Sport Witness

There were a number of players PSG wanted to part ways with during the current transfer window, and Tottenham Hotspur appear to have been interested in more than one.

Spurs made real efforts to sign Randal Kolo Muani from the Ligue 1 side, including sending an offer to PSG after a meeting with the French club. Ultimately, Juventus edged ahead of them and could even announce the player’s arrival today.

L’Equipe report Spurs are also keen on Milan Skriniar, with Aston Villa waiting in the wings to pounce. According to the French newspaper, Tottenham have a ‘real desire’ to sign the defender, with their interest presented as more along the road than that of Aston Villa.

PSG are ready to see the back of the 29-year-old, but they want a loan with a purchase option which can be made obligatory if certain ‘easy-to-exercise’ conditions are met along the way.

What type of formula Tottenham or Aston Villa would want isn’t made clear.

Skriniar moved to PSG from Inter Milan in July 2023, having been considered one of the best defenders around during much of his time with the Serie A side.

Should Tottenham or Aston Villa be able to secure a bargain deal, and then get the player back to his best, it could turn out to be a really useful transfer.

Galatasaray and Fenerbahce are also keen, with the latter thought to be willing to pay €15m. Salary could be an issue, given Skriniar arrived at PSG as a free agent.

Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain made attempts to sign Cédric Soares when he was at Southampton.

That’s according to the right-back himself, and he revealed this during a chat with DAZN in Portugal and Notícias ao Minuto have relayed his comments.

The 33-year-old joined Southampton from Sporting in 2015 and PSG and Tottenham wanted to secure his services in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Cédric was part of Portugal’s squad that won the European championship in 2016. The Ligue 1 winners wanted to snatch him away from Southampton that summer and Spurs tried to secure his services a year later.

Mauricio Pochettino was then in charge at the north London club and had Kieran Trippier as first choice right-back. Despite this, Cédric insists Spurs wanted another fullback.

“I had negotiations with PSG after Euro 2016 and I didn’t leave [Southampton] and then the following year, in the summer, I had negotiations with Tottenham [laughs] and I didn’t leave,” he said.

“They had Trippier at the time, they had a good right-back, but they wanted to bring one more.”

The defender hasn’t made clear why the transfer to PSG and Tottenham didn’t go through, and the latter ended up signing Serge Aurier from the Paris club in 2017.

Cédric joined Tottenham’s local rivals Arsenal in 2020 and spent four years at the Emirates before leaving them as a free agent at the end of last season. He’s still to find a new club since parting ways with the Gunners.

On Tuesday, L’Equipe reported Tottenham Hotspur have made advances in their efforts to sign Paris Saint-Germain’s Randal Kolo Muani. It was also stated Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has held talks with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.

The same newspaper then explained Tottenham made an offer to sign the 26-year-old on loan with an obligation to buy.

Later that day, Gianluca Di Marzio reported Juventus are keen and the striker will make a decision between Tottenham and the Serie A side on Wednesday morning.

A fresh report from L’Equipe claims the Old Lady agreed a deal with PSG on loan with a purchase option. The France international had asked time to think because Tottenham are also keen on securing his services.

The report claims Kolo Munai made a ‘quick’ decision to join the Turin club and will carry out medical tests with Juve on Wednesday.

RMC Sport journalist Fabrice Hawkins took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to state that Juve have agreed a deal with the French club.

Tottenham now face stern competition from Juventus for Randal Kolo Muani, with the Italian side increasingly confident of signing the striker.

That’s according to Gianluca di Marzio, who say ‘confidence increases’ at the Italian club. They are pursuing Kolo Muani this month alongside several other clubs in Europe.

He is now set to make a decision on his future, with an exit from Paris Saint Germain guaranteed. That decision is set to be made on Wednesday morning.

The race for his signature has heated up quickly, with several sides in Europe moving for him. Tottenham are one of them and have been linked since last month.

The situation has been developing since that point and a report today stated an official bid had been made. This was a loan offer with an option to buy. To be clear, this was not an obligation, and any future transfer would be in Tottenham’s hands.

