FootballFanCast.com

In a season defined by injuries, miserable form and constant talk about the manager's future, there hasn't been an awful lot for Tottenham Hotspur fans to celebrate.

However, that doesn't mean there have been no positive developments at all, as there have been a few players who have stepped up for Ange Postecoglou in this incredibly trying campaign.

For example, Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson have become more dangerous in attack, while Dominic Solanke - when fit - looks like he was more than worth the club's record investment.

However, perhaps the most surprising positive has been the development of Djed Spence, who has become a key member of the team after it looked as if he was going to follow in the footsteps of another incredibly costly Spurs flop.

Spence's amazing recovery at Spurs

Tottenham decided to pay Middlesbrough around £20m for Spence in the summer of 2022 when Antonio Conte was still in the hot seat.

However, even though he wasn't a cheap addition, the promising full-back wouldn't become an even semi-regular part of the Lilywhites' squad until more than two years after putting pen to paper, spending time on loan with Stade Rennais, Leeds United and Genoa in the meantime.

In fact, after spending the latter half of last season with the Italian side, it looked as if he'd make his move permanent in the summer.

Even when that didn't happen, Postecoglou's decision to exclude him from the club's Europa League squad at the start of this season made it appear like he had no way into the first team.

However, after convincing the manager that he deserved a chance, and amid the club's injury crisis, the 24-year-old was given a proper shot at carving out a role in the team - an opportunity he grabbed with both arms.

Since mid-December, the Englishman has become a vital component to the starting lineup, be that at right-back or left-back, as not only has he proven himself to be a sturdy and robust defender but also someone capable of marauding up the pitch, beating his man and delivering a brilliant cross.

In all, the "swashbuckling" star, as dubbed by Ian Wright, has made 20 appearances for the team, scoring two goals and providing two assists.

In short, Spence has established himself as one of Spurs' best and most important players, someone more than worth his £50k-per-week contract, and has avoided following the path of a former Lilywhites full-back signed by Mauricio Pochettino, who cost the side millions.

What happened to Spurs' original Djed Spence

While there are a number of Spurs flops who were signed by Pochettino over the years, from Tanguy Ndombele to Vincent Janssen, the player in question was arguably even less impactful on the pitch.

Ryan Sessegnon completed his £25m move to Tottenham in the summer of 2019 from West London outfit Fulham, and while that seems like an incredible overpay today, it didn't at the time.

Back then, the 19-year-old talent was seen as one of England's most promising youngsters, having scored two goals and provided six assists in 35 top-flight games the season prior.

Moreover, despite being just 18 at the start of the 17/18 season, the "special" prospect, dubbed by former boss Slavisa Jokanovic, managed to rack up a brilliant haul of 16 goals and eight assists in just 52 first-team games.

So, with all that said, there was an understandable level of excitement when the Lilywhites secured his services, but unfortunately, such excitement would prove unjust.

Over the next five years, the Roehampton-born gem would face injury after injury, which ultimately saw him miss 798 days of action.

Across his four campaigns as a Tottenham player - he spent one season on loan with Hoffenheim - the Englishman scored just three goals and provided four assists in 57 appearances before returning to Craven Cottage for free last summer.

While that level of return is disappointing enough in its own right, it's even worse when you consider that he earned around £8.4m in wages - £55k-per-week - for his four years in England, meaning his overall cost to the club was £36.4m including his fee.

In other words, the Fulham gem cost the North Londoners around £638k-per-appearance, £12.1m-per-goal, £9.1m-per-assist, and £5.2m-per-goal-involvement.

Ultimately, Sessegnon's time at Tottenham cannot be described as anything other than a financial disaster, which, thankfully, cannot be said about Spence anymore.

Crystal Palace are expected to lodge an enquiry over signing a “quality” £25 million player in the summer, according to a recent report.

Crystal Palace eye attacking signings

The Eagles still have 11 games left to play in the Premier League and an FA Cup quarterfinal tie to think about, but plans already appear to be getting underway for what could be a busy summer at Selhurst Park.

