midfielder had sustained a hamstring injury and that initial assessments had indicated it appeared significant.

Spurs are expected to look to the transfer market to supplement their midfield in the wake of Bentancur’s diagnosis, sources briefed on the situation say.

Bentancur has made 28 appearances in all competitions this season, starting 17 of his side’s 21 Premier League matches. He signed a new long-term contract with the club in October.

The Uruguay international joins a Spurs long-term injury list that already includes James Maddison, Mohammed Kudus and Dejan Kulusevski. Richarlison was also forced off during Saturday’s FA Cup defeat to Aston Villa with a suspected hamstring injury, while Lucas Bergvall missed the match due to a problem picked up against Bournemouth. Striker Dominic Solanke, meanwhile, returned following four months out with an ankle injury.

Spurs are 14th in the Premier League and return to action against West Ham United on Saturday.

Bentancur injury exposes under-investment

Tottenham have been left even weaker in the middle of the pitch by the news that Bentancur will require surgery on a hamstring injury.

The Uruguayan has been one of Spurs’ most important players so far this season, starting the season partnering Joao Palhinha in the middle and, more recently, Archie Gray.

Even though Tottenham have rarely dazzled in the middle of the pitch, Bentancur has still been busily trying to hold everything together. Spurs’ reliance on Bentancur has been a sign of the under-investment in the midfield in recent years.

Now that Bentancur is out for the next few months, Palhinha and Gray will have to be the starting pair, at least until Pape Matar Sarr comes back from international duty — Senegal play their Africa Cup of Nations semi-final against Egypt on Wednesday. And Tottenham will surely need another experienced addition in the middle of the pitch.

Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur went into the final week of the 2018-19 season on different footballing planets.

A 10-game winning streak brought Villa from the bottom half of the Championship table and into the play-offs, and the club’s destiny essentially came down to their final game of the season. After three seasons in English football’s second tier, the 1982 European Cup winners invested heavily to secure promotion, and could have faced financial trouble had they failed to prevail over Derby County at Wembley on May 27.

Tottenham were at their apex. The team may not have been quite as good as a year or two before, but after the dramatic late comeback against Ajax in the Champions League semi-final second leg, the biggest game in the club’s history and the chance to redefine their future awaited.

Villa, who were largely on a similar footing to Spurs through the century’s first decade, collapsed in the 2010s. But while the Premier League grew into a global behemoth, Tottenham rose under Harry Redknapp and Mauricio Pochettino to become a member of the reclassified “Big Six”, a financial grouping as much as a footballing one, setting up a life in England’s most impressive football stadium.

Heading into their final games of that season, the suggestion Villa would achieve parity with Spurs again any time soon, let alone surpass them within seven years, would have sounded ludicrous. As it transpired, Villa won and Tottenham lost that week. Their fortunes have largely mirrored those results ever since.

As Villa waltzed through a passive Spurs midfield for the first goal, and flicked and tricked their way into the box before Morgan Rogers tucked his shot into the bottom corner for their second, the difference in trajectory could not have been any more stark. Tottenham were improved in the second period, but could not repair the damage, with Villa winning 2-1 and progressing into the fourth round. Villa, who sit third in the Premier League on their way to the Champions League for the second time in three years, have left Tottenham behind.

They are not the only ones. Newcastle United, who looked set for relegation before the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund bought the club and invested heavily in the January 2022 transfer window, have overtaken Tottenham on the pitch. While it may seem less sustainable in the long-term, Brentford, Fulham, Sunderland, Brighton & Hove Albion, Everton and Crystal Palace are above Frank’s side in the Premier League table, and several of those have also qualified for the fourth round of the FA Cup. Aside from last season’s Europa League success, Spurs have been outperformed by clubs lower in football’s financial food chain for longer than can be justified.

In that respect, Unai Emery is performing a minor miracle at Villa. Evann Guessand was the only player to join the Birmingham club for a fee in the summer, with profit and sustainability regulations restricting the Spaniard’s ability to strengthen. Zero wins and one goal in their opening five league matches raised questions outside the club, but for how he’s elevated them since joining in October 2022, he’s earned absolute trust from the board and the fans. That faith has paid dividends, with Villa winning 19 of their last 23 matches. In turn, he’s one of few “managers” in the head coach era — a title reflective of the authority he wields.

