Inside Futbol

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AC Milan senior advisor Zlatan Ibrahimovic has added one of Tottenham Hotspur’s in-form players to the Rossoneri’s transfer wish list..

Spurs made some significant signings in the summer transfer window and were able to see off any interest from other clubs in their important players.

Ange Postecoglou is plotting a successful campaign for Spurs this season and is leaning heavily on his side’s attacking power to make a key difference.

He has so far been able to count on attacker Dejan Kulusevski, who has been in top notch form, scoring twice in Spurs’ last four Premier League games and providing two assists in their recent EFL Cup win over Manchester City.

Kulusevski’s form has not gone unnoticed and, according to Italian outlet Calciomercato.com, Ibrahimovic has placed him on AC Milan’s wish list.

It has been suggested that the north London club would want a minimum of €50m to let their Swedish star go.

Kulusevski is happy at Tottenham and does not appear to be looking for the exit door.

However, former Sweden superstar Ibrahimovic could play a key role to convince Kulusevski to make his decision about coming back to Italy.

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Tottenham Hotspur star Archie Gray has revealed that being a Celtic supporter, the chance to play Rangers at Ibrox will be a special thing for him and he cannot wait for it.

Gray signed for Tottenham only in the summer and has already featured in four Premier League and three Europa League games for them.

Though there are quite a few games Tottenham still have to play in the Europa League league phase and there is one particular game that Gray is keenly relishing.

Spurs are scheduled to play Rangers at Ibrox on 12th December and the game has particular significance for the 18-year-old.

Having supported Celtic while growing up, Gray insists that taking on the Bhoys’ arch rivals Rangers holds special significance.

Gray admits he has attended a clash between Celtic and Rangers and cannot wait to play at Ibrox.

“Definitely [looking forward to the Ibrox game]”, Gray told football.london.

“Especially watching Celtic and supporting them a little bit you always look for the Rangers game.

“The chance to play at Ibrox is a special thing and I can’t wait for it.

“I have been to one [Celtic-Rangers game] and it wasn’t at Ibrox.

“They’re brilliant games and I love them every single time.

“Even on TV they’re just as good to watch.”

Gray switched from Leeds to Tottenham only this summer for a fee worth between £30m and £40m.

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Juventus would like to take Tottenham Hotspur defender Radu Dragusin back to Italy on loan in the January transfer window.

The 22-year-old centre-back joined Spurs from Italian outfit Genoa in the winter window earlier this year, but he has struggled to break up the partnership between Cristian Romero and Micky van den Ven.

In the summer, Napoli showed interest in taking Dragusin back to Italy, but Tottenham decided to keep hold of him.

Italian sides have continued to note Dragusin’s lack of football and now Napoli have been joined by Juventus in wanting the Romanian.

According to Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport (via AreaNapoli), Juventus are interested in signing Dragusin in January.

The Turin giants would like to snap up Dragusin on a loan deal.

Tottenham are claimed to want to cash in on Dragusin if he goes and would ask for at least €25m to do business.

Dragusin has a contract with Spurs until June of 2030 and it remains to be seen whether he will be joining an Italian side in the winter.

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Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has claimed the Spurs squad have a very high ceiling, after they put Manchester City out of the EFL Cup on Wednesday night.

Postecoglou’s side have had an up and down season so far, with regular failings in the Premier League leaving questions over their top four hopes.

However, on Wednesday, Tottenham knocked Manchester City out of the EFL Cup by defeating them 2-1 at home to progress to the next round.

Postecoglou stated that he is constantly seeing his Spurs side grow and believes that wins against teams like Manchester City help to accelerate their progress.

The Tottenham boss stated that he is very optimistic and bullish about defending his players, as he thinks that the Spurs group have a very high ceiling.

“I continue to see growth in this group of players and this team”, Postecoglou said in his post match press conference.

“I want them to have these moments because I know how important it is to accelerate the growth of what we’re doing.

“But for me, personally, nothing really changes.

“It’s about trying to continually push this group to become the team we want to be.

“We’re not there yet, fair to say.

“But as I said yesterday, I’m really optimistic and bullish about this group of players.

“I just think they’ve got a really high ceiling and we’ve just got to keep focusing on that.”

Tottenham will face Manchester United in the next round of the EFL Cup on 17th December in front of their home crowd.

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Tottenham Hotspur defender Ashley Phillips has revealed that he is keen to start regular games for Stoke City, where he is on loan, and added his goal for the loan was to get experience of regular football.

Spurs signed that highly rated young centre-back in 2023 from Blackburn Rovers and he is currently on loan with Stoke.

Phillips has featured five times for Stoke in all competitions since joining and on Tuesday he scored his first goal at senior level against Southampton in their EFL Cup fixture.

After starting a game at the weekend against Sheffield United, the Spurs loanee made his second straight start on Tuesday against Southampton and added that he is eager to play regular games.

Phillips admitted that his goal behind the loan spell is to get as much regular football as possible and hopes that his performance against the Saints will be able to convince Narcis Pelech to give him more opportunities.

When asked about how eager he is to play regularly, Phillips told Stoke City TV: “Very eager.

“It is the reason why I came, to get regular performances, and hopefully performances like that can help to convince the gaffer.”

The Tottenham loanee earned praise from Stoke boss for his performance on Tuesday and he will be eyeing a place in the starting line-up against Derby County at the weekend.

Fixture: Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City

Competition: EFL Cup

Kick-off: 20:15 UK time

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has selected his team to play host to Manchester City in a last 16 EFL Cup tie at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this evening.

Postecoglou has indicated he expects to deliver silverware to Tottenham this season and the EFL Cup may be one of the likelier ways that he can do that.