Oliver Glasner is keen for his side to strengthen in the wide areas of the team, with it emerging last week that Liverpool’s Ben Doak and Lewis Koumas are of interest to Palace. The South Londoners are interested in signing not just one, but both Liverpool loan stars, who have been thriving at Middlesbrough and Stoke respectively this season.

Palace are also keeping a close eye on FC Midtjylland striker Franculino Dju and have sent scouts to watch him in action in recent weeks. However, they are not the only team interested, as Leicester City are also keen on a deal, though their interest hinges on them remaining in the Premier League.

Meanwhile, former chief scout Mick Brown has also stated that Palace are interested in signing Tyler Dibling from Southampton, but again, there are many other teams also interested in the young star.

Crystal Palace expected to make enquiry to sign £25m Spurs star

But as well as looking to strengthen their forward line, the Eagles are also looking to strengthen their midfield, as according to Give Me Sport, Crystal Palace are interested in signing Yves Bissouma from Tottenham Hotspur.

The report states that Spurs are willing to let Bissouma leave come the end of the season, with no indications of a new deal being discussed, as he will enter the final 12 months of the contract he signed when he became one of the several Brighton success stories to be sold for profit. Palace are monitoring the situation and are expected to make an enquiry into a possible deal, while several other teams are also expected to join the race.

French sides Marseille and Nice are also interested in signing the midfielder, and Bissouma is open to moving back to Ligue 1, but Palace will hope the opportunity to remain in the Premier League outweighs a return to France. It is unclear how much Spurs would be looking to get for Bissouma, but they may struggle to get near the £25 million they paid Brighton to sign him in 2022.

The 28-year-old, who was dubbed “quality” by Jamie Carragher two years ago, has fallen out of favour somewhat at Spurs this season. The midfielder has started 20 of the 32 games he has played in all competitions, but the rise of Lucas Bergvall and the performances of Rodrigo Bentancur and Pape Sarr have seen Bissouma fall down the pecking order, and given his contract situation, a move could be on the cards this summer.

The Eagles will be hoping to keep hold of Adam Wharton, but Bissouma could be seen as a potential replacement should Palace find it hard to keep the young Englishman.

Such has been the amount of change in recent seasons that it feels like a lifetime ago that José Mourinho was in the hot seat at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Special One was appointed the club's manager in November 2019, mere days after the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino, and to say English football was shocked would be an understatement.

However, less than two years later - just before the League Cup final - the legendary coach was sacked, with little to show for his time in N17.

That said, he did make several additions to the team, including one international just sold by the club who has won comparisons to Granit Xhaka and Rodri.

Mourinho's lacklustre Spurs signings

Before we get to the player in question, it's worth looking at a couple of the other signings made by Mourinho during his time with Spurs, although the unfortunate reality is that most of them didn't work out.

For example, he was in the dugout when the club spent around £27m on PSV Eindhoven star Steven Bergwijn.

The Dutch winger could, at times, be incredibly exciting to watch and was responsible for one of the best Premier League comebacks in recent seasons, but he ultimately failed to make any real impact in N17.

Fortunately, when he did leave for Ajax in 2022 with a paltry tally of eight goals and eight assists in 83 games for the club, he did so for around £26.4m, almost covering the fee the Lilywhites paid.

Another of the Portuguese manager's failed additions was Irish right-back Matt Doherty, who joined the club from Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer of 2020 for a fee of around £14.7m.

While the defender impressed for the Old Gold, he could never quite get to grips with life at Spurs.

Over the next two and a half seasons, he registered just eight assists and three goals in 71 games for the club before his contract was terminated by mutual consent in January 2023.

With all that said, not every signing made by Mourihno at Spurs was a disaster, with one player at least establishing himself in the team for seasons to come, a player who's been compared to Xhaka and Rodri this year.

The ex-Spurs ace playing like Rodri and Xhaka

With so many of Mourinho's additions failing to carve out a place for themselves in the Spurs lineup for any considerable period, it should come as no surprise that the player in question is Pierre-Emile Højbjerg.

