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For much of the last decade Tottenham Hotspur were driven by boyhood Arsenal fan Harry Kane – at least until their star man departed for Bayern Munich last summer.

But Kane may have never had the opportunity to breakthrough back in 2014, had Tottenham signed legendary Peru striker Paulo Guerrero. In January 2013, Guerrero was looking to looking to leave Brazilian side Corinthians and return to Europe having previously spent 12 years in the Bundesliga.

The Premier League, and specifically Tottenham Hotspur, were his first choice. However, it was ironically a former Arsenal player who ended up scuppering the deal and denying Guerrero the chance to move to North London.

How Arsenal's Edu blocked Tottenham from signing Paulo Guerrero

Former Arsenal midfielder – part of the immortal ‘Invincibles’ team - and current Gunners sporting director Edu was responsible for Guerrero’s transfer falling through.

The Peru legend has revealed that while at Corinthians, Spurs were close to signing him in January 2013. That was before a last minute intervention, where Edu - then Corinthians director of football - promised Guerrero a pay rise to stay.

Speaking to the D&T programme, Guerrero said: “When I arrived at Corinthians, I said to myself: ‘I win the Club World Cup and I’ll go back’.

“Did I have opportunities to return to Europe? Many, but Corinthians didn’t want to sell me or didn’t want to negotiate. The last offer came from Tottenham, which was a loan-purchase option.”

“I went with the proposal to talk to Edu, who is now Arsenal’s director, and I said ‘I have this, please’. His response was: ‘Do you want the crooked thing to kill me, Paolo? Rest assured that here you will be the highest paid footballer in South America’.

“He didn’t comply. I didn’t renew with Corinthians because the proposal they made me wasn’t within what I think I deserved. I believed that because I was Peruvian, they were not valuing me.”

VIDEO: Why Man United Got DESTROYED By Tottenham

Guerrero eventually did leave Corinthians, but not until 2015, where he instead joined Brazilian rivals Flamengo rather than move to England.

Now 40, Guerrero has still yet to return to Europe since leaving Hamburg in 2012, but remains a legend in South America, winning 122 caps for his country.

After failing to land Guerrero, later that year Spurs instead signed Spanish forward Roberto Soldado. However, Soldado struggled to adapt to English football, paving the way for Kane’s opportunity to break into the first team in 2014.

Tottenham were one of the biggest spenders in the summer transfer window, with their £65 million move for Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke the largest fee shelled out by a Premier League club.

The England forward has netted three times for Spurs so far this season, including the final goal in their 3-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Solanke’s arrival came a year after the club sold Harry Kane and the Spurs are said to be keen to add yet more attacking players as they still look to replace their former skipper’s goal contributions, with Viktor Gyokeres linked earlier this week.

Tottenham could reunite Dominic Solanke with a former team-mate

Now, another in-from attacker has been linked with a move to north London, with Spurs reportedly ready to go back for a second raid on Bournemouth.

Antoine Semenyo has enjoyed a fine start to the current campaign, with the winger’s first-half strike in the Cherries’ 3-1 win over Southampton on Monday evening his third goal of the Premier League season so far.

This form, according to Fichajes, has made Spurs sit up and take notice. The report claims that Tottenham will look to move for the 24-year-old next summer and are willing to spend €40m on the Ghana international, although if his excellent form continues, this price tag could go up.

Semenyo was a £10m signing for the Cherries from Bristol City in January 2022 and would net eight goals and serve up two assists last season to help the Cherries to a 12th-placed finish.

His move to the south coast side came after loan spells at Bath City, Newport County and Sunderland before he broke through with the Robins and his subsequent development at Bournemouth has seen him emerge as one of the Premier League's most exciting wingers.

He is currently valued at €20m by Transfermarkt, but this number is rapidly rising and the Cherries would not do business at that number.

Why Man United Got DESTROYED By Tottenham

In FourFourTwo's view, Semenyo is very much a player on the up and looks to have a bright future at Premier League level.

