Inside Futbol

Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur face needing to make a ‘dizzying offer’ if they are to be able to land a Juventus star they are keen on after the Italians decided to ‘try to avoid’ selling.

Premier League sides are in full swing with their January transfer window business, with Manchester City in the process of landing Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt, while Tottenham have already signed goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky.

The pair have noted the struggles of former Aston Villa man Douglas Luiz at Juventus and are alive to a deal to bring him back to England.

Nottingham Forest and Fulham have also been linked with Luiz.

However, according to Spanish daily AS, Juventus have decided they want to ‘try to avoid’ selling the Brazilian this month.

They continue to believe in Luiz, despite him disappointing, and the former Villa man does want to succeed in Turin.

It is suggested that only a ‘dizzying offer’ could bring about a change of stance at the Italian side.

That would mean an offer not less than €50m would have to be on the table and whether Manchester City, Tottenham, Fulham or Nottingham Forest would fork out such a sum remains to be seen.

Jaimi Joy/Getty Images

A possible exit route for a misfiring Tottenham Hotspur star has been closed down as the club linked with wanting him are not considering a move.

Ange Postecoglou has already brought in goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky this month and the club are ready to back their boss further in the market.

They have expressed an interest in Borussia Dortmund’s Donyell Malen, but Aston Villa are in pole position to scoop him up.

Players could also move on from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Timo Werner has been linked with a move to Eintracht Frankfurt.

Werner has struggled to make an impact in north London and with the Bundesliga club likely to lose Omar Marmoush to Manchester City, a swoop to take him back to Germany has been mooted.

However, according to German outlet Fussball.News, Eintracht Frankfurt are not considering a move for the Spurs forward.

They are not looking to land him and if he does leave this month it will not be to Deutsche Bank Park.

Werner, 28, has made a total of 26 appearances across all competitions for Tottenham so far this season and has scored once, in the EFL Cup against Manchester City.

Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

Despite Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur expressing an interest in Donyell Malen, Aston Villa are now not too far off an agreement with Borussia Dortmund.

Unai Emery is targeting Malen as a priority target and Villa have put offers to Dortmund in an attempt to do a deal for the Dutchman.

Dortmund paid PSV Eindhoven a fee of €30m to sign Malen in the summer of 2021, but he has not lived up to expectations and the Germans will sell now.

The Ruhr giants have been demanding €30m to let Malen join Aston Villa, but, according to German daily Bild (via Fussball Transfers), they would now be happy with €25m.

As such the two parties are not far apart in their expectations and a deal could happen.

Newcastle and Tottenham have both expressed an interest in the attacker, but Aston Villa look to be in pole position.

Amid the negotiations, Dortmund are continuing to use Malen and he was involved on Friday night against Bayer Leverkusen, being introduced as a late substitute.

He has scored three times in the Bundesliga this season, striking against Heidenheim, Augsburg and Wolfsburg.

Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

Fixture: Tamworth vs Tottenham Hotspur

Competition: FA Cup

Kick-off: 12:30 UK time

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has selected his side to take on non-league outfit Tamworth at the Lamb Ground in the FA Cup this afternoon.

Tamworth have been handed a glamour tie in the shape of Spurs in the third round and will hope to pull off what would be a massive giant killing shock today.

They sit just 16th in the National League table, with only eight wins from 24 games, and despite their injury woes, Spurs will start as huge favourites to comfortably progress.

Tottenham beat Liverpool 1-0 in the EFL Cup in midweek and Postecoglou will view the FA Cup as a realistic route to silverware too.

In goal today, Tottenham go with Antonin Kinsky, while Pedro Porro, Radu Dragusin, Archie Gray and Sergio Reguilon form the back four.

In midfield, Postecoglou picks Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma, while James Maddison, Brennan Johnson, Timo Werner and Mikey Moore will look to pose an attacking threat.

The Spurs boss can shake things up with his changes if needed and options off the bench include Dominic Solanke and Heung-Min Son.

Tottenham Hotspur Team vs Tamworth

Kinsky, Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Reguilon, Sarr, Bissouma, Maddison, Johnson, Werner, Moore

Substitutes: Austin, Spence, Dorrington, Bergvall, Olusesi, Kulusevski, Son, Solanke, Lankshear

Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Italian giants Juventus are ‘accelerating’ to try to beat Tottenham Hotspur to an attacker in this month’s transfer window.

Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou has been under pressure for some time now due to Tottenham’s struggles in the Premier League, where they are at real risk of finishing outside the top six.

They have been torn with injuries across the squad especially the backline alongside first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.

Spurs board have added Antonin Kinsky to address the goalkeeping problem and now they are focusing on bringing a striker this month.

Paris Saint-Germain’s Randal Kolo Muani is the attacker who has been their priority for this position and they have been working on the deal.

However, he has many suitors in Europe, a group which includes Juventus, and according to Italian outlet Tutto Juve, the Old Lady are ‘accelerating’ for Kolo Muani.

It had been thought Tottenham could virtually close out the deal on Thursday, but that did not happen and Juventus feel they have a chance.

The Italians want to act quickly and get themselves into a position where they can take Kolo Muani to Turin this month.

Carl Recine/Getty Images

Wolves would need to have an ‘astonishing’ offer on their table for a player attracting interest from Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur if they are to consider a sale.

Vitor Pereira is now at the helm of Wolves and is trying to guide the side away from trouble in the Premier League.

Wolves have just landed centre-back Emmanuel Agbadou to add to Pereira’s options and the emphasis at Molineux is on strengthening the squad.