The Danish international joined the North Londoners from Southampton for around £15m in August 2020, and while he certainly wasn't the flashiest, or even most popular, of players at the club, he was a regular face in the starting lineup for four years or so.

Across those four campaigns, the "excellent" midfielder, as dubbed by Ange Postecoglou, made 184 appearances for the first team, in which he scored ten goals and provided 16 assists.

However, following Postecoglou's first campaign as manager, it was decided that the former Saints ace would be sold to Marseille, moving on an initial loan move with an obligation to buy at £17m.

Given the specific way the Australian wants his teams to play, it would be fair to say that this was a move that suited all parties.

Nevertheless, since joining the French giants, the 29-year-old has been immense and won comparisons to Bayer Leverkusen's Bundesliga-winning star Xhaka and Ballon d'Or-winning Rodri.

The comparisons stem from FBref, which looks at players in similar positions in Europe's top five leagues, the Champions League and the Europa League; then creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each one, and in this instance, has concluded that the Spaniard is the fourth most similar midfielder to the Dane, while the Swiss international comes in at seventh on the list.

The best way to see where this comparison has come from is to look at the underlying metrics in which the trio rank closely in both this season for Xhaka and Højbjerg while also including last season for Rodri due to his injury.

When doing this, we can see that all three have similar underlying numbers for important metrics, including but not limited to, non-penalty expected goals plus assists, goals per shot, expected assists, clearances, blocks and more, all per 90.

Ultimately, agreeing to sell Højbjerg in the summer was probably the right decision for everyone, but with the power of hindsight, we can't help but think his presence in the middle would have helped Spurs pick up a few more points this season.

A disgraced Tottenham Hotspur official who remains banned from football by FIFA is keen on returning to a role in Italy and has also held talks with other Premier League sides, according to a new report.

Tottenham eye Serie A reinforcements once again

Tottenham have developed a knack for recruiting talent from Serie A in recent years, with Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur, Destiny Udogie and Guglielmo Vicario all making the switch from Italy’s top flight. Now, the Lilywhites are reported to have their eyes on another Serie A star in the form of Como's Nico Paz.

According to The Boot Room, Tottenham are now plotting a summer move to sign Paz, who has been one of the division's breakout stars this year, scoring six goals and producing four assists in 25 games for Cesc Fabregas' side.

Spurs, however, will face competition from Arsenal for the 20-year-old, who joined Como from Real Madrid back in August, while Madrid themselves also possess the option to buy him back. Fabregas also made it clear back in January that he wants Paz to stay at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, and that the club are ready to turn down big offers for his signature.

“Nico is a Como player. Real Madrid can buy him back, but only at a set price," the former Arsenal midfielder said in a press conference.

“Even if Real Madrid doesn’t want to buy him back, Como won’t sell him—not for €40 or €50 million," he added. "We’re building a future and an identity with this group of young talents, ensuring that in three or four years, Como will be a highly competitive team."

Paratici in talks with new clubs and unlikely to return to Spurs

The man responsible for bringing the likes of Kulusevski and Udogie to Tottenham was Fabio Paratici, who served as the club's managing director of football between June 2021 and April 2023. Paratici was forced to step down from his role after being found guilty of financial malpractice while he was the sporting director and managing director at Juventus.

Initially, he was banned for 30 months from only Italian football, but FIFA later extended the ban to apply worldwide, making him unable to continue working for Spurs. Paratici has had an appeal against his conviction rejected, but can return to working in football in the summer, while he has still been able to work as an advisor to Spurs in the mean time.

When he does return however, a new report from Tuttosport, per Sports Witness, claims that Paratici will not return to Tottenham for good. The publication claims that a return to North London in a permanent capacity would be "difficult" despite him having a very good relationship with the club’s upper management, and that the 52-year-old will instead seek a move back to Italy.

AC Milan are said to be interested in Paratici, while he's also held talks with other Premier League sides despite his preference to return to working in his homeland.

Tottenham Hotspur are expected to lodge a big-money bid for one of Europe's most sought-after players in the summer, according to a new report.

