Inside Futbol

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Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens has hailed Tottenham Hotspur loan star Jamie Donley and insisted that the Spurs star has made him proud.

The 19-year-old attacking midfielder came through the youth system of the north London club and he is considered a top prospect for the future.

In the summer, he was sent on his first loan away from Spurs and League One side Leyton Orient secured him for this season.

Wellens admitted that he threw challenges at the Spurs man to help him show his resilience, having previously admitted that Donley is now growing as a man.

The England Under-19 international has featured 22 times already and the Os boss admitted that Donley has passed his questions with flying colours.

“Donley, I have to say, I take my hat off to him, I am so proud of him, the way he has come through”, the Leyton Orient boss told his club’s media about the Tottenham loan star.

“The difficult time and I questioned him and I put it on him to show some resilience and he has come through that with flying colours.

“So, the fact that I can get him and [Ethan] Galbraith in the team, is a massive help for us.”

He has directly contributed to four goals in this campaign and it remains to be seen if Donley will be able to perform with consistency under Wellens for the rest of his loan stay.

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Jamie Donley and Josh Keeley, Tottenham Hotspur’s two loan stars at Leyton Orient, have started to attract interest from clubs higher up the English league pyramid, according to football.london.

The duo have been key for Richie Wellens’ team this season having managed 27 appearances between them for the O’s.

While Donley has made four goal contributions as an attacking midfielder in a total of 15 appearances, Keeley has been able to keep nine clean sheets in his 12 outings between the sticks.

Their performances have not gone unnoticed with clubs from higher up the league system showing interest in acquiring their services.

However, for any of the interested clubs to have chances of striking deals, their season-long loan spells have to be cut short.

As both players have already settled into the Leyton Orient set-up, Tottenham will also have to ponder whether they really want to disturb that rhythm to give them other clubs.

There is also a requirement for a backup goalkeeper at Tottenham with the injury to current number one Guglielmo Vicario.

Whether Keeley is considered to step in by Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou remains to be seen.

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Tottenham Hotspur’s teenage midfielder Tyrese Hall is expected to head out on loan in the January transfer window if the right kind of destination can be found, according to football.london.

Hall has been a regular for Tottenham’s Under-18 and Under-21 squads but is yet to make his senior bow for the north London side.

He was named on the bench for Tottenham’s penultimate match of last season against Manchester City but remained unused.

This season, the Under-21 side have benefitted from his presence in front of goal, with five-goal contributions coming from his feet.

Now Hall’s club want to test his quality at senior level and have made plans to send him out on loan.

However, a move is expected to happen only later in the transfer window if a destination which is the right fit for him is found.

Interest has been shown in the teenager from Championship, League One and League Two sides.

Hall has a long-term contract at Tottenham and the club will hope to see him make a success of any loan move he makes.

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Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens has revealed that he wants in-form Tottenham Hotspur loanee Josh Keeley to stay professional and keep his feet on the ground.

The Irish Under-21 international joined the north Londoners two years ago and currently, he is on loan at League One side Leyton Orient for the rest of the season.

The stint is his second loan spell away from Spurs and Keeley has featured 15 times for the Os this term already, keeping nine clean sheets.

The Leyton Orient boss has been impressed with the young Spurs goalkeeper and he wants him to keep his good form up.

Wellens also made it clear that he does not want Keeley to take too many risks and he advised him to stay professional.

“I have realised that he cannot play a diag [diagonal ball]”, Wellens told Leyton Orient’s media when he was asked about a particular event involving Keeley in the 2-0 victory against Cambridge United.

“No, I do not have a problem with the way that he took it down and brought it out a little bit.

“I would like him just to play down the near side, which if you give it [the ball] away, gives him time to recover

“But I do not want to get him too high because he is playing really well at this moment.

“I just want him to stay focused, stay professional and keep on this form he is on.”

Leyton Orient sit in tenth spot in League One after a good run of form and are now just six points off a playoff spot.

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Tottenham Hotspur ‘have no intention’ of selling one of their key men in the January transfer window, despite him having been linked with one of Europe’s biggest clubs.

Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou has had pressure heaped on him due to a series of poor results which have left the club in the bottom half of the Premier League table.

The Australian has been left with bad luck on the injury front and his defensive set-up has been hurt by the absences of goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and defenders Cristian Romero, Ben Davies and Micky van de Ven.

He could even have to deal with an offer coming in for speedy defender Van de Ven as Real Madrid are claimed to hold an interest in securing him.

However, according to journalist Ben Jacobs, Tottenham have no intention of cashing in on the Dutchman.

They have him under contract until the summer of 2029 and, with the defender happy at the club, are under no pressure to sell.

There is also no release clause in Van de Ven’s deal.

Spurs forked out in the region of €50m to sign the 23-year-old from Bundesliga club Wolfsburg in the summer of 2023.

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Former Tottenham Hotspur defender Ramon Vega has pointed to ex-Spurs boss Nuno to point out that sacking Ange Postecoglou will not address the deeper problems in north London.

Spurs’ poor recent form continued on Sunday with a 2-2 draw at home to strugglers Wolves.

The result means Spurs have now not managed to win for their last three league games and sit in the bottom half of the Premier League table, in eleventh, having lost nine of their 19 games.