At the age of 24 and with room to grow further as a player, he fits the kind of profile that Spurs would go for, but with Brennan Johnson and Dejan Kulusevski already in place in the right-wing position for the club, would that be the right move for him?

What we can be sure of though, is that his band of admirers will grow if he maintains his current rich vein of form.

Tottenham came up short when they hosted Arsenal in the first north London derby of the season earlier this month as they fell to a 1-0 defeat against their local rivals.

But the pair could again be set to clash again in the transfer market after Ange Postecoglou's side were linked with a player Arsenal have reportedly been courting to bolster their attack.

Arsenal were heavily linked with bringing in a new striker this summer, but opted to focus on their defence and midfield ahead of their latest effort to dethrone Manchester City.

Tottenham eye move for Viktor Gyokeres, ahead of Arsenal

Despite signing Dominic Solanke for a fee that could rise to £65million this summer, Spurs are now said to be looking to sign another forward as they continue to attempt to fill the void left by Harry Kane, who left the club for Bayern Munich in the summer of 2023.

According to Portuguese outlet Fichajes, Spurs are now among the contenders to land Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres, who has been one of Europe's most prolific strikers since swapping Coventry City for the Portuguese Primeira Liga last summer.

Gyokeres netted 43 goals in 50 appearances for Sporting last season and has begun the 2024/25 campaign in even better form, netting 11 times in nine games so far, with FourFourTwo recently ranking the Sweden international as the seventh-best centre-forward in the world.

That has seen the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain all linked with the 26-year-old, who could cost up to €100million next summer.

Gyokeres was signed by Sporting for €20million from Championship side Coventry City in the summer of 2023, with the forward also having had loan stints at Swansea City and St Pauli after he joined Brighton from IF Brommapojkarna in 2018.

Solanke, meanwhile, was signed by Spurs for a club-record fee this summer and has netted three times so far this season, including a goal in Sunday's 3-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.

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In FourFourTwo's view, it would be something of a surprise to see Spurs spend big on another centre-forward next summer, not least one where the level of competition for his signature would surely drive his price up.

Tottenham Hotspur could have new minority shareholders by the end of 2024, with the club set to receive fresh investment in the next few months.

ENIC, the company owned by the family trust of Joe Lewis, currently owns 86.58 per cent of Tottenham. Lewis, though, is looking to descrease his influence at the club in the near-future by offloading some of his shares, opening up the opportunity for external investment.

That could see some familiar faces turn up at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the second half of the 2024/25 season, with one key figure "ready to invest middle eastern funds" in a top Premier League club as soon as possible.

Tottenham Hotspur could be taken over by former Newcastle director Amanda Staveley

According to the Mirror, Amanda Staveley is expected to buy some of Lewis' shares at Tottenham by the end of the year, with one source telling the publication: “Amanda is serious about being involved with Spurs, and is hoping that an initial purchase can be completed within weeks.”

Staveley helped the Public Investement Fund of Saudi Arabia take over Newcastle United in October 2021 in a deal worth £305m. She and her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi acquired a 10 per cent stake in the club, which were then reduced before they sold their remaining shares in July 2024.

In doing so, she confirmed to The Athletic that she didn't want to leave Newcastle when she did, but was open to investing in another Premier League side as soon as possible.

“My preference would have been to stay with Newcastle, but life doesn’t always work out exactly how you want it to," Staveley said. "Nothing is going to replicate that.”

Now, though, it seems Staveley and Ghodoussi will get their wish with Tottenham Hotspur. They hope that improved funding from the Middle East could help get Spurs challenging at the top of the Premier League table again, with trophies also sought after in north London.

VIDEO: The ONLY Way Man City Can Survive Without Rodri

In doing so, she confirmed to The Athletic that she didn't want to leave Newcastle when she did, but was open to investing in another Premier League side as soon as possible.