For Frank, whose target to compete on four fronts is now down to the toughest two (Premier League and Champions League), the job seems to be getting more difficult with every game.

Richarlison pulled up with a hamstring injury in the first half, adding to an injury list which includes Dejan Kulusevski, who will not be assessed again for another three to four weeks, Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Bergvall and Mohammed Kudus, who looks set to be sidelined until after the March international break.

While Frank says he is aligned with club chief executive Vinai Venkatesham and sporting directors Johan Lange and Fabio Paratici (who is set to leave after this January window), Cristian Romero’s Instagram post calling for “other people” to speak indicates frustration with the club’s direction, and perhaps the pressure on Frank to answer for those above him, from within the dressing room.

The dressing room, desperate for reinforcements, has its first on the way, with 19-year-old full-back Souza on the verge of completing a move from Brazilian side Santos. He could prove to be a long-term success for the club, but proven quality is necessary to bolster and improve a middling squad.

“Oh, yeah, we all know there’s only one way to have everyone happy,” Frank said in his post-match press conference. “That is performing consistently and winning enough games. That’s the only way.

“And we could see, second half especially, the energy, how they feed off each other, the players and the fans. It was a fantastic experience to be in the middle of it. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get that fantastic comeback, which sometimes kick-starts momentum. And that’s what we are working very hard to do.”

And how Frank needs momentum. The second half brought encouragement, with Spurs seemingly more comfortable attacking the opposition, allowing individuals like Xavi Simons to shine in the chaos, than defending their own goal. Dominic Solanke’s return from a long-term ankle injury brought a huge cheer from the home support, a timely boost of energy with Richarlison seemingly set for a period on the sidelines.

Above him, the onus is on the club’s hierarchy to put right the issues that have contributed to Tottenham falling so far behind their third-round opponents. But with West Ham United and Burnley on the horizon, two eminently winnable games that can push Spurs into a respectable league position, Frank’s focus must solely be on the present.

Tottenham Hotspur’s co-sporting director Fabio Paratici is set to complete a move to Fiorentina at the start of February, once the January transfer window has closed.

The Athletic reported on December 21 that Fiorentina had approached Paratici about a surprise return to Italy, just over two months after his reappointment at Spurs.

Paratici is to continue his role at Spurs during the winter window, which closes for English clubs on Monday, February 2 at 7pm GMT, before moving to Fiorentina to head up their football operations.

The 53-year-old has been involved in what is expected to be Tottenham’s first incoming of the winter window, the signing of Brazilian left-back Souza from Santos. Spurs have agreed a fee with the Brazilian club for the teenager.

Personal reasons are believed to be a factor in the timing of Paratici’s decision to leave Spurs so soon after his return.

Paratici only officially resumed working for Spurs in October following the end of his 30-month ban from football activity, taking up a role alongside Johan Lange as co-sporting director. He was formerly Tottenham’s managing director of football from June 2021, having been appointed by former Executive Chairman Daniel Levy.

Paratici was one of 11 former Juventus executives banned from Italian football after being accused of financial malpractice, and this suspension was extended worldwide by FIFA in March 2023. The ban related to the inflation of transfer fees for accounting purposes during his time at Juventus.

The Italian officially resigned from his role at Tottenham in April 2023 following the rejection of his appeal against his worldwide ban, which was partially reduced, enabling him to work in football in a reduced capacity. During the interim period, he worked on a consultancy basis for Spurs, advising Levy and the club on transfers.

Earlier this year, Paratici held talks with AC Milan before they appointed Igli Tare as sporting director in May.

Fiorentina’s former sporting director Daniele Prade left by mutual agreement in November following a poor start to the season and they are yet to replace him. They are currently 18th in Serie A, with just two wins from 20 league games this season.

Paratici’s return was the most recent high-profile development in a year of change at Tottenham, with Vinai Venkatesham appointed as CEO in April and Thomas Frank replacing Ange Postecoglou as head coach in the summer. The same month, long-serving Executive Director Donna-Maria Cullen stepped down from her position on the board, and in September, Levy was removed as Spurs chairman after 24 years at the helm of the club.

