Football Addict

Today at 12:00

Tottenham Hotspur splashed the cash to sign a new striker this summer, but according to Troy Deeney, they picked the wrong man when they went for Dominic Solanke.

Spurs could have saved some money

Solanke signed for Spurs last month in a reported £65m deal from Bournemouth (Sky Sports). The forward has made just one appearance so far, having been injured on his debut in the draw against Leicester City.

There are big expectations on the shoulders of Solanke. It is hoped he can be the man to convert all the chances Spurs so regularly create, and be the difference that can take the Lilywhites to the next level.

It remains to be seen whether he can fulfil his potential, but Deeney has suggested Spurs would have been better off signing Ivan Toney instead this summer.

He told the Seaman Says podcast: “Ivan Toney was available, let's use him as a case in point. Would he add value to Chelsea? Yes, he would score more than Nicolas Jackson. In my opinion, he would score more than Solanke at Spurs.

“Everyone is looking for that mobile, running striker, the goalscoring comes like fifth in the list of attributes.”

Solanke was always the first choice

Tottenham were linked with a number of strikers throughout the summer, and there was definite interest in Toney at one stage. Apparently, Spurs were not concerned by his reported attitude problems, either (GiveMeSport).

However, it is thought Solanke was always the number one target for the Lilywhites. Ange Postecoglou has spoken publicly about his belief that the striker will be a ‘good fit’ and be a success at the club (Football.London).

Spurs Web Opinion

I think it says a lot that pretty much every club in the top six was looking for a striker this summer, and they all passed on Ivan Toney, even though he was cheap and very much available. I have faith that Solanke will be a hit for us.

Yesterday at 20:30

BBC Sport reveal that no player in ‘world football’ flew as far to play international matches last season as Tottenham’s Cristian Romero.

Cristian Romero has had a mixed start to the season

Romero has made some unforced errors leading to goals at the start of the campaign, which is quite uncharacteristic of him.

Some may feel that it is down to physical and mental exhaustion, with the centre-back being part of several major tournaments with Argentina over the last couple of years.

Even this summer, the defender played every minute of his nation’s Copa America campaign as the Albicelestes made history by retaining the title they won back in 2021. Romero thus missed most of pre-season with Spurs.

Romero is clocking up his air miles

It has now been revealed by BBC Sport that Romero flew the most distance of any player across the world football over the course of last season.

The centre-back reportedly recorded a distance of 163,000km across his trips as he flew back and forth to South America for international duty.

The 26-year-old played all 90 minutes for Argentina on Thursday as they overcame Chile 3-0 in the World Cup qualifier and he is expected to start again in the clash against Colombia on Tuesday.

Spurs Web Opinion

While this is not ideal, it is the reality of modern football, with the schedule being extremely packed.

It is not fair on the players and this is exactly why UEFA’s decision to add more games to the Champions League and Europa League was extremely negligent.

Yesterday at 19:00

European football expert James Horncastle is shocked at the fee AC Milan paid for Emerson Royal, suggesting in his latest column that the Serie A club have charitably donated to Tottenham’s coffers.

Emerson swapped Spurs for AC Milan

The writing was always on the wall for Emerson in the summer transfer window, with the right-back evidently not part of Ange Postecoglou’s plans.

It did not come as a surprise when the defender eventually sealed a permanent move to the San Siro, with the Lilywhites getting a fee of £13m (TNT Sports) from the Rossoneri for the Brazilian.

Emerson has not had the easiest of starts to life at Milan, having struggled in his debut against Parma as well as his first start against Lazio.

Milan played out a 2-2 draw with the capital club last Sunday, with both goals coming from the former Tottenham man’s side, with the right-back coming in for a lot of criticism from the Italian press (MilanNews).

£12.6m donation for Tottenham Hotspur

Horncastle has become the latest to pile on, questioning how Milan saw it fit to pay the fee that did for Emerson.

The journalist wrote in The Athletic: “Milan keep conceding the same goal too, down Emerson Royal's side.

“His €15million (£12.6m) signing from Tottenham Hotspur looks like the biggest donation in the history of Fondazione Milan as the club charitably tries to make his wish to become a footballer come true.”

Spurs Web Opinion

This sort of piling on is completely unwarranted, given that Emerson has made just one start for Milan.

I am confident that the Brazilian will turn this around and go on to be an important player for Paulo Fonseca’s men this season as the pace of the Serie A will suit him.

Yesterday at 19:30

Ally McCoist admits that he expected rumoured Tottenham Hotspur target Eberechi Eze to leave Crystal Palace this summer.