“My preference would have been to stay with Newcastle, but life doesn’t always work out exactly how you want it to," Staveley said. "Nothing is going to replicate that.”

Now, though, it seems Staveley and Ghodoussi will get their wish with Tottenham Hotspur. They hope that improved funding from the Middle East could help get Spurs challenging at the top of the Premier League table again, with trophies also sought after in north London.

VIDEO: The ONLY Way Man City Can Survive Without Rodri

“My preference would have been to stay with Newcastle, but life doesn’t always work out exactly how you want it to," Staveley said. "Nothing is going to replicate that.”

Now, though, it seems Staveley and Ghodoussi will get their wish with Tottenham Hotspur. They hope that improved funding from the Middle East could help get Spurs challenging at the top of the Premier League table again, with trophies also sought after in north London.

VIDEO: The ONLY Way Man City Can Survive Without Rodri

Indeed, Tottenham last won a trophy in 2008, when they beat Chelsea in the League Cup final. For a club with as much stature, demands will surely be placed upon Ange Postecoglou and his side to deliver success as soon as possible.

Time for a football quiz. Can you tell us everyone Tottenham Hotspur have played in Europe since 2007?

Spurs return to European action this summer after an impressive fifth-placed finish in Ange Postecoglou's debut campaign last season.

The Lilywhites have enjoyed their most successful period in Europe since the turn of the millennium, reaching the Champions League group stages for the first time since the early 1960s in 2010, before reaching the final in 2019.

The North London outfit have tasted European success on two occasions, 1972 and 1984, beating Wolves and Anderlecht respectively to lift the UEFA Cup.

Following a baron spell of appearances leading up to 2006, Spurs have been an almost ever-present figure across UEFA's three club competitions, although missed out last season after a difficult 2022/23 campaign.

With that in mind, Can you name every Tottenham Hotspur have faced in European competitions since 2000? 88 clubs to name, 15 minutes on the clock.

Remember to tweet your scores @FourFourTwo and share with your friends.

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Tottenham’s £65 million move for England striker Dominic Solanke was one of the biggest moves of the summer transfer window. Despite this, the club are reportedly in for another big-name striker when the next window opens.

Solanke was signed from Bournemouth this summer to boost Spurs’ attacking corps but after a slow start to the 2024/25 season, they are now being linked with another statement signing up front.

Ange Postecoglou’s side have lost their two Premier League matches, including a 1-0 home reverse to bitter rivals Arsenal last weekend and needed two late goals to get past Championship side Coventry City on Wednesday evening – with Postecoglou firing back at fans. Now, the Australian could be about to get a new forward to help in the final third, after Alan Shearer suggested his side had “no real quality” at home to Arsenal.

Tottenham Hotspur have entered the race for Viktor Gyokeres

As the pressure begins to creep up on Postecoglou, Spurs are the latest side to be linked with a move for Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres.

The former Coventry hitman is one of Europe’s most in-form strikers after netting 43 goals during his first season in Portugal last year – and sits at No.8 in FourFourTwo's list of the best strikers in the world. He has already netted nine goals in his seven matches so far this term after Sporting were able to fend off the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea, who were both linked with the 26-year-old over the summer.

According to Fichajes, Spurs are the latest side to throw their hat in the ring for the Swedish international, with the report claiming that Postecoglou’s side have ‘fully entered’ the ‘intense’ chase for Gyokeres.

Chelsea are also reported to be looking to sign the forward in the January transfer window, after the club were only able to sign one new forward in Marc Guiu this summer.

Paris Saint-Germain are the third club mentioned in the report, with the French champions offering ‘tough competition’ to the Premier League duo.

In FourFourTwo’s opinion, Gyokeres’ form over the past 12 months since he swapped the Championship for the Portuguese top flight has been astonishing. The player looks to have the quality to succeed at the top end of the Premier League – but we don't think that Tottenham will be looking to sign another centre-forward any time soon, having invested £65m in Solanke.