Losing key players is not something Wolves are looking to do and key to their plans is Joao Gomes.

The 23-year-old has made 19 appearances in the Premier League for Wolves this season, chipping in with two goals, against Crystal Palace and Fulham.

According to Brazilian journalist Valentin Furlan, Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United have ‘recently asked’ for information about Gomes.

However, Wolves are not ready to sell in this month’s transfer window and would want an ‘astonishing offer’ to change their stance.

Given they do not want to sell, Wolves have not even gone as far as setting an asking price for the Brazilian.

Marc Atkins/Getty Images

Tottenham Hotspur have been boosted as one of their key men is not interested in joining a club keen to sign him, however he could be subject to an approach from Manchester City in the summer.

Ange Postecoglou has added Antonin Kinsky this month to boost his goalkeeping options and is trying to sign Randal Kolo Muani to increase his firepower.

Key for Postecoglou so far though has been Dejan Kulusevski, who has been ever improving since he left Juventus to join Tottenham initially on loan in 2022 and then on a permanent deal back in 2023.

At the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Kulusevski initially got the opportunity to work under current Napoli coach Antonio Conte.

Napoli are long time admirers of the Swede and would love to take him back to Serie A.

However, according to Italian outlet Calciomercato.it, Kulusevski ‘is not considering’ heading back to the Italian top flight at the moment.

Whether he could rethink things in the summer is unclear, but by that time it is suggested he could even have an opportunity to join Manchester City.

The Cityzens have been monitoring the attacker for some time and may feel ready to pull the trigger with an offer.

In 30 appearances overall for the London-based side in the current campaign, Kulusevski has made 15 goal contributions.

Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

Fixture: Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool

Competition: EFL Cup

Kick-off: 20:00 UK time

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has picked his team to welcome Liverpool to north London tonight in the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-final tie between the two sides.

Postecoglou continues to wrestle with a number of injury issues which have reduced his options and Spurs were beaten 2-1 at home at the weekend by Newcastle United.

Spurs have now gone four games without a win and Postecoglou will look at the EFL Cup as a possible route to make good on his promise to deliver silverware.

Liverpool though are a side that Spurs met recently in the Premier League and suffered a 6-3 defeat against.

Spurs are without the suspended Pape Matar Sarr and James Maddison.

New boy Antonin Kinsky is between the sticks for Spurs today, who name a back four of Pedro Porro, Radu Dragusin, Archie Gray and Djed Spence.

Midfield sees Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma play, while Dejan Kulusevski and Lucas Bergvall support Heung-Min Son and Dominic Solanke.

Postecoglou has options on the bench if needed and these include Timo Werner and Brennan Johnson.

Tottenham Hotspur Team vs Liverpool

Kinsky, Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Spence, Bissouma, Bentancur, Kulusevski, Bergvall, Solanke, Son

Substitutes: Austin, Dorrington, Reguilon, Olusesi, Moore, Min-hyeok, Johnson, Werner, Lankshear

Ben Hoskins/Getty Images

Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens has revealed that Tottenham Hotspur loanee Jamie Donley’s resilience is paying off and insisted the Spurs loanee looks like an exceptional player now.

The 19-year-old is considered a top prospect at the north London club and Spurs sent him out on his first ever loan spell in the summer.

Donley has been a fairly important player for Wellens as he has featured 24 times already for the Os in all competitions.

Wellens admitted that Donley’s father and his agent did not complain when he was not getting enough game time, but he insisted that they advised the Spurs loanee to work hard.

The Os boss feels Donley is an exceptional individual and he tipped him for ‘bigger and better’ things in future.

“I cannot be proud enough of Jamie”, Wellens told his club’s media about the Spurs loanee after he scored the winning goal against Shrewsbury Town over the weekend.

“The way he has come in, he is a talented boy, everyone can see that and we watch him in training and you think, what a player.

“He has got every opportunity to be wherever he wants to be but we did not do the basics right.

“You need to learn to come away from that Under-21s football, he got his head down, he was not happy with certain times, which I have to take on board.

“But, it is a part of his development, not only the ability to play but also the resilience and mentality side of it and I have to say, not only the last six-seven games, I think for 14-15 games we have been really really good and he has been a huge part of that.

“So, credit for him, credit to his family because his dad and his agent were not moaning, they told Jamie to get his head down and work.

“He is doing that now and he looks an exceptional player at this level who will go on to bigger and better things.”

Spurs will be keeping a very close eye on Donley’s performances and development at the Os for the rest of this season.

Alex Davidson/Getty Images

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has admitted that he has a decision to make regarding the starting goalkeeper against Liverpool this week.

Spurs have been consistently inconsistent this season so far and they have multiple injuries, especially in defence, which many feel have contributed.

Antonin Kinsky, 21, has just been signed in a €15m deal from Slavia Prague and Postecoglou now has decisions to make, with another goalkeeper in the building.

Postecoglou admitted that the young shot-stopper has had two training sessions and insisted that he is eligible to play as well.

The Spurs boss stressed that he has a decision to make on Wednesday night against the Reds in the EFL Cup, when it comes to picking who is between the sticks.

“He arrived on Sunday, he had a couple of days of training”, Postecoglou told a press conference when he was asked if the newly-bought Czech custodian would start against Liverpool.

“He is registered and eligible to play.

“I have got a decision to make.”

Third-choice Brandon Austin started at the weekend against Newcastle United and Kinsky could well make his debut against high-flying Arne Slot’s Liverpool