Paratici spent 11 years as Juventus’ sporting director prior to his first spell at Spurs, overseeing one of the most successful periods in the Italian club’s history, winning nine Serie A titles and reaching the Champions League final twice.

Following a dispiriting period that produced just one win in six Premier League games, an FA Cup third-round tie against Aston Villa offered Tottenham Hotspur a chance to breathe new life into their campaign.

A cup run last season — all the way to glory in the Europa League — rescued a dismal 2024-25. So could they use this match to inject some impetus into Thomas Frank’s first season in charge?

Unfortunately for Spurs and their head coach, they came up against a Villa side which had won 12 of their previous 14 games in all competitions and which have designs on finishing this campaign with a trophy of their own.

Emi Buendia put the visitors ahead with a powerful drive at the end of a well-worked team move and Morgan Rogers doubled their advantage in first-half stoppage time.

That might have broken the home team, but Spurs actually dominated for long periods in the second half and showed the kind of fight that will have heartened Frank.

Wilson Odobert’s excellent low finish after 54 minutes prompted a long period of Spurs pressure but they could not find a way through against a resilient Villa side, who held on to reach the fourth round. To add to Tottenham’s problems, forward Richarlison limped off with an injury early in the first half.

Jack-Pitt Brooke, Elias Burke and Conor O’Neill analyse the key talking points from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

What happened to Spurs’ love affair with the FA Cup?

There are many different ways to show Spurs’ decline in recent years, but one of the clearest is in the FA Cup.

Tottenham used to be synonymous with this competition, but they have not won it since 1991. Under Harry Redknapp and Mauricio Pochettino, they would often reach semi-finals but then fail at the penultimate hurdle. Now they do not even do that.

Tottenham have not gone beyond the fifth round of the FA Cup since 2018, a quite remarkably poor record for one of the bigger teams in the country. But in the past seven seasons before this one, all of their exits were in the fourth or fifth round. This is the first third-round exit since 2014, when Tim Sherwood was in charge.

Spurs desperately needed a cup run this year. They are already out of the League Cup, they are going nowhere in the Premier League and the serious end of the Champions League will be beyond them. This would have been their only route to excitement, their only chance to compete for something and try to rebuild some of that much-needed unity between players, fans and coach.

Now that must wait for another year.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

Squad-depth issues? Villa’s fringe players deliver again

Villa’s squad is the thinnest of the Premier League’s three title challengers, but those on the fringes continue to make their mark.

Unai Emery showed how seriously he takes this competition, making just four changes from the side that drew 0-0 in midweek against Crystal Palace. Among those who came in, Donyell Malen and Buendia both, once again, strengthened their case to start more often.

Malen has more goals as a substitute than any other player in the league this season (three), and deputising for Ollie Watkins at centre-forward, he was lively, linking play and running the channels.

He provided a superb assist for Buendia’s opener, which came from a sweeping Villa move through the middle of the pitch. Receiving the ball at the edge of the area, Malen jinked inside and played a disguised reverse pass for Buendia to slam home.

Buendia, who has twice scored from the bench in the league, then provided an assist of his own, this time a delicate backheel for Rogers after some excellent wide play from Malen. He was unlucky not to add another goal in the second half, after Tottenham defender Pedro Porro cleared his effort off the line.

Emery will want greater depth added in January as Villa fight on three fronts, but performances like this suggest the squad is more than capable of stepping up.

Conor O’Neill

Can Spurs take hope from their second-half display?

The strange thing about watching Tottenham this season is that so many of their performances have been so bad that it is easy to get over-excited about occasional better spells. When the general level of the team is so poor, even competence looks like brilliance.

That said, the second-half fightback in this match was still one of the better halves of football Spurs have produced recently. They raised the tempo, started winning the ball back high up the pitch, created chances and got back into the game.

Odobert scored early in the second half and Spurs continued to take the initiative. Xavi Simons was excellent, helping his team to drive through the middle of the pitch. Odobert and Mathys Tel kept Villa pinned back down the sides and Randal Kolo Muani showed more presence than normal up front. Spurs, for once, looked like a competent, unified, hard-working team.

Of course, it was not enough and Spurs still lost the game. But it made for a very different second half, and a different feel at the end. This will not go down as one of the most painful, embarrassing defeats of their season. It will actually go down as one of the less bad ones.

