The Boy Hotspur

Former Tottenham Hotspur winger Aaron Lennon has now suggested that James Maddison will be crucial to Ange Postecoglou’s success at Tottenham.

The 26-year-old midfielder has been quite impressive for Tottenham since joining them from Leicester City and Lennon feels that he needs to stay fit in order for Tottenham to have a good season.

“He has been outstanding all season, to be fair. He started the season like last season, and he is a fantastic player,” Lennon said (via TBR).

“He is one of those players you love to play with. He makes things happen, he plays forward. He was driving past players, he was reading the game well, lovely finish at the end, but, like you said, if the players in front of him had their shooting boots on, then he could have had three or four assists in that game.

“He is vital to everything that Spurs do, especially going forward. He is a key player, and Spurs need him to stay fit.”

Maddison is undoubtedly one of the best midfielders in the league right now and he has been Spurs’ creator-in-chief. The North London outfit will need him fit and firing in the upcoming months.

The 27-year-old has helped create goalscoring opportunities for his teammates with his vision, passing and technical ability in the final third. Although he has been criticised for his inconsistency at times, he remains an indispensable asset for Tottenham and it will be interesting to see if he can guide them to a successful season.

The Londoners will be desperate for Champions League qualification this season and they will look to do well in the domestic trophies as well. Tottenham have not won a trophy in a long time and Postecoglou will hope to end their wait for silverware this season. It remains to be seen how the situation develops.

Tottenham have had a mediocre start to the Premier League campaign so far, and they have picked up just seven points from five league games. It remains to be seen whether they can bounce back strongly and put together a winning run now.

Tottenham Hotspur were keen on signing Alessandro Buongiorno who ended up joining Napoli in the summer.

Despite having added Micky van de Ven and Radu Dragusin to his squad since taking charge at Tottenham, Ange Postecoglou was still keen on signing another top-level centre-back during the summer.

The Australian felt they lacked depth at the back with just four out-and-out central defenders in their squad and they were linked with quite a few top defenders from across Europe.

Alessandro Buongiorno who made the move to Napoli from Torino in the recently concluded window was one of the names on their wishlist and according to a report from Calciomercato, the North London club came very close to securing his services in the summer. Buongiorno had come up the ranks at Torino and he had been a regular feature in their team since the summer of 2020.

While he was promoted to the first team back in 2018, he got an extended run in the team after a few successful loan spells away from the club. The 25-year-old Italian centre-back had made quite a name for himself with his consistent performances and he was on the wishlist of quite a few top clubs.

Tottenham were also in talks to sign him as they were looking to add more depth to their backline. With Ben Davies already 31 and his contract running out in 2025, it is quite understandable why they wanted to bring in another central defender.

But, eventually, they decided to focus on other targets and the Italian international ended up joining Napoli who went all out to make him a part of Antonio Conte’s squad.

Tottenham Hotspur remain in contact with Viktor Gyokeres’ entourage ahead of a potential move next summer.

Signing a striker was a top priority for the North London club in the recently concluded summer transfer window. They broke their transfer record and forked out £65 million to sign Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth. But, that doesn’t close the door on Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyokeres who remains on their wishlist.

According to a report from TEAMtalk, Tottenham retain an interest in the services of the Swedish international and they are keeping alive contact with the player’s entourage ahead of a potential transfer. Gyokeres has been on fire since making the move to Portugal.

Last season, he bagged 43 goals in his 50 outings and even had 15 assists to his name. There was no shortage of interest in his services during the summer window and Tottenham were one of the clubs linked with him but he decided to continue at Sporting for another year. He has made an exceptional start to the new season with 11 goals and three assists in their eight outings.

Gyokeres is expected to make the move to a bigger European club next summer and Tottenham are one of the clubs who are interested in having him on their team. The fact that they are in contact with his entourage suggests he will be a very important option for them to reinforce their attack next season.

While he will still have three years left on his deal next summer, the 26-year-old striker has an £83 million (€100m) release clause in his contract which makes him an interesting option for multiple Premier League clubs.

Tottenham Hotspur are one of the Premier League clubs keen on signing Turkish winger Baris Alper Yilmaz.

While it hasn’t been the best of starts to the new season for Tottenham Hotspur, they got things back on track with a win against Brentford. The North London club had spent a significant amount on player transfers during the summer in an attempt to reinforce their squad. While they have made some interesting additions, Spurs continue their search for players who can further improve their team.

According to a report from CaughtOffside, Ange Postecoglou’s team are still looking to add more firepower to their attack and they are interested in the services of Baris Alper Yilmaz. The 24-year-old Turkish winger has made quite a name for himself with his consistent performances for Galatasaray and now he finds himself on the wishlist of Nottingham Forest, Brighton and Tottenham.