While Spurs are struggling, their former boss Nuno has Nottingham Forest sitting a superb second in the league standings, with 37 points from their 19 games.

Nuno was shown the door by Spurs and Vega feels that how he is doing at Forest shows that the problems in north London are deep, with sacking Postecoglou not enough to solve them.

The former defender wrote on X: “Was he [Nuno] not once the manager of Spurs?

“Do you truly believe that sacking Ange will lead to any significant change?

“The problems run much deeper than just the managerial position.”

Vega thinks that Tottenham have been operating with a squad that is too small and the club must enter the market in the winter window.

“Unfortunately for Ange, his squad is too small; even a Big club dealing with multiple injuries would likely struggle.

“I’m not a great fan of the January windows but the Club is forced to do something”, he added.

Spurs are now preparing for their first game of 2025, which will come at home against Newcastle United next weekend.

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Fixture: Tottenham Hotspur vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Competition: Premier League

Kick-off: 15:00 UK time

Tottenham Hotspur have officially confirmed their team and substitutes to play host to Wolves in a Premier League encounter this afternoon.

Spurs currently sit in 12th place in the league standings and have lost nine of their 18 matches, increasing the pressure on Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou is continuing to battle against an injury crisis which has severely depleted his defensive options, while another blow is that Djed Spence is suspended today.

Wolves, under new boss Vitor Pereira, have now won their last two games, beating Leicester City and Manchester United.

Fraser Forster is in goal for Spurs today, while at the back Postecoglou picks Pedro Porro, Radu Dragusin, Archie Gray and Destiny Udogie.

In midfield, Spurs go with Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur, while Dejan Kulusevski, Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke and Heung-Min Son lead the goal threat.

If Postecoglou wants to make changes then there are options he can call for from the bench and they include Timo Werner and James Maddison.

Tottenham Hotspur Team vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Forster, Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Udogie, Bissouma, Bentancur, Kulusevski, Johnson, Solanke, Son

Substitutes: Austin, Reguilon, Dorrington, Sarr, Bergvall, Maddison, Olusesi, Werner, Lankshear

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Intermediaries have spoken to Newcastle United about the possibility of the club signing a defender who has also been linked with Tottenham Hotspur, according to Chronicle Live.

Eddie Howe missed out on landing Marc Guehi in the summer transfer window, while winger Anthony Elanga was also targeted but not signed.

Now the winter transfer window is at hand and Newcastle are suggested to be keen to bring in another defender in the shape of Lens’ centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov.

The promising Uzbek defender has been mooted as a target for Tottenham, who are undergoing an injury crisis in central defence and are expected to enter the market.

Now Newcastle have been spoken to by intermediaries about signing Khusanov from Lens in the window.

Lens are fully prepared to let the 20-year-old move on and have tasked super agent Jorge Mendes with sourcing an acceptable deal.

It is suggested that Newcastle, who have been monitoring the defender’s development, could prefer to wait until the summer transfer window to do a deal for him.

The Magpies though could have their hands forced if another side look like making progress in the hunt for Khusanov in the coming weeks.

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Tottenham Hotspur will have to wait until the summer if they want to try to land Real Betis attacker Vitor Roque, whose agent has just knocked back Palmeiras.

Spurs are not having the best of seasons as they have been regularly inconsistent in the Premier League and there is pressure on Ange Postecoglou.

The club are expected to back Postecoglou in the winter transfer window and another attacker could be on the agenda, with Brazilian star Roque linked.

However, according to journalist Jorge Nicola, Roque will not leave Betis in the winter transfer window.

His agent has just been contacted by Brazilian side Palmeiras, but the message has been that he is not available.

The 19-year-old is currently on loan at Betis from Barcelona, having joined the club in 2024 and the loan agreement contains an option for a further year.

Roque is focused on completing the campaign at Betis, rather than moving now.

Whether the situation might change in the coming weeks remains to be seen, especially if Spurs make a firm move for his signature.

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Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens has revealed that Tottenham Hotspur loan star Jamie Donley is developing into a man from a boy and praised several aspects of his game.

The 19-year-old attacking midfielder is considered a player for the future at Spurs and he has featured in four senior games for the north Londoners.

In the summer, he was sent on his first loan spell to League One side Leyton Orient and he has already clocked more than 1,200 minutes of action under Wellens.

Wellens has made no secret that he is a fan of Donley’s passing, decision-making and his ability to drive with the ball.

The Os boss is of the view the Spurs loanee is turning into a man with the way he has carried himself on and off the pitch during his time at Brisbane Road.

“I am a big believer in watching people and their mannerisms and I look at Jamie Donley now, he is just growing, he is turning from a young boy developing into a man”, Wellens told Leyton Orient’s in-house media.

“I have to say, his performances in recent weeks, forget the passing and I spoke about this to Jamie, I have watched him in the Under-21s and I have seen him play, slide with balls, I have seen him get goals, I have seen him get countless assists.

“His position on the pitch, his second balls, when to hook it, when to head it, when to bring it down, when to play one and two touches and his decision-making is also coming on.

Donley has registered four direct goal contributions so far and he will be looking to continue performing under Wellens to impress his parent club for the rest of this season.