And maybe — if you take this second half in an optimistic light — it gives a basis to build on.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

How damaging might Richarlison’s injury be for Spurs?

After missing 45 matches for club and country last season, Richarlison’s fitness record has been one of the very few bright sparks under Frank. With Dominic Solanke unavailable for most of the season and Kolo Muani still adjusting to English football, at least the Dane has had the Brazilian fit and available to rely on to lead the line.

Unfortunately, however, after Richarlison pulled up holding his hamstring inside the Villa box in the 27th minute, it appears he is set for a period on the sidelines again.

After Brennan Johnson departed for Crystal Palace on January 2, Tottenham have lost their current top goalscorer for this season and last season’s leading marksman in just over a week. Add Son Heung-min leaving for LAFC in the summer, and Frank is now without Spurs’ top goalscorers from the 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons. Solanke did make his return as a second-half substitute, offering some encouragement, but a side already short on goals can ill-afford to lose any more.

It adds to an already crowded treatment room. Mohammed Kudus has been ruled out until after the March international break after sustaining a quad injury against Sunderland last weekend. He was joined on the sidelines by Lucas Bergvall and Rodrigo Bentancur, who missed the Villa game after sustaining injuries in the 3-2 defeat by Bournemouth on Wednesday.

Tottenham were much better in the second half, with Kolo Muani helping to connect attacks from the striker position, but attacking reinforcements are desperately needed.

Elias Burke

What next for Spurs?

Saturday, January 17: West Ham (Home), Premier League, 3pm UK, 10am ET

What next for Villa?

It has been a grim week for Tottenham Hotspur, littered with unwanted setbacks and distractions, and suggesting their unhappy season could quickly descend into further misery.

Spurs squandered leads against Sunderland and Bournemouth, and lost Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Bergvall and Rodrigo Bentancur to injuries.

Kudus is set to be sidelined until March having pulled up in Sunday’s 1-1 home draw with Sunderland, two days after his understudy, Brennan Johnson, was sold to Crystal Palace.

Adding insult to injury, the 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth on Wednesday was bookended by the sight of head coach Thomas Frank drinking out of an Arsenal-branded coffee cup, and defenders Pedro Porro and Micky van de Ven testily clashing with travelling supporters. Then came club captain Cristian Romero’s quickly-edited outburst on social media, appearing to accuse the club’s hierarchy of “lies”.

On Friday, the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust (THST) released a statement, expressing frustration over “the embarrassment” in Bournemouth and the lack of leadership from senior figures at the club, who “should address these issues publicly and through direct communication with fans”.

Defeat at home to Aston Villa in the FA Cup’s third round on Saturday evening would add to the gloom and increase the apathy of hopelessness which is rapidly gripping large swathes of the fanbase.

Last winter, Spurs were eliminated from both domestic cups, including a 2-1 defeat at Villa in the FA Cup’s fourth round, in successive games four days apart in early February amid an unenviable injury list and spiralling Premier League form – but even so were considered favourites for the Europa League, which they of course went on to win.

This year, they are still in the Champions League, sitting 11th in the 36-team table with two of the eight rounds of league-phase games to play later this month, but nobody gives them a hope in hell of winning that.

Frank’s innocent mistake of sipping his pre-match brew from a cup left at the Vitality Stadium by Arsenal when they played there four days earlier was meaningless, but the incident still threatens to dog the Dane, only adding to the sense that he can do no right in the job he took last summer.

It was the kind of misstep that could only happen to an already-floundering general, akin to a hapless MP sitting on the wrong side of the House of Commons, and has been gleefully seized upon by Arsenal fans.

Frank has far bigger problems, however, and Romero’s post-match outburst on Instagram was further evidence of the defender’s emotional and unpredictable behaviour.

The post questioned why “other people” at the club were not fronting up, claiming it “has been happening for several years” and adding that they “only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies”.

He later edited the post to remove the line about “lies”.

Frank has described Vinai Venkatesham as “one of the best communicators I’ve ever met” but supporters have heard relatively little from the club’s new chief executive, save for a series of chats with in-house media. Even then, his most recent interview with club channels was in October, lauding the return of Fabio Paratici as co-sporting director.