The Seagulls had submitted a €20 million offer last summer and they will return with an improved bid at the next possible opportunity. Meanwhile, the Tricky Trees and Spurs continue to monitor him. With close to three years left on his deal, the Turkish giants are looking for around €30 million to sanction their star’s departure.

Spurs might not have tabled an offer for his services yet but they are quite interested in Yilmaz and are closely following him. His ability to feature anywhere in attack as well as in any role on either flank makes him a special talent and he could be of great use to Postecoglou. He will provide great tactical flexibility and the 24-year-old will only get better with time.

Jamie O’Hara has urged Spurs forward Brennan Johnson to ‘concentrate on football’ following a tumultuous week.

The 23-year-old was criticised for a poor performance in Tottenham’s 1-0 defeat to north London rivals Arsenal, to the point where he deactivated his social media profiles following abuse from online trolls.

However, Johnson has bounced back in style, scoring two goals in two games to help Spurs beat Coventry 2-1 in the EFL Cup and Brentford 3-1 in the Premier League; his first competitive goals at club level since early April.

Johnson will now hope he can use this form to move on from an unsavoury episode and former Spurs midfielder O’Hara — who played 56 times for the club between 2005 and 2010 — has urged him to stay focused on what matters.

“Fair play to Brennan Johnson, he took some stick and it’s affected him, he deleted his Instagram,” O’Hara told talkSPORT.

“But you know what? Concentrate on your football and that’s the best way to answer your critics, score goals and do the business, so fair to him.”

O’Hara’s co-host, former Spurs and Chelsea defender Jason Cundy, added: “He’s had a tough last week, he took a little bit of stick after the north London derby.

“He got the winning goal midweek, today he gets another goal, he’s had a tough and bumpy ride at Spurs.”

Up next for Spurs is a home clash with Qarabag FK in the Europa League.

Tottenham summer signing, Wilson Odobert, is expected to be sidelined for around a month after picking up a thigh injury against Coventry City on Wednesday.

According to French outlet L’Equipe, the 19-year-old winger underwent initial tests on Thursday, with further examinations planned once the swelling subsides. The club expects that Odobert will be out for approximately four weeks.

This injury comes at a crucial time for Tottenham, as they enter a busy stretch with three games per week, including a significant fixture against Manchester United next weekend.

The report suggests that Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou is hopeful Odobert will return in the latter half of October.

If the timeline holds, Odobert is likely to miss at least four matches, including two Europa League fixtures. He could be back in time for the home game against West Ham or the Europa League tie with AZ Alkmaar on October 25.

In Odobert’s absence, Spurs have several options, including captain Heung-min Son, who started on the left wing during their recent 3-1 win over Brentford. Timo Werner also remains a potential replacement in the attacking lineup.

Former Tottenham scout Bryan King has expressed his dissatisfaction with Dominic Solanke’s overall performance during Spurs’ 3-1 victory over Brentford, despite the striker netting his first goal for the club.

Solanke, a high-profile £60 million signing from Bournemouth, equalized for Tottenham after Bryan Mbeumo gave Brentford the lead within the first minute of the game.

Spurs responded quickly, with Solanke tapping in to level the score. Brennan Johnson then made it 2-1, and James Maddison sealed the win with a late goal, securing Tottenham’s second Premier League victory of the season.

Despite opening his account for the club, King wasn’t impressed by Solanke’s overall contribution.

Speaking to Tottenham News, King said:

“For a £60 million player, he couldn’t have missed that. I think there would have been some trouble if he did miss that.”

“To be honest, I wasn’t impressed by his overall performance. Just like against Coventry City in midweek, I wasn’t impressed.”

While Solanke’s start at Spurs has been slow, he has only played five games, having missed two due to injury.

Known for his solid goalscoring record at Bournemouth, Solanke has the potential to thrive under Ange Postecoglou’s system.

With Spurs creating plenty of chances, it seems only a matter of time before he finds his rhythm and goes on a scoring run.

Ange Postecoglou has praised Dominic Solanke after opening his Tottenham Hotspur account, but has admitted the striker is still some way off full ‘match fitness’.

Solanke joined Spurs in a big-money move from Bournemouth over the summer after netting 21 goals for the Cherries across all competitions last season.

However, the 26-year-old endured a tough start to life in a Spurs shirt, failing to score or assist in his first three games.

But Solanke finally got off the mark against Brentford on Saturday, firing home the rebound from a James Maddison effort to equalise in the eighth minute after the visitors had taken a first-minute lead.

Tottenham went on to win 3-1 thanks to further strikes from Brennan Johnson and Maddison.