The task will be tough though as champions Manchester City head to north London looking to progress.

Spurs lost 1-0 away at Crystal Palace at the weekend, while Manchester City beat Southampton; the Cityzens also won their last visit to Spurs, 2-0.

Guglielmo Vicario is Tottenham’s goalkeeper tonight, with Postecoglou picking a back four of Archie Gray, Cristian Romero, Radu Dragusin and Micky van de Ven.

In the engine room, Postecoglou picks Pape Matar Sarr and Rodrigo Bentancur, while Dejan Kulusevski, Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner support Dominic Solanke.

Postecoglou has options off the bench if changes are needed during the course of the game and they include Lucas Bergvall and Richarlison.

Tottenham Hotspur Team vs Manchester City

Vicario, Gray, Romero, Dragusin, Van de Ven, Sarr, Bentancur, Kulusevski, Johnson, Solanke, Werner

Substitutes: Forster, Porro, Davies, Udogie, Bissouma, Bergvall, Maddison, Moore, Richarlison

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Stoke City boss Narcis Pelech is of the view that Tottenham Hotspur loan star Ashley Phillips is a good centre-back and thinks that has the potential to be very good in the future.

Tottenham signed the 19-year-old centre-back from Blackburn Rovers in the summer of 2023 and he is very highly rated by Spurs’ coaching staff.

Phillips joined Stoke on a season-long loan this summer but has yet to nail down his spot in the starting line-up.

On Tuesday, the Spurs youngster started for the Potters against Southampton in the Potters’ EFL Cup fourth round game and scored a goal in their 3-2 defeat.

Pelech admitted that Phillips’ performance against Premier League side Southampton impressed him and the Stoke boss thinks that the Tottenham loanee should continue his development path.

The Stoke manager admitted that the 19-year-old is a good centre-back and believes that Phillips has in him what it takes to be a very good player in the future.

“He had [goalscoring] chances against Sheffield United the other day”, Pelech said in his post match press conference.

“I’m impressed with his performance today and the other day.

“He needs to continue in this direction because I think he’s a good centre-back, can be very good in the future.”

The Tottenham loanee has now started back-to-back games for Stoke and he will be eager to keep hold of his place in the starting line-up for the upcoming games.

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Tottenham Hotspur defender Ashley Phillips has admitted he felt he had to make things right by scoring for Stoke City against Southampton in the EFL Cup on Tuesday night.

The 19-year-old defender is highly rated at Tottenham and joined Stoke City on a season-long loan this summer to continue his development with regular football.

Phillips scored his first goal at senior level on Tuesday against Southampton in Stoke’s EFL Cup fixture in the 45th minute of the game, which ended with a 3-2 defeat for the Potters.

The Tottenham talent believes that he was at fault for Taylor Harwood-Bellis’ first goal and revealed that he wanted to score a goal to compensate for his mistake.

Phillips stated that he is very happy to score his first goal at senior level and revealed his intention to add more goals to his game.

When asked about his goal against Southampton, Phillips told Stoke City TV: “Yes, I am very pleased.

“To be honest, I should have scored twice against Sheffield [United].

“I should not have hit the bar, also personally, I felt like I was at fault for the first goal of Southampton from the set piece.

“So I just felt I had to make it right and score myself and it is not a bad goal to score a few first goals.

“Now I am really happy, and I think for me personally, I want to be getting a lot more goals, so hopefully it is the first of many.”

Phillips will be keen to put in impressive performances during his loan spell with Stoke in the hope of catching the attention of Ange Postecoglou before he returns to Tottenham.

Stoke are next due to play host to Derby County in the Championship.

Richard Keys believes that there may be trouble ahead for Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham Hotspur and admits he still cannot work out what the Australian is trying to do.

The Lilywhites have lacked the level of consistency that they attained during the early part of Postecoglou’s reign at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.

A 1-0 defeat against relegation-battlers Crystal Palace at the weekend was Tottenham’s second defeat in the last three games and pushed them down to eighth in the Premier League.

Keys has been left baffled by Tottenham’s performances and feels that the 59-year-old could find himself in trouble in the near future.

The veteran broadcaster also took time to express surprise at the way Tottenham have been operating this season.

“There may be trouble ahead for big Ange”, Keys wrote on his blog.

“I really can’t work Spurs out.”

A second-half collapse against Brighton & Hove Albion in early October saw Tottenham concede a two goal lead from the first half to lose the game 3-2 in the end.

Spurs are in EFL Cup action later this week when they play host to Manchester City.

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Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou thinks that the more Spurs talent Mikey Moore gets to play in the right environment, the more he is going to thrive.

The 17-year-old winger is highly rated at Tottenham and this season has made seven appearances for the first team so far with three outings in the Europa League.

On Sunday, Moore started his first game in the Premier League for Spurs in their 1-0 defeat against Crystal Palace.

Postecoglou thinks that the talent has learned a lot from Sunday’s game but believes that with every appearance Moore is improving.

The Tottenham boss is of the opinion that Moore will keep thriving the more Spurs will be able to get him the opportunities in the right environment.

When asked about Moore’s performance, Postecoglou said in the post match press conference: “Like I said it wasn’t really a great game for anybody out there from our perspective.

“Mikey every time he’s out there he’ll be a better player and the more we can get him out there in the right sort of environment then he’ll keep thriving.

“I’m sure he’ll learn a lot today.

“The kind of team we want to be or the way we want to play we need to be a lot more composed in the way we deal with certain things out there to not let the game get out of control.”

Tottenham are set to face Manchester City in the EFL Cup on Wednesday and Moore will be hoping to get into the starting line-up for that game.