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He is valued at €65m by Transfermarkt, while there have been reports of €100m price tag. Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has relayed on X (formerly Twitter) that in Gyokeres' own words, his release clause is high.

That may put clubs off, but the Swede could be a signing with a very high ceiling.

Ange Postecoglou was not in the mood to field suggestions from the travelling Tottenham supporters during his side’s dramatic late win over Coventry City on Wednesday evening.

Spurs left it late against their Championship opponents in the League Cup clash, needing an 88th-minute Djed Spence equaliser to cancel out Brandon Thomas-Asante’s second-half goal, before Brennan Johnson’s stoppage-time winner sealed a fourth-round spot.

But this came after the travelling fans booed the Australian’s decision to substitute midfielder Lucas Bergvall, who was making his first start for the club, on 62 minutes. James Maddison replaced the Swedish youngster, with Spurs conceding immediately after the substitution.

Postecoglou, whose side came into the midweek clash on the back of consecutive Premier League defeats, including last weekend’s 1-0 home reverse to bitter rivals Arsenal, was quick to bite back at the fans’ frustration following the win.

"I don't make substitutions by poll, mate,” he said in his post-match press conference. “So, I'm sure the fans have got their own opinions, but yeah, Lucas, like I said that's his first sort of significant game time for quite a while. What I didn't want was us pushing guys over the edge today, that's why we took Destiny [Udogie] off at half-time as well.

"We already had a couple of injuries, and I had some pretty good players on the bench that I thought could make an impact, but it doesn't take away from Lucas's performance. I thought he was outstanding tonight.

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"They they're going to play a lot of football for us and hopefully getting through tonight, whether it's 90 minutes for Archie [Gray] or you know, 60, 70 for Lucas, will put them in a good space."

Postecoglou can point to the fact that Spurs progressed following his decision to replace the promising Bergvall on a night where he made eight changes to his starting line-up.

"What I've always tried to do is what I think is the right thing," he continued. "The best thing for us, in terms of what we're trying to achieve, and you know that there's no guarantees with anything you do in football.

"But what I've always done is back my decisions in critical times to always do what I feel is best. And if it doesn't work out, I can live with that. But I'm certainly not going to jeopardise what we're trying to build here by doing something that's going to make me look like I'm in a safer position."

Next up for Spurs is a home clash against Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday, before the club begin their Europa League campaign by hosting Qarabag on Thursday.

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'No real quality at all': Alan Shearer calls on Tottenham captain Son Heung-min to lead improvement following Arsenal defeat

Tottenham have agreed intriguing deal for star, with Ange Postecoglou facing major pressure: report

All-time leading Premier League goalscorer Alan Shearer has called upon Spurs' more experienced players to up their game to help them get back to winning ways.

Tottenham Hotspur have just four points from as many games to begin the new Premier League season, with their lack of cutting edge up top particularly costly in their opening-day draw against Leicester City, a defeat to Newcastle United that they dominated for large spells, and most recently in the North London derby against Arsenal.

A four-goal win against woeful Everton is currently doing a lot of heavy-lifting for Spurs goalscoring and expected goals tallies, leading Shearer to call on the side's attackers to offer more for Ange Postecoglou.

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Alan Shearer expects senior Tottenham players to step up

Tottenham brought in several new recruits over the summer, but £65m signing Dominic Solanke is the only one with significant years playing top-flight football under the belt, with the club pursuing a policy of bringing in young talents.

Speaking to Betfair, Shearer was asked if the likes of Son Heung-min and James Maddison therefore need to take more responsibility, and replied: "Yeah, absolutely. Solanke isn't quite up to speed yet - maybe understandable with the niggling injury he's had.

"He played the first game, then missed the next two and then was back for the Arsenal game, but there's no doubt they're misfiring in forward positions.

"Yes, Brennan Johnson has to improve. I'm sure he can, the ability is there but so does Son. So does Timo Werner when he comes on.