Tottenham inconsistencies shine light on transfer plans

If there’s one word to describe Tottenham this season, it’s inconsistent. Ange Postecoglou's side has swung between unstoppable and absent from one week to the next—beating teams like Liverpool and Manchester City in all too rare one-offs, only to then suffer defeats against the likes of Leicester City and Everton.

That inconsistency was on display again last week. Fresh off three consecutive wins over Brentford, Manchester United and Ipswich Town, Spurs delivered a lackluster performance against City, falling 1-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. A goal from Erling Haaland was enough to secure all three points for the visitors.

Speaking after the match, which saw Spurs drop back down to 13th in the table, Postecoglou insisted there were plenty of positives to take from the defeat – most notablty the performances of young stars like Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Wilson Odobert.

“There's definitely positives and I think you know, I keep saying there's enormous growth that we’re witnessing before our eyes, even though we're not getting the rewards for it right now," he proclaimed.

"We’re disappointed, but like I said, in terms of performance, from my perspective anyway, there's stuff in there where we can say, okay, we we're going to take that forward and get to level we want to."

Spurs bidding for Ademola Lookman

After what's been a difficult season, Tottenham will no doubt be looking to bolster their squad in the summer, not only to add quality but also strength in numbers. According to reports in Spain, one man Spurs will be looking to acquire is Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman.

Spurs have apparently been scouting the Nigerian, who was named last year's African Footballer of the Year, for several months. There are 'offers estimated at around €45m (£40m) plus a number of bonuses', although it is not clear if the bids have been made or just prepared for the summer, the latter of which seems more likely.

Lookman, 27, has been one of Europe's top players over the past two seasons. Last year, he scored 17 goals and produced nine assists for Atalanta, including a memorable hat-trick in the Europa League final as they beat Bayer Leverkusen to win the trophy for the first time in their history. This term, Lookman has scored 17 goals and produced seven assists in 30 games across all competitions.

Despite being one of Atalanta's key men, Lookman's future at the Gewiss Stadium has recently come into question due to a public spat he had with manager Gian Piero Gasperini. The Italian coach had called Lookman "one of the worst penalty takers" after he missed a spot kick as Atalanta were dumped out of the Champions League at the hands of Club Brugge.

"He has a frankly terrible record even in training, he converts very few of them," Gasperini said. "Retegui and De Ketelaere were there, but Lookman in a moment of enthusiasm after scoring decided to take the ball and that was a gesture I did not appreciate at all."

Lookman hit back at his boss by calling his words "disrespectful".

Tottenham Hotspur winger Mathys Tel has revealed which player is the best he has ever played with - and it is not Harry Kane or Son Heung-min.

Tel joined Spurs from Bayern Munich in the January window on loan, with Ange Postecoglou's side holding an option to buy him on a permanent deal for £45m in the summer.

This comes after the Frenchman reportedly rejected Tottenham's initial offer to sign him in January, when he was also linked with the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal.

The 19-year-old has had an encouraging to start to his senior career, starring for Bayern in the German Bundesliga and Champions League after signing from Rennes in the summer of 2022.

Last season, Tel scored an eventual winner against Man Utd in the group stages of the Champions League, and has appeared 16 times in the competition, while he was a frequent substitute during the Bavarians' successful 2022/23 Bundesliga campaign, with Tel winning the title alongside current England boss Thomas Tuchel.

His game time more than doubled last year, but he was unable to stretch Bayern's winning run in the Bundesliga, despite posting a career best of 12 top-flight goal involvements.

This season, opportunities under Vincent Kompany had been few and far between, starting just four games in all competitions. Since joining Spurs, he has already hit that milestone, and grabbed his first goal in the Lilywhites' FA Cup defeat to Aston Villa in early February.

Speaking in an interview with TNT Sports, Mathys Tel revealed various things about his career and personal interests, such as his favourite film, his most-hated food and who he has on his phone's wallpaper.

But perhaps most intriguing was who he believes is the best player he has played with in his career. Despite playing alongside stars such as Harry Kane, Manuel Neuer and Son Heung-min, Tel opted for former Liverpool winger Sadio Mane.