As for Paratici, he has now been offered a return to his homeland with Fiorentina and was conspicuous by his absence when Frank listed Spurs’ leadership team to reporters on Friday – “Johan (Lange, the other sporting director), Vinai and I are very aligned, ownership is very aligned,” he said – casting further doubt on the Italian’s future. Paratici, incidentally, regularly spoke to the media while at previous club Juventus, but has been seen rather than heard during his two spells at Tottenham.

Meanwhile, the true power at the club — majority owners the Lewis family and non-executive chairman Peter Charrington — remain shrouded in mystery, their vision and strategy for Spurs largely opaque, save for a few one-liners distributed via a third party. They are probably still inconspicuous enough to pass most supporters in the street without prompting a backward glance.

“We reiterated to the club that we believe the club leadership should address these issues publicly and through direct communication with fans,” read THST’s statement on Friday. “We stressed that fans need to hear directly from the club leadership the ambition for the football club for this season, for next season, and for the foreseeable future.”

Silence from the top was a feature under former executive chairman Daniel Levy before his shock firing in September but this was supposed to be a new, more open era, characterised by fresh ambition and accountability. Instead, the hierarchy has changed but the frustrations of the supporters, and indeed the players, remain the same.

Romero has taken aim at his paymasters before, saying in December 2024, after a defeat to Chelsea when Levy was still in office, that “it’s always the same people responsible” for the problems at Spurs.

Frank confirmed on Friday that Romero had been spoken to rather than fined and, from the outside looking in, the club are appearing to treat the Argentina international with kid gloves, perhaps wary of alienating one of their few real stars.

Frank’s command of the dressing room has already been questioned, given his side’s listless performances and the incident when he was blanked by Van de Ven and full-back Djed Spence following another defeat to Chelsea in November, and now his captain’s outburst and the club’s response to it threaten to further undermine his authority.

He alluded to Romero’s questionable suitability as skipper on Friday, describing the 27-year-old World Cup and two-time Copa America winner as a “young leader”. Romero’s Instagram post came just a couple of weeks after he was sent off late in the 2-1 home defeat against Liverpool for kicking out at Ibrahima Konate – an act of petulance which hampered Spurs’ chances of snatching a draw against meek opposition.

He will miss the cup game against Villa after admitting to an FA charge of “acting improperly by failing to leave the field of play promptly” following that dismissal, resulting in an additional one-match ban.

Frank selected Romero to wear the armband after Son Heung-min’s summer departure to Major League Soccer but might reasonably point out that he had little choice; there are few other compelling captaincy options in this squad.

It is clear that Spurs miss Son, both as a unifier in the dressing room and a conduit with fans, while the absence of Levy as a lightning-rod for supporter dissatisfaction over the past few months has also increased the scrutiny on Frank and his players, and left a hole at executive level that the club are still working to fill.

Tottenham will inevitably need time to recover from such high-profile departures, but if there is hope that their current malaise can be quickly reversed, it may come in this weekend’s opponents.

Unai Emery has transformed Villa’s fortunes since his appointment in October 2022 without dramatically overhauling the squad, taking them from the bottom three to the top three and demonstrating that a visionary coach who improves players can quickly make up for perceived shortcomings both above and below him in the chain of command.

If Frank is to prove himself to be that man for Spurs, he cannot afford too many more missteps — unfortunate or otherwise.

Tottenham Hotspur have an agreement in place to sign left-back Souza from Brazilian club Santos.

The deal is yet to be completed though the two sides have agreed a fee for the 19-year-old, who is expected to undergo a medical in the coming days.

The Athletic reported on January 4 that Tottenham had their first bid worth £8million ($10.7m) rejected by Santos.

In Souza’s Santos contract, there is a release clause worth €60m for Brazilian teams and a release clause worth €100m for overseas clubs.

Souza came through Santos’ youth ranks and made his top-flight debut in May of last year. He made 24 Brazilian Serie A appearances last season and has also made 12 appearances for Brazil’s under-17 side, including five appearances during the Under-17 World Cup in November 2023.

Tottenham have been keen to add a left-back to their squad. Since arriving at the club in 2023, Destiny Udogie — who has missed the last six games with a hamstring injury — has been the club’s first-choice left-back, with Ben Davies used more frequently as a centre-back. Djed Spence, traditionally a right-back, has often played on the left side of defence while Archie Gray and Micky van de Ven have occasionally deputised at the position.