"That's where they have to improve. They had one or two half chances maybe in the first half. Kulusevski had a chance and Raya saved it but in the second half it was more hopeful than anything else. There was no real quality at all."

Tottenham's poor form extends back over the summer and into last season, when they won just two of their final seven games - both against relegated sides.

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Spurs have made their stance on Ange Postecgolou's position clear following Sunday's North London derby loss.

It comes after a former Tottenham star tipped the club to make a surprise managerial appointment.

Tottenham have splashed out well over £350m on new signings since appointing Ange Postecoglou as manager 15 months ago. As such, expectations of the silverware that has eluded the North London giants for so long are high.

Spurs have endured a bumpy start to the 2024/25 campaign, though, winning only one of their opening four games – 4-0 against bottom-of-the-table Everton – and losing their last two. Sunday's 1-0 derby defeat at home to Arsenal will have been a particularly bitter pill to swallow.

Right now, there is clearly a fair bit of work to do to get this team challenging for trophies. Will Postecoglou be given the time to get Tottenham into that position, though?

No matter who's in charge of Spurs come the end of the season, the club appear have made pretty advanced transfer plans. TEAMtalk have provided an update on one player heavily linked with a move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

They claim that Tottenham could be pipped to the signing of Real Betis defensive midfielder Johnny Cardoso by Milan. The Telegraph reported earlier this month that Spurs had secured a priority option to buy the USA international for £21m next summer – as part of their deal to sell Giovani Lo Celso back to Betis last month – albeit with a somewhat curious caveat: they would only have a two-week window in which to sign him.

As such, Milan – or any other club potentially interested in Cardoso – might try to steal the march in January. Tottenham, though are said to be at the front of the queue.

So, what does FourFourTwo think? Is this a bit of a transfer-market masterstroke from Spurs?

Well, on the face of it, it shows great forward-thinking, but it does also seem like a slightly risky approach. Or maybe Tottenham just aren't that keen on Cardoso...

Cardoso is worth €25m, according to Transfermarkt. His contract expires in 2029.

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Spurs have made their stance on Ange Postecgolou's position clear following Sunday's North London derby loss.

It comes after a former Tottenham star tipped the club to make a surprise managerial appointment.

Tottenham Hotspur are nowhere close to considering giving manager Ange Postecoglou the ol' heave-ho despite their faltering start to the new Premier League season.

That's according to journalist Fabrizio Romano, who could barely put his understanding of the Australian's position in stronger terms when asked if Postecoglou's position was at risk following Sunday's derby defeat to Arsenal.

Tottenham got off to a blistering start under Postecoglou last season, dropping just four points in his first ten league games in charge, but then hit a run of poor form that repeated at the tail end of the campaign.

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Ange Postecoglou at no risk of losing Tottenham job despite poor start

Spurs have taken just four points from as many games so far this season, drawing away to newly-promoted Leicester City on the opening day then pummelling hopeless Everton 4-0 before losing to Newcastle United and Arsenal.

But asked if Postecoglou's position was in danger, Romano said on his Substack page: "Not at all, zero percent. No, no, no and no.

"It's absolutely everything under control at Tottenham - a slow start, of course, a disappointing North London derby, but at the same time, they are not considering any shocking decision for the manager.

"This project is completely, completely involved in the ideas, the plan... the whole project is around Ange Postecoglou. Even in the summer transfer window, they were blending transfers together with him: [Dominic] Solanke, and also the others.

"This is something they are building with the manager - not just for the manager, but with the manager, so they are not going to change anything now. It was again a poor start to the season where they were also unlucky, if you remember the Leicester game. So it's probably a difficult moment in general for Tottenham, but they absolutely trust in the manager and trust Postecoglou.

"So at the moment there is nothing negative ongoing at the club, no bad feelings, just the moment to change things, and they will do that on the pitch I'm sure."

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