He said: "There are a lot of players, but Sadio Mane was the best. He works hard every day, after training, before and after the game, so he's an example for me."

Given both players share the same position, it is perhaps not a surprise to see Tel snub the likes of Kane and Son, despite their supreme goalscoring exploits in Tottenham colours.

Sadio Mane was at Bayern for the 2022/23 season before swapping the Bundesliga for the Saudi Pro League, where he now links up with Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr.

Tel and Mane only shared the pitch on 11 occasions, which goes to show the effect the Senegalese star had on the French youngster during their short time together.

So Spurs fans may not need to hold a grudge against the winger, who could yet become a new hero in the years to come if he signs on at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when the season is over.

Instead of building on his debut campaign with Tottenham Hotspur, this season has been something of a nightmare for Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian's side may have lost just a single Premier League game last month, but they are still in 12th place and are out of both the FA Cup and League Cup.

However, while much of the blame for the Lilywhites' poor form can be placed at the feet of the former Celtic boss, there have been some extenuating circumstances.

For example, the North Londoners' biggest problem has been their defence, and there are several reasons why that is the case, not all of which can be blamed on the manager.

Tottenham's dismal defence

As things stand, Spurs have conceded 39 goals in just 27 league games this season, averaging 1.44 per game.

Seven teams have conceded more this term, but the Lilywhites have the joint-worst defence of the traditional 'big six' alongside Manchester United, and sharing anything in common with the Red Devils at the moment is not a good sign.

Now, there is certainly an argument to be made that at least part of this problem stems from Postecoglou's desire to play a high-line, as both this season and last, his side have sat comfortably in the top half of the table for the height of their defensive line.

However, injuries are undoubtedly a more significant problem.

For example, this season alone has seen key defensive stars like Cristian Romero, Micky Van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Ben Davies and even goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario miss sizable parts of the campaign.

Moreover, while there are ways to cope without some of their stars, Van de Ven is a vital cog in Postecoglou's machine, as his power and breakneck speed allow the team to play further up the pitch without too much concern about counter-attacks.

The only silver lining to the club's incredible number of defensive injuries this term has been seeing Archie Gray become an increasingly important member of the first team.

The 18-year-old may be a central midfielder, but within the context of the campaign, has done an exceptional job covering at centre-back and full-back and looks every bit the "future £100m" star analyst Ben Mattinson claims he is.

However, while the young Englishman has stepped up in a big way and made himself someone the club can count on in the future, the same cannot be said for one of his defensive teammates, who arguably earns more than he should.

The Spurs defender earning too much

With the number of injuries to their defence this season, Radu Dragusin has been forced to play a lot more football than most would've expected he would, and, as a result, suffered his own season-ending injury last month.

However, prior to that, it would be hard to describe his performances as anything other than underwhelming this term, and that might even be a little kind.

For example, the former Genoa ace, who joined the team for £25m last January, made 16 appearances in the league this season, in which he averaged just 0.88 points per game and put in some stand-out performances for all the wrong reasons.

Arguably the worst of the lot came at home in the club's dire 2-1 defeat against Ipswich Town, a game in which journalist Mitch Fretton described the Romanian international as a "horror show."

Now, if the 23-year-old was earning a meagre wage and just looked at as a last-choice backup, his form might not be such a problem, but that is not the case.

Instead, he earns a whopping £85k-per-week, which is £10k more than Gray makes and a massive £35k more than Van de Ven, despite their undeniable importance to the team today and in the future.

Moreover, when you consider his transfer fee and the wages he's earned since moving to N17, the Bucharest-born ace has cost the club around £30m.

Ultimately, Dragusin is not the worst defender, but when he and his teammates return to fitness, we don't see a world where he plays for Spurs.

Tottenham Hotspur are going through a significant period of change.

Last summer, Harry Kane finally left the club, and Ange Postecoglou came in to try to get the team back to playing an exciting attacking brand of football.