Tottenham were linked with Eberechi Eze a lot

Early in the summer transfer window, many outlets suggested that Eze was one of the names at the top of Spurs’ wishlist and that the North London side were seriously considering a move for the attacking midfielder, who had a release clause of £60m plus add-ons (The Times).

However, it did not appear as if Tottenham or any other club made an offer for the England international, whose clause expired around two weeks before the transfer window closed (Fabrizio Romano).

It remains to be seen whether Ange Postecoglou’s men go back in for Eze next summer, with the clause reportedly set to become active again in 12 months (Daily Mail).

A few days ago, Palace chairman Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish told Sky Sports that he was shocked that the 25-year-old did not generate more interest in the summer, admitting that he is delighted to keep hold of the player.

Will Eberechi Eze leave Palace next year?

When Parish’s comments were put to McCoist, he told talkSPORT (04/09/24): “Actually, yes. I would agree with Steve Parish. I think he's an outstanding talent. There was a period where it looked as though Guehi was leaving, Andersen was leaving, Olise was away, Eze had a question mark.

“At one point they were losing everybody. But I have enjoyed watching Palace recently, over the last 18 months or so. I am a little bit surprised [he didn't leave] but delighted for the Palace fans.”

Spurs Web Opinion

It was well documented that the clause was quite complicated, with a significant portion of the fee needing to be paid upfront, which might have been why Tottenham and others decided against a move.

Lucas Bergvall’s impressive showing in pre-season might have also played a part in convincing Postecoglou and Spurs against a move for Eze.

Today at 12:19

Steven Bergwijn's stint at Tottenham started spectacularly after a goal against Manchester City but the Dutchman didn’t quite hit the same heights in the long run.

He was moved on to Ajax, where he made a bigger impact but there was always a concern he’d cost too much, that his salary was a drain and not worth the return. Subsequently, he recently sealed a move to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad.

Players that move to the Middle East are often branded 'money grabbers' or stars that have become less inclined towards ambition and more inclined towards a colossal bank balance.

Criticism of that sort has been aimed at Bergwijn recently, with Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman having confirmed that his chances of playing for the Oranje have now gone up in smoke. The Dutch boss also questioned the player’s ambition.

Bergwijn has now given an interview to De Telegraaf about his move to Al-Ittihad and he tried to downplay the idea of him being a money-grabber.

When asked about whether the tag is unjustified, he said:

“I think so, because the salary at Tottenham Hotspur and Ajax was also excellent. I have played in the Eredivisie, the Premier League, the Champions League, the Europa League and at European Championships and a World Cup. I am now looking forward to this adventure."

He went on to suggest that Ajax and their high asking price is one reason why he didn’t move elsewhere.

"I have seized this opportunity with both hands and I am simply very happy. Let us not forget that Ajax also wanted to receive another €21m for me. Then everyone can say that I should have gone to Spain, Germany or Italy, but who says that such a bid would even come from such a country. And it remained quiet from England as well.

"Nobody knows what happened behind the scenes. But don’t get me wrong. I fully support this choice.”

While Bergwijn may yet thrive in Saudi Arabia, he is still only 26-years-of-age and considering how he was regularly amongst the goals for Ajax, he could yet have stayed in Europe.

The move may have taken time, but it would have kept him in the Netherlands' national team picture.

Bergwijn will now earn over €25m from his Al-Ittihad contract and that will have been a key factor in the move. He also suggested the Saudi league is now at least comparable to the Eredivisie.

Today at 11:45

Former Southampton star Florin Gardos believes Radu Dragusin will continue to be vulnerable in Ange Postecoglou's system.

Tottenham have had a mixed start to the new season. They have only won one out of their first three league games and suffered a defeat at the hands of Newcastle United at St James' Park last time out. Following their 2-1 defeat to the Magpies, Ange Postecoglou has faced a lot of criticism because of his tactical decisions.

Florin Gardos feels the Australian manager's extremely high line won't work in the Premier League. The former Romanian international has suggested that Radu Dragusin will be left exposed if the former Celtic manager keeps persisting with the high line.

While speaking on Digispor about Alexander Isak's winner against the North London club, the 35-year-old said: "That's why I'm not a fan of Postecoglou and I don't think he'll (Dragusin) have any notable performances. Joelinton has the ball a few meters from the centre circle and Tottenham's back line is in midfield.

"You can have Usain Bolt on defence, he still doesn't get to those kinds of balls. It's a pity for Dragusin, he played well, but if something doesn't change he will be exposed in every match."