Negotiations for the striker are being dealt with by Daniel Levy, who has good connections with his counterparts at the Ligue 1 side.

They’re not the only ones in the mix, though. Juventus are also keen and according to Di Marzio, ‘confidence increases’ at the club about the transfer. In other words, the Italians think they’re going to win the race.

That could mean bad news for Tottenham, although it all depends on Kolo Muani, who will make his decision tomorrow morning.

Ajax youngster Rayan Bounida has confirmed his entourage are talking to the Dutch club about an extension, after Tottenham Hotspur scouted him last month.

Voetbal Primeur cover comments from the midfielder today made to ESPN about his future and Ajax’s attempts to keep him.

Bounida is one of the rising stars of Ajax’s fabled youth academy. The 18-year-old has been earning rave reviews after managing 26 goals and nine assists in 67 at various youth levels for the Dutch club to date.

That has already sparked interest in him. Chelsea were credited with an interest four years ago and a report stated Tottenham had scouted him.

That report explained they were free to talk to him from January 1st as his contract with Ajax is due to expire in the summer. He, therefore, is free to negotiate a pre-contract agreement for the summer this month.

That is naturally of concern to Ajax, who know Premier League sides can offer big wages to tempt the youngster away. VP state that they face a challenge to renew his current deal. Their financial situation doesn’t support the ‘particularly high salary’ he was given when he signed from Anderlecht in 2022.

They’re making an attempt to keep him, though, with Tottenham and others seemingly circling around their top talent.

“My management is now busy with the club,” he said.

“That’s what I’ll stick to. With Ajax, I meant. But that’s what I’ll stop at. Like I just said, I want to leave it at that. They are working on it.”

Earlier today we covered claims from France, specifically from French newspaper L’Equipe, which stated Tottenham Hotspur are advancing with their efforts to sign Randal Kolo Muani from PSG this month.

Multiple Premier League clubs have been linked with the forward in recent weeks, but it was Spurs presented as being the ones to push forward for a deal.

Daniel Levy was said to be key in the pursuit, with the Tottenham chief having a good relationship with his counterparts at the Ligue 1 side and therefore using that connection to initiate discussions over a January transfer.

L’Equipe have now returned with an update, and according to the French newspaper an offer has now been submitted by Tottenham.

The offer consists of a loan with a buying option on behalf of Spurs. That option isn’t compulsory so it would be totally down to whether Tottenham want to keep the player, and the amount isn’t reported by L’Equipe at this stage.

That obviously sounds weighted in favour of the Premier League club, and L’Equipe say both Randal Kolo Muani and PSG are waiting to see what other proposals arrive.

Tottenham Hotspur are in the mix to sign Paris Saint-Germain’s Randal Kolo Muani in the winter market.

On Wednesday, Tutto Juve reported the north London club have held talks with the 26-year-old’s entourage. A day later, we covered claims from Italy that Ange Postecoglou has given assurance to the player over a prominent role at Tottenham.

L’Equipe cover Tottenham and Juventus interest in the striker and provide the latest on this case.

The Serie A side’s officials have held talks with their PSG counterparts, who explained the conditions needed to sanction the striker’s transfer. They want any club that takes him on loan to cover his monthly gross salary of €750,000 and insert a buying obligation.

This, as per the report, should rule out the France international joining Juventus, and he has other ‘solid leads’ to change clubs in January. Spurs are one of them and L’Equipe say they are ‘active’ in the race to sign the frontman.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has a very good relationship with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and the report states the pair have now held talks, likely for Kolo Muani’s transfer. The report adds the opportunity to play in the Premier League ‘seduces’ him.

L’Equipe add Manchester United and Aston Villa are also in the picture to sign Kolo Muani.

Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Antonín Kinský has been backed to make a move to Real Madrid in the future.

Monday’s edition of Czech newspaper MF DNES has published an interview with Viktor Budinský to discuss the new Spurs signing.