On top of that, the board have shifted focus towards building a young, hungry and up-and-coming squad that can grow and develop into something special alongside the Australian.

The likes of Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray are perfect examples of this, but the North Londoners have a youngster of their own who could be their answer to Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri, a youngster who's outscoring James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski.

Tottenham's exciting youngsters

So, when it comes to the first team, there are two youngsters who stand out: Gray and Bergvall.

The former joined the club from Leeds United for around £30m in the summer, and while he's primarily a midfielder, he has done exceptionally well covering at centre-back and full-back.

In fact, the young Englishman has been so impressive across the campaign that it's very easy to forget that he is still just 18, and while it was a bold prediction at the time, Ben Mattinson's claim that he's a "future £100m cm" is looking more and more realistic with every passing game.

Likewise, while it took Bergvall some time to settle into the swing of things, he's started to look more and more at home in the midfield of a Premier League side in the last couple of months.

For example, FBref has placed him in the top 3% of midfielders in the league for carrying distance, the top 4% for long pass completion, switches and goal-creating actions from shots, the top 5% for shots blocked, the top 8% for interceptions, the top 9% for overall passes completed and more, all per 90.

In short, despite only turning 19 earlier this month, the Swedish phenom is already one of the most complete midfielders in the league, and in the years to come, he'll undoubtedly start getting the credit for that.

However, it gets even better for the Lilywhites, as they have an incredibly exciting youngster in the academy who could be their answer to Arsenal's Nwaneri.

Spurs' answer to Nwaneri

So, with the player in question being an exciting prospect coming out of Hotspur Way, there will no doubt be plenty of you who are thinking of Mikey Moore, and while he's an exceptional gem in his own right, that is not the case.

Instead, we are talking about the sensationally gifted Luca Williams-Barnett, who, similar to how Nwaneri has taken the game by storm on the red side of North London, looks like he could do the same for the white side in the coming years.

That might sound like hyperbole considering he's yet to play a minute of first-team football and is still just 16, but akin to the Gunners' young superstar, he's been utterly sublime for the youth teams and, as respected analyst Ben Mattinson has described as someone "to keep an eye on".

For example, in just 22 appearances for the U18s, totalling 1707 minutes, the unreal prospect, whom academy expert and pundit John Wenham dubbed a "cheat code," has scored 17 goals and provided nine assists.

That means he is currently averaging 1.18 goal involvements every game, or one every 65.65 minutes, and you don't need us to tell you that is exceptional.

In contrast, the Gunners' teenage sensation scored 15 goals and provided five assists in 23 appearances for their U18, totalling 1857 minutes, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.15 games, or every 92.85 minutes.

On top of bettering his future rival, the Lilywhite's gem is also outscoring some of his senior teammates, as he's found the back of the net 15 times in 15 games this season.

In contrast, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Son Heung-min are all on ten goals, for example, and even Dominic Solanke, who has scored 11 goals this year, is behind the youngster in that respect.

Ultimately, Arsenal's Nwaneri might be the new, exciting academy product on the scene this season, but in Williams-Barnett, Spurs could have their own generational talent on the way.

The last few years have been more than a little bumpy for Tottenham Hotspur.

The club has cycled through managers of varying styles before landing on the uber-attacking Ange Postecoglou.

On top of that, the squad has seen a fair bit of churn, with a number of players leaving, most notably the record-breaking and era-defining Harry Kane.

However, as this season has shown, the North Londoners' project is far from complete, and it might soon be time for another club icon to follow the Englishman out the door.

The Spurs star who should be phased out

It will come as no surprise to those who have been watching Spurs this season that the icon we are talking about is Son Heung-min.

The South Korean superstar is undoubtedly a legend of the club and one of the most devastatingly effective wingers the league has seen over the last decade or so, but therein lies one of the key issues with him playing a prominent role today: he's been around too long.

Unfortunately, as with all professional footballers at some point in their careers, the former Bayer Leverkusen star is simply a victim of time.

For example, research from The Athletic revealed that wingers hit their peak at 26 years old, and their ability to take-on defenders dramatically decreases at 30 - the Lilywhites star is 33 in May.

