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    Fans all say the same thing as Tottenham ‘troll themselves’ in now-deleted picture of a Champions League bottle

    FOOTBALL fans have mocked Tottenham after they appeared to troll themselves with a now-deleted social media post.Antonio Conte’s men kick off their Champions League campaign at home to Marseille on Wednesday after two years away from Europe’s premier tournament.
    Conte’s Spurs will start their Champions League campaign on WednesdayCredit: PA
    This is the post which has since been deleted by TottenhamCredit: Reddit
    But as they prepare to begin life back in the competition, Spurs shared an unfortunate picture online.
    The official Tottenham Twitter account posted an image of a club water bottle with the words “Champions League” on it.

    In the text of the tweet, they added a pin and the caption: “Hotspur Way.”
    It was deleted shortly after, but not before many had already seen it.
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    And football supporters ridiculed it online, with many jokingly suggesting they were labelling themselves as a side that tend to “bottle” it on the big stage.
    One said: “If Tottenham somehow lose to Marseille tomorrow then you know what’s coming lol.”
    Another fan loving the irony of the tweet added: “Come on, this is unfairly funny.”
    While a third simply said: “BOTTLEham Hotspur.”
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    A couple of Spurs fans also saw the funny side as they took the mick out of their own side – who are one of England’s traditional “big six” despite having not won a trophy for 14 years.
    One said: “As someone who has been following Spurs for 30 years you’d better learn to find some humour at the situations we find ourselves in or you’ll just be miserable all the time.”
    And another agreed, adding: “Why would our Twitter admin do this 😭. It’s pretty funny, but come on, you really just opened the door there.”
    Tottenham have made a strong start to their Premier League campaign, winning four and drawing two of their opening six matches.
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    They sit third in the table, one point below leaders Arsenal.
    Along with Marseille, Conte’s men have been drawn in their Champions League group alongside Eintracht Frankfurt and Sporting Lisbon. More

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    Ex-Tottenham winger Chadli ‘agrees to RIP UP Istanbul Basaksehir contract’ ahead of shock transfer to KVC Westerlo

    EX-TOTTENHAM star Nacer Chadli is poised to join Belgian minnows KVC Westerlo, according to reports.The attacking midfielder spent three seasons with Spurs, scoring 25 goals in 119 games.
    Chadli is set to join KVC Westerlo in the Belgian Pro LeagueCredit: PA:Empics Sport
    West Brom paid a club record £13million for Chadli in 2016 before selling him to Monaco two years later.
    The 66-cap Belgium international went on to play for Anderlecht and recent Turkish champions Basaksehir.
    Chadli, 33, has now agreed to end his stay with the Istanbul club to join Westerlo on a free transfer.
    He will pen a two-year deal with the newly-promoted club, who lie 13th in Belgium’s 18-team Pro League.
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    It is a major comedown for the World Cup star, who helped Belgium to third place at the 2018 finals.
    His stunning strike in a 3-2 win against Japan was voted best goal at the Russia-based tournament
    Liege-born Chadli helped Spurs reach the 2015 League Cup final, and won the Dutch FA Cup with FC Twente in 2011.
    Westerlo play at the tiny 8,000-capacity Het Kuipje – Little Tub – stadium.
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    Their best-known player is Angolan striker Igor Vetokele, who ended a five-year spell with Charlton in 2019. More

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    Harry Kane ‘told to hold off signing new Tottenham contract by Bayern Munich as they plot blockbuster transfer’

    HARRY KANE has reportedly been told to hold off on signing a new Tottenham contract by Bayern Munich with the German giants plotting a blockbuster transfer.Kane’s contract at Tottenham is due to expire in the summer of 2024.
    Bayern want Kane to hold off on signing a new Spurs dealCredit: Getty
    But it is unclear whether the England captain, 29, will stay put at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium beyond that point.
    It is claimed Bayern “sounded out” Kane this summer following the departure of Robert Lewandowski for Barcelona.
    A move failed to materialise and Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann is working with an attacking cohort of Sadio Mane, Leroy Sane, Jamal Musiala, Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry and Thomas Muller.
    However, none of those players are out-and-out strikers.
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    And according to Bild, Bayern could reignite their interest in Kane next summer.
    Bayern are trying to get Kane to hold off on signing new terms as they feel they will be able to get a deal done in 2023.
    When asked by Sky Germany, Sporting Director Hasan Salihamidzic said: “It’s too early to talk about it.” 
    Kane would be guaranteed trophies at Bayern, with the striker yet to pick up any serious silverware.
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    Tottenham boss Antonio Conte wants Kane to stay and continue being a part of the project.
    On whether Kane signing a contract now is the perfect time, the Italian said: “Yeah, the perfect time but you know very well that you create the perfect time with a project.
    “If also the player understands that there is a right process, that everybody is going in the same direction, I think every single player wants to see this.
    “And I think that Harry for sure is happy because he is seeing this type of situation.
    “There is a vision, there is a direction and there is a unity to try to improve the team to be the team at the level of his expectations.” More

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    Antonio Conte is happy for Tottenham fans to get excited after fast start – but maintains title challenge is unrealistic