Tottenham are next in action on Saturday when they host Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round.

The Athletic returns after the winter recess to look again at some of the emerging academy talent that may have a chance at appearing in a senior first team match near you.

Sometimes our scouting missions bear little fruit, but just before Christmas, a look at an exciting young winger at Tottenham Hotspur proved bountiful, certainly in terms of goals.

Tynan Thompson is a winger being spoken about in highly positive terms, and he certainly demonstrated why in a UEFA Youth League victory against Slavia Prague last month.

The player

Name: Tynan Thompson

Club: Tottenham Hotspur

Date of birth: April 17, 2008 (17)

Position: Winger

The back story

Born in Croydon, south London, Thompson began his footballing education with Lambeth Tigers before joining Tottenham’s under-12s.

An exciting, right-footed winger who plays off the left, Thompson has made steady progress through the ranks over the last five years to become one of the more exciting prospects emerging from Spurs’ academy.

He signed his first professional contract last summer and has been on the first-team bench twice (the Carabao Cup victory against Doncaster Rovers in September and the Champions League defeat at Paris Saint-Germain in November) but has yet to be handed his senior debut.

For the youth teams, he has come to prominence this season, with 11 goals in 16 appearances across Premier League 2, the EFL Trophy, the FA Youth Cup and the UEFA Youth League.

His club displays have attracted international attention, leading to five caps for England’s combined under-17s/18s side.

He has been especially impressive in the Youth League, an under-19 competition that mirrors the senior Champions League, scoring seven goals in six appearances and just four starts, including three in the game The Athletic watched.

What we saw

It is not often a player scores a hat-trick and is overshadowed, but it was Luca Williams-Barnett, previously profiled in The Athletic’s Prospects series, who got the headlines against Slavia Prague last month.

Williams-Barnett, playing as the No 10, scored five times in the 9-1 victory at Tottenham’s Hotspur Way training ground in Enfield, but Thompson also produced an impressive display that promises much for the future.

Already taller than 6ft (over 183cm), he looks physically powerful, despite his tender years, but his stature is accompanied by incredibly quick feet.

He was afforded plenty of space as Tottenham played most of the game at pace on the transition, and picked off the Slavia defence repeatedly when attacking fluidly, and he was always eager to pick up the ball, turn and attack the defenders.

His physical presence also made him effective defensively at set pieces and even though the game was rather one-sided, he didn’t shirk his out-of-possession duties, supporting left-back Harry Byrne.

He also pressed effectively from the front. He didn’t overcommit or dive in, but decelerated to his man, blocked off angles and forced play into Tottenham’s traps.

But it was in attack that Thompson truly shone. Although right-footed, he looked to manipulate the ball with his left to make himself less predictable when taking on players and wasn’t afraid to go on his left on the outside of defenders, as his finish for Tottenham’s first goal demonstrated.

As Tottenham broke forward down the right, he held back on the left in open space and when Callum Olusesi picked him out, he performed a right-footed stepover before picking out the opposite bottom corner with his left.

It was also clear he liked to come off the touchline when he could and often popped up into central areas to support main striker Leo Black, who was operating like a false nine to make space for such movement, especially for Williams-Barnett.

It was from such movement inside that Thompson picked up his second, using his pace to outsprint a lax Prague defence and reach a long ball from goalkeeper Dylan Thompson before coolly finishing with his right foot.

His hat-trick goal in the second half again demonstrated his finishing prowess as he was played in by Black into the left channel and opened up his body to slide a right-foot finish past the ‘keeper.

Though Williams-Barnett was the standout performer, Thompson was a close second.

It would be interesting to see how he performs against a less open, more entrenched defence and whether his decision-making and sharp passing could help Tottenham open them up. Premier League defences rarely leave you such space to run into.

There was some variety in the finishes he produced and he seemed keen to get into goalscoring areas off the flank and be involved, which shows an appetite for the game.

As always, there will be areas for improvement that determine his future as he matures, but Thompson is one of the encouraging crop of youngsters coming through at Tottenham that may stand a chance, based on this display and others in recent months.

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank says Mohammed Kudus and Rodrigo Bentancur are set for spells on the sidelines.