Moreover, while he can still be brilliant in bursts here and there, as he was against Ipswich Town, those bursts don't come frequently enough anymore.

Indeed, even though he has been able to rack up a tally of ten goals and ten assists this season, he's found the back of the net in the league just once since the 22nd of December.

In all, Son is a true Tottenham legend, but to ensure Postecoglou's project can continue to develop next season and beyond, it might be time for him to take more of a backseat in the squad, especially as the manager might already have the perfect replacement.

The Spurs ace to replace Son

While the likes of Mikey Moore and Wilson Odobert could certainly fall into this category, we are leaning towards Mathys Tel.

The 19-year-old dynamo may only be on loan from Bayern Munich at the moment, but there is a £45m option to buy in his deal and, according to reports earlier this month, there is a feeling from some in the know that he's open to remaining in North London for the long term.

Now, it would be fair to say that, so far this season, the young Frenchman hasn't exactly shown why he is so highly rated.

However, he was limited to just 458 minutes in Germany and has only just arrived in a brand-new team and country, so the fact he's already scored a goal in just 299 minutes of action is a reasonable return.

Moreover, when the "mind-blowing" prospect, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, was given 1406 minutes of first-team football for Bayern in 41 appearances last season, he managed to score ten goals and provide six assists, which comes out to an astounding average of a goal involvement every 87.87 minutes.

Finally, while he has played up top a few times since moving to N17, he spent just as much time off the left while in Germany, so he should be able to step into Son's shoes and support Dominic Solanke on his return without much trouble.

Ultimately, the South Korean international has been nothing short of sensational for Tottenham over the last decade, but to move the club forward, he probably needs to step back, and in Tel, Postecoglou could have the perfect long-term replacement.

A Tottenham Hotspur player who has been described as a "nuisance" now looks set to leave the club at the end of the season, according to a new transfer update.

Latest Tottenham news

Spurs are preparing for their trip to AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League on Thursday evening, as they look to go all the way in the competition this season. There has been an improvement in form by Ange Postecoglou's side in recent weeks, but the 1-0 defeat at home to Manchester City in the Premier League acted as a reality check.

In terms of Spurs-related transfer news ahead of the summer transfer window, Lamine Camara has been linked with a move to north London. The 21-year-old midfielder is currently plying his trade at Monaco in Ligue 1 and could have a bright future in the game.

Ferran Torres has also emerged as a rumoured option for the Premier League side ahead of next season, as they battle rivals Arsenal for his signature. The Spaniard has struggled for playing time at Barcelona and could return to England this summer, having previously played for City.

Meanwhile, Antoine Semenyo has enjoyed an impressive season for Bournemouth, standing out as arguably their most influential attacking player, and Spurs reportedly see him as a strong target to bring in and boost their attack.

"Nuisance" Tottenham player set to leave

According to a new report from The Mirror, Tottenham won't make Timo Werner's loan move permanent this summer, opting not to sign him for £8.5m.

Those close to the German "anticipate that he will be returning to Leipzig this summer before later considering his options", bringing an end to his time in north London in the process.

It makes complete sense for Spurs to move the £165,000-a-week Werner on in the summer, even though Roy Keane has actually praised him in the past, saying:

“He’s a nuisance to play against, isn’t he, Werner. There’s question marks about his end product and whatever, his final pass. But he does affect games, he is a threat. I think probably wide [is his best role]. I don’t think he enjoys it so much when his back’s to play, and his hold up play. But when he’s in these wide positions, he is effective."

The brutal truth is that Werner has been nowhere near good enough to warrant Spurs signing him on a permanent basis, having failed to score in 18 Premier League appearances this season, offering a consistent lack of end product.

Not only that, but Postecoglou openly questioned the Germany international's commitment earlier in the campaign, saying his performance in the 1-1 draw away to Rangers was "not acceptable".

For that reason, there is every chance that the Spurs boss knew at that point that he didn't see Werner as an important part of his plans, and unless he ends the season strongly, he will leave with a negative reputation at the club.