    ANTONIO CONTE is happy for Tottenham fans to get excited after their fast start – but maintains that a title challenge is unrealistic.Spurs have now taken 14 points from their first six games after Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg and Harry Kane helped them win 2-1 against Fulham, who struck through Aleksandar Mitrovic.
    Matchwinner Harry Kane now has five league goals already this seasonCredit: Getty
    It is the North Londoners’ best beginning to a campaign since the 2016-17 campaign, when they finished second to a Conte-bossed Chelsea.
    The Italian, who took over at Spurs last November, said: “It’s important to have great enthusiasm and be excited for the team but at the same time I have to be realistic.
    “I am the first to push my players and tell them to play with ambition to be competitive but we finished last season with 20 points less than Manchester City and Liverpool, and there was a lot of trouble last season for the club.
    “We are doing good things but it’s wrong to give an unrealistic judgement. That doesn’t mean we don’t want to be ambitious to fight.
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    “I have a bit of experience to tell you we need time and patience and not to make big mistakes in the transfer market.”
    It was Tottenham’s best performance of the season and a much improved display from Son Heung-min, even if his search for a first goal this term continued after hitting the crossbar.
    Conte added: “This is not only (going like this in games) for Sonny but also in training sessions.
    “Sometimes our goalkeeper made fantastic saves from him during the training session and he’s struggling to score.
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    “But I’m not worried when I see this type of performance from my players, Sonny included. I know they are going to score many goals, these strikers.”
    Fulham boss Marco Silva was disappointed with his side’s first-half display, which he felt fell short compared to what they have served up so far this season.
    The Portuguese commented: “It definitely wasn’t our best performance at all. We didn’t get most of the time to our standard. The first half was not good enough.”
    Yet one positive was another goal for Mitrovic, taking his tally to six in as many league games this campaign.
    When you add it to the 43 in the league he managed last term when obliterating the Championship record, he is now one shy of a half century in just over a season.
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    Silva added: “He’s in a very good moment. We must keep delivering for him because he has the ability to do it. 
    “It wasn’t our best performance as a team and even so he scored. If you create more and play at a different level, he would have more chances.” More

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    Tottenham 2 Fulham 1 – Kane and Hojbjerg strike to bag the points for Spurs despite lethal Mitrovic scoring yet again

    TOTTENHAM defeated Fulham 2-1 to climb up to second place in the Premier League table.Spurs extended their undefeated streak to six matches in the top flight following an impressive display against their London rivals at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
    Tottenham defeated Fulham with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg opening the scoringCredit: Getty
    The North Londoners opened the scoring five minutes before half-time when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scored his first goal of the season.
    Richarlison slipped the ball to Hojbjerg on the edge of the six-yard box and the midfielder slid the ball past Bernd Leno and into the far corner of the net.
    Antonio Conte’s men sealed the win after 75 minutes when Ryan Sessegnon squared for Harry Kane to tap in at the back post.
    Fulham hit back with star man Aleksandar Mitrovic on 83 minutes but couldn’t complete a late comeback.
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    Tottenham REJECTED transfer approaches from Newcastle and Aston Villa for Moura but ace could leave for free next summer

    TOTTENHAM reportedly rejected multiple transfer approaches for Lucas Moura on deadline day.That is according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, who claims Aston Villa and Newcastle both attempted to snatch him up with a late swoop.
    Tottenham refused to sell Moura on deadline dayCredit: Getty
    Villa boss Steven Gerrard had been seeking attacking reinforcements following the club’s disappointing start to the season.
    Meanwhile, Eddie Howe was scouting another forward to provide competition for Callum Wilson and record signing Alexander Isak.
    However, Tottenham refused to sell Moura despite the fact that he has less than 12 months remaining on his current contract.
    Spurs chiefs will now have to offer the Brazil international an extension if they don’t want to lose him for nothing next year.
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    Moura has fallen out-of-favour with Tottenham boss Antonio Conte this season.
    The Italian now favours Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison in attack, leaving little room for the former PSG star, who has played just 12 minutes of football this season after being ruled out of Tottenham’s last three fixtures with a calf injury.
    Conte has confirmed that he is suffering with a tendon issue which could keep him out of action for a number of weeks.
    Earlier this week, the Spurs boss said: “About Lucas, he has this inflammation in his tendon.
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    “I hope to recover him very soon, because for sure when I was a player, I had a lot of pain in my tendon.
    “You know very well tendon inflammation doesn’t finish in only one week, two weeks.” More

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    Tottenham’s Bryan Gil posts cryptic pic about ‘being happy but not realising’ after Valencia transfer collapses

    TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR star Bryan Gil has hinted he is unhappy at the club.Gil was set to seal a loan move to Valencia on deadline day before the move collapsed with Spurs unable to find a replacement.
    Bryan Gil joined Spurs last summer before going on loan in JanuaryCredit: AFP
    Gil’s cryptic Instagram post after the collapse of his Valencia loanCredit: Instagram @bryan11gil
    And following the collapse of the move, Gil made a cryptic post on his Instagram page.
    He posted an image with the caption: “Sometimes an old photo makes us value the moments where we were happiest and we didn’t realise.”
    Gil has not played a single minute under Antonio Conte this season.
    It is clear to see he is far down the pecking order in terms of attackers at Tottenham, with the signing of Richarlison pushing him further down the order.
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    The 21-year-old played just 85 minutes of Premier League football under both Nuno Espirito Santo and Conte before the latter sanctioned a loan move to Valencia for the winger.
    Tottenham brought Gil for a fee of £22million plus Erik Lamela from Sevilla, with Gil at the time being one of La Liga’s rising stars.
    However, things have not worked out for him across the English channel and his move to England is threatening to turn sour.
    Tottenham had been in line to secure a loan deal for Dan James before he sealed a season long-loan with Fulham.
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    For Spurs any outgoing movement in the market would need to be facilitated by incoming players, with Conte refusing to weaken his squad ahead of a packed fixture schedule.
    Games will be coming thick and fast ahead of the World Cup, and Erik ten Hag referenced the need for quality in numbers for Manchester United’s £85.5m deadline day deal of Antony. More

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    Top 10 most expensive summer transfers with Man Utd leading the way and just two non-Premier League deals

    THE transfer window has closed once again and managers know exactly who they have at their disposal until it all starts over again in January. And it was a record-breaking summer with the Premier League splashing out a whopping £2BILLION on new signings.

    Chelsea were the biggest spenders this summer with new owner Todd Boehly writing cheques totalling £260m to give Thomas Tuchel nine new players.
    But who were the biggest signings of the summer 2022 transfer window?
    1. ANTONY – Ajax to Man Utd – £85.5m
    The transfer saga that rumbled on and on and had more twists and turns than an Agatha Christie classic, Antony finally signed for United on deadline day for a staggering £85.5m.
    Erik ten Hag was desperate to add the Brazilian winger to his attack and paid more than double what United had initially hoped to land him in the biggest transfer ever on deadline day, surpassing Gareth Bale’s record.
    Antony arrived at Old Trafford for £85.5m on deadline dayCredit: Getty
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    2. WESLEY FOFANA – Leicester to Chelsea – £70m
    Another deal that seemed to take an age to get over the line was Wesley Fofana’s switch to Chelsea.
    The Leicester defender went on strike, refused to train and then took a cheeky swipe at Brendan Rodgers after completing his “dream” move to Stamford Bridge.
    The £70m is the initial fee – as with the rest in this list – making him the third most-expensive defender ever after Harry Maguire and Virgil van Dijk but it could rise to £75m in achievable add-ons.
    Wesley Fofana hailed his £70m transfer to Chelsea as a “dream”Credit: Getty
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    3. AURELIEN TCHOUAMENI – Monaco to Real Madrid – £68m
    Aurelien Tchouameni’s move from Monaco to Real Madrid seems like it was done a lifetime ago, such was the frantic nature of the closing stages of the window.
    The European champions identified their target and got the France international in early to integrate him in the squad, where he is hitting the ground running alongside compatriot Eduardo Camavinga.
    Aurelien Tchouameni has already settled into life in the Real Madrid midfieldCredit: Getty
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    4. DARWIN NUNEZ – Benfica to Liverpool – £64m 
    Liverpool were one of several clubs to splash the cash on a new No9 this summer and landed Darwin Nunez from Benfica despite interest from Manchester United.
    He made an immediate impact with goals in the Community Shield and then at Fulham on the opening day before shockingly headbutting Joachim Andersen to earn a three-match suspension.
    Jurgen Klopp will be desperate that is a one-off incident and the Uruguayan converts his hot head into a hot streak.
    Darwin Nunez is hoping for more goals than red cards this season at LiverpoolCredit: Getty
    5. CASEMIRO – Real Madrid to Man Utd – £60m 
    With a deal for Frenkie de Jong failing, Ten Hag knew he needed to bring in another midfielder and made a sudden swoop for the experienced Brazilian midfielder Casemiro.
    The five-time Champions League winner could cost up to £70m and is being paid a staggering £350,000 per week for an initial four years – a huge investment for a 30-year-old who has never played in England.
    Tchouameni’s arrival meant Casemiro was not even a guaranteed starter under Carlo Ancelotti anyway – and the fee essentially covered the cost of the new signing.
    Casemiro adds plenty of trophy-winning experience at UnitedCredit: Getty
    6. ALEXANDER ISAK – Real Sociedad to Newcastle – £60m
    Eddie Howe was determined to add a striker to his Toon squad – and he certainly did that by landing Alexander Isak from Real Sociedad.
    The Sweden international smashed the club record with his £60m move and wasted no time getting to grips with the Premier League by blasting in 38 minutes into his debut at Liverpool.
    Alexander Isak hit the ground running immediately with NewcastleCredit: Getty
    7. MATTHIJS DE LIGT – Juventus to Bayern Munich – £57m
    Matthijs de Ligt was dubbed one of the next generation of elite centre-backs but it did not quite work out for him at Juventus as hoped.
    Bayern Munich were not put