Kudus, 25, sustained a leg injury during the 1-1 draw with Sunderland on January 4. Frank said the attacking midfielder is not expected to return until the March international break, which starts in the week commencing March 23.

Bentancur, 28, was substituted towards the latter stages of the 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth on Wednesday, while fellow midfielder Lucas Bergvall had also been withdrawn earlier in the second half.

“Lucas is being assessed today,” Frank said at his press conference on Thursday ahead of their FA Cup third-round tie at Aston Villa. “We’ll know more later today with him.

“Same with Rodri (Bentancur). Rodri is a hamstring injury, looks like a bigger one, unfortunately. We don’t know the timeframe, that we also will know later.

“Kudus is, unfortunately, a bigger one to the quad. So that’s one where we expect him back after the March international break.”

The Danish coach also provided an update on attacking midfielder Dejan Kulusevski. The Sweden international is yet to feature this season after undergoing knee surgery in May 2025.

Frank had said in September that the 25-year-old had a “good chance” of returning from his injury before the end of 2025.

On Thursday, he said: “The latest on Dejan Kulusevski is that we know it’s a complicated injury. If there’s one person that can accelerate that, it’s Dejan. He’s a top pro. Got a top mentality.

“The most important thing is to remove the pain in the knee. He got an injection to help that 10 days ago. We’ll know in three to four weeks if it’s settled, and when it’s settled, hopefully, he’ll be on the grass. And from there, we’ll see what’s happening.”

Frank added Cristian Romero would not be fined by the club after he appeared to criticise the club’s hierarchy, accusing “other people” at the club of not speaking out during their poor run of form and telling a “few lies” when things were going better on the pitch.

“He’s our captain, he’s not been fined,” Frank said.

“I think there’s a lot of ways to deal with different situations. Chosen to have a good conversation with him, understand where he stands. Had that internally, and that’s everything I have to say.”

Kudus, who joined Spurs from West Ham United last summer in a deal worth around £55million ($74.7m), has scored three goals and provided six assists in 26 games for his new side this campaign.

Bentancur has been a consistent presence in Spurs’ midfield this term. He has made 28 appearances and appeared in all but one of the north London side’s Premier League games. Bergvall, 19, has made 24 appearances in all competitions for Spurs. A concussion sustained against Chelsea on November 1 ruled the Sweden international out of two games, while a groin injury ruled him out of the New Year’s Day goalless stalemate at the G-Tech Community Stadium against Brentford.

Spurs are 14th in the Premier League with just two wins in their last 12 league games.

After the Bournemouth defeat, defenders Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro were seen in an apparent discussion with members of the travelling Spurs support at the Vitality Stadium.

“I said last night, I think our away fans were very good throughout the game, they were backing us, singing, supporting, exactly as they should do, and we hope they would do,” Frank added. “Everyone will be happy when we win more games. It’s as simple as that.”

Reinforcements needed for Frank and Spurs

Analysis from Tottenham correspondent Elias Burke

This is terrible news for Frank, who is now without a natural right winger in the first-team squad. Frank experimented with natural striker Randal Kolo Muani on the right wing for the 1-1 draw against Sunderland on Sunday, and started Lucas Bergvall there in the Bournemouth defeat. Bergvall impressed in a more narrow role, essentially lining up as a right-sided central midfielder with the ball, but an injury, which appeared to be to his thigh, may keep him on the sidelines for the weekend’s game against Villa at a minimum.

In September, Frank said there was a “good chance” Kulusevski would return before the end of 2025, so news that there has been further complications in his rehabilitation from a knee injury sustained in May is a blow. There is an urgent need for the club to explore right-wing options in the transfer window, with Frank asserting that the recruitment team, headed by co-sporting directors Fabio Paratici and Johan Lange, is working “very very hard” to add to Frank’s squad.

And with a “bigger” injury to Bentancur’s hamstring, they may need to recruit in midfield, too. Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr are meeting in the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals tomorrow, representing Mali and Senegal respectively. Sarr was a shining light in the opening games of the season, and Frank is doubtless desperate to have the 23-year-old back as a midfield option. Still, owing to the long-term struggles in building possession through midfield, many believe strengthening Frank’s midfield options is a priority, even before Bentancur’s injury.