Speaking after the match, Postecoglou insisted he’s been happy with Solanke’s performances so far but that it is, of course, nice that the striker is now getting amongst the goals.

“He was good again, I think he’s been good in every game he’s played for us, and as you said, strikers love scoring goals and, yeah, a great moment for him to score his first goal for the club, particularly at home,” Postecoglou told reporters (via Football.London).

“But aside from that, again it was a really strong performance by him. I thought he led the line really well, important for us today as a link up there because we knew they’d go pretty aggressive on a man-to-man marking and he was going to have to hold the ball up for us and I thought he did that really well.”

A first of many for Dom 💫 pic.twitter.com/e6DS4bn8qY

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 21, 2024

Solanke still short of ‘match fitness’

Solanke’s progress at Tottenham has been slowed somewhat by a minor ankle injury that saw him sit out the 4-0 win over Everton and 2-1 defeat away at Newcastle.

Postecoglou withdrew the striker in the 88th minute on Saturday, admitting he was ‘out of gas’. Next on the list for Solanke now that he has a goal to his name is building up the fitness to go a full 90 minutes.

“Yeah, I mean, again Dom’s still working his way to match fitness,” Postecoglou added. “You saw at the end there, he was out of gas. We wanted to take him off a bit earlier, but we needed that third goal to kill the game off.”

Up next for Spurs is a home tie with Qarabag FK in the Europa League on Thursday.

Tottenham Hotspur claimed their second win of the season with a 3-1 victory over Brentford, but James Maddison’s goal celebration has sparked some criticism.

Bryan Mbeumo stunned Spurs with a goal just 25 seconds into the match, but Tottenham responded swiftly. Dominic Solanke scored his first goal for the club, tapping in from close range to equalise.

Shortly after, Brennan Johnson put Spurs ahead with a brilliant strike, making it 2-1.

Maddison then sealed the win in the dying minutes with a delightful chip over the Brentford goalkeeper, sending the Spurs fans into a frenzy.

However, his celebration drew criticism after he removed his shirt and threw it into the air, resulting in a yellow card.

Former Tottenham scout Bryan King expressed his displeasure with Maddison’s celebration, telling Tottenham News:

“It was a quality finish from Maddison. However, what was him taking his shirt off in the celebrations all about? Where does that come from? It meant that he picked up a cheap yellow card. He made his point by scoring a very good goal. I’d have understood if he had a message on a t-shirt underneath, but he was just wearing a plain vest.”

King added that while he didn’t consider it disrespectful, the unnecessary yellow card and the removal of the club shirt could have been avoided, noting:

“What is the point of taking it off and throwing it in the air? A lot of people regard that as disrespectful. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that. However, it doesn’t need to be done.”

“I’d imagine someone will say something about that, perhaps Postecoglou. The last thing a sponsor would want to see is the shirt lying in a crumpled heap. How much more effective would his celebration have been if he had the Tottenham shirt on.”

Maddison has faced criticism recently for his lack of goal contributions but looked to be back in form against Brentford.

While Ange Postecoglou may have a word with him about the yellow card, King’s criticism seems a bit harsh given the significance of the win.

Tottenham attacker Manor Solomon is currently on loan at Leeds United and he has been tipped to join them permanently next summer in a deal worth £10 million.

Manor Solomon arrived at the North London club in the summer of 2023. He made the move from Shakhtar Donetsk to Spurs on a free transfer. Tottenham got their hands on an exceptional talent but they couldn’t make the best use of it. He only had a handful of opportunities before an injury ruled him out of the remainder of the 2023/24 season.

While he was back fit in time for the new season, the 25-year-old winger was not in the plans of Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham were looking to get him off their books. They eventually ended up sending him out on loan to Leeds United where he has had an impressive start. Spurs podcast Lilywhite Rose’s owner John Wenham feels Solomon could secure a permanent move to the Yorkshire club next summer.

While speaking on Tottenham News, Wenham said: “I really hope that this loan move goes well. Solomon is too good for the Championship. Therefore, he would probably suit a bottom-half Premier League team.

“Hopefully he absolutely smashes it and gets himself into the team of the season. I could then see him making his move to Leeds permanent next summer for around £10million.

“It is a really good loan and I’m delighted that he has gone straight into the team.”

The owner of the Spurs podcast Lilywhite Rose feels the Israeli winger is too good to be playing in the Championship. He has already had an impressive start with an assist on his debut and Wenham hopes he makes it to the Champions Team of the Season at the end of the campaign.

While his contract at Spurs runs until the summer of 2028, a successful loan spell could result in a permanent move away from the club. It could help the North London club raise funds by sanctioning his departure. He feels the 25-year-old could eventually secure a permanent move to Leeds in a deal worth around £10 million if all goes according to plan.