Dragusin made the move to Tottenham at the start of the year. While the 22-year-old centre-back is quite highly rated, he has only had limited opportunities so far. He made his first start of the season against Newcastle with Micky van de Ven out injured. The Romanian international had an impressive outing. While it was a solid overall performance, the former Genoa defender was in all sorts of problems every time the ball was played in behind the backline to pacey forwards of the Tyneside club.

Dragusin did make a few last-ditch tackles and he wasn't at fault in both the goals the North London club conceded but Gardos believes the youngster will keep having problems if Postecoglou keeps persisting with the extremely high line.

The former Romanian defender feels Dragusin will be exposed in every match if the Australian boss doesn't make a tactical adjustment. He even suggested that the defeat against Newcastle was the manager's fault.

Today at 11:41

Lucas Bergvall was jeered by his Tottenham team-mates after failing to impress them.

Today at 10:30

Lucas Bergvall insists that his relationship with Guglielmo Vicario isn't an issue despite their recent altercation.

The North London club struck a deal with Djurgården for the services of Lucas Bergvall at the start of the year and he made the move to Tottenham in the recently concluded summer transfer window. The teenager has had an impressive start to life at his new club.

He managed to impress Ange Postecoglou in the pre-season and has featured in all three of their Premier League fixtures so far.

The 18-year-old attacking midfielder has received a lot of praise for his ability to constantly move the ball forward and beat the opposition press. However, his reliance on those abilities resulted in an on-field conflict with a teammate Guglielmo Vicario during their opening league fixture of the season against Leicester City.

The teenager was asked about the incident during an interview with Aftonbladet (via SportWitness), Bergvall said: "Sometimes you do worse things, sometimes you do better things. We had 1-0 and a fairly comfortable lead. We conceded for 1-1 and that's what happens. All is calm now. We have talked about it. Vicario said that there are hot feelings and things like that happen."

The Swedish international had given away the ball in a dangerous area in the build-up to the Leicester equaliser. While he should have cleared the ball, he attempted to dribble his way out which cost them big time as they dropped points to the newly promoted team. The Italian shot-stopper wasn't really happy with the teenager and it resulted in an on-filed rift.

Vicario received a lot of criticism for his behaviour with fans feeling that he went too far given it is still early days for the teenager in the Premier League. But, Bergavll doesn't seem to be bothered by it. He has already resolved the issue with the Italian goalkeeper and is focused on doing his best to help the team.

Today at 09:15

Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon have been left out of Tottenham's Europa League squad.

The North London club have confirmed their squad for the group stages of the Europa League as they were facing a deadline on Wednesday. Ange Postecoglou's team have only been able to register a 23-man squad for the European competition because of a mix of squad limitations and other priorities.

According to a report via Football London, Tottenham have been forced to omit Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon from their squad. While they didn't have any trouble registering their squad for the Premier League, the Australian manager surely faced some challenges while picking his squad for the Europa League.

Summer signings Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray had to be registered in the main squad because of the competition's rules and regulations. While young players can be registered in the B list, in UEFA competitions that can only happen if the player has been at the club for two years.

In the European competitions, a team needs to have eight locally trained players in their 25-man squad and a maximum of four of those could be association-trained players. Since Tottenham only have two out of the four required locally trained players, they have been forced to reduce their squad size to 23.

Djed Spence had an impressive pre-season and he would have surely been a part of their 25-man squad but he missed out in order to make room for others. As far as Reguilon is considered, he is surplus to requirements under Postecoglou and leaving him out might is a big indication that he does not have a future at the club.

It will be interesting to see if they can get rid of him before the transfer window closes in the rest of the European countries.

Today at 11:18

Tottenham's Lucas Bergvall has had quite a rapid rise to stardom.

In 2022, he was playing in the second division of the Swedish pyramid and now finds himself a full international and playing in the Premier League for Spurs.

The teenager made his debut for the Swedish national team back in January and also featured yesterday against Azerbaijan, coming off the bench.

After the game, the Tottenham man was asked about his situation, how quickly his rise has happened, and whether he has taken time to look back on his journey so far.

The youngster told Fotbollskanalen: "I don’t know if I do it very often. It has gone incredibly fast and I should perhaps stop and reflect a bit sometimes."

He also mentioned that he was 'proud' of making his Nations League debut for Sweden, stating that it was important to keep the balance of the game and seal the 3-1 win.

The 18-year-old has played three times for Tottenham in the Premier League, coming off the bench in all the games. He’s already shown impressive glimpses of his ability to carry the ball from midfield and Ange Postecoglou has praised the midfielder.

Bergvall’s game time at Spurs will only increase as the season grows and that will certainly make the journey all the more exciting for the teenager.

He just needs to stop and pinch himself every now and again.