The 21-year-old joined Tottenham from Slavia Prague earlier this month and has already made two appearances for them.

His move to the north London club has created a lot of excitement in the Czech sports media, and MF Dnes discussed the stopper with his former teammate.

Last season, Kinský was on loan at another Czech side FK Pardubice where he competed with goalkeeper Budinský. The latter started the season as first-choice stopper before losing his place to Czech Republic U21 international.

Budinský kept four clean sheets and conceded 30 goals from 18 games and Pardubice’s record improved under the current Tottenham player, who kept six clean sheets and conceded 19 goals in 18 matches.

The 31-year-old is still at Pardubice and recognised his compatriot’s talent after the first training session.

“Great boy. Already at the first training session it was clear that he was different. Strong in the head, healthy confident and purposeful. He can be even higher in three years,” he said.

When the newspaper asked where he sees Kinský in the near future, the Pardubice player tipped him to join Real Madrid.

“At Real Madrid. Plus, he is learning Spanish, he’ll be ready, he won’t get lost there,” Budinský explained.

“When Tonda [Kinský] came to us in Pardubice from Vyškov [was on loan], who were playing in the second league, many would not have said that he would be in the Premier League within two years. And yet. I think Tottenham is an intermediate step for him, that an even bigger club is waiting for him.”

Keanan Bennetts came through Tottenham Hotspur’s youth academy but never made the breakthrough to the club’s first team.

The winger spent multiple years with Spurs at youth level and left the club for Borussia Monchengladbach in 2018, after scoring eight times and assisting just as many times for Tottenham’s U21s’ team.

Now 25, Bennetts has joined Austrian side Austria Klagenfurt after six months of being without a club.

He’s spoken to Kleine Zeitung Kaernten about his time at Tottenham and his career so far, and expressed his gratitude to the London club for helping him develop into a better player as a youngster.

“It’s a top address, a world-class sports institute. It’s hard to imagine what goes on here. It offers you so many opportunities. You play against the best clubs, travel all over the world. All I can say is that I have learned an incredible amount here.”

Speaking further about his time at Tottenham, the former England U19s man stated that other players were often pushed more than he was.

“I had the feeling that I was not pushed as much at times. I would have hoped for more opportunities after my performances. Other players were more in focus.”

Speaking about his move to Klagenfurt, Bennetts said: “It hasn’t been easy recently because I haven’t been able to play for a while due to torn ligaments that were poorly managed. So trust from outside is important. I want to turn the tables and take on responsibility.”

Despite his injury problems, the 25-year-old is still playing professionally, even if he’s in the top five European leagues.

He was playing in the Bundesliga as recently as the 2021/22 season and also played in League One with Ipswich Town.

Now he has the chance to build a new chapter in Austria.

Earlier this week, we covered claims from Italy which stated Tottenham Hotspur are ready to get down to business to sign Inter Milan’s Davide Frattesi in the winter market.

InterLive.it mention Tottenham when providing the latest on the Serie A side’s stance on the 25-year-old.

Frattesi has four league starts and three more in the Champions League this season and isn’t happy with his situation. The outlet makes it clear it’s their own information and states Juventus, Napoli and Spurs are keen.

The Italy international’s deal lasts until 2028, and InterLive.it believe his club value him around €45-50m and don’t plan to offer discounts, especially to league rivals.

Despite this, Juve technical director Cristiano Giuntoli plans to push for Frattesi in January and Napoli could also join if they manage to sell Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to Paris Saint-Germain.

The Serie A duo have to be wary about Tottenham as they are in the ‘front row’ to sign the midfielder, according to the report.

TV Play also cover the north London club’s interest and state that the Nerazzurri’s request is around €30-35m. AS Roma will find it difficult to match, while Tottenham could overtake Napoli.

It’s claimed Ange Postecoglou’s side are ready to offer €32m to take him ‘immediately’. Frattesi favours Roma but would be interested in joining Spurs and is ‘ready to pack his bags’ if they can find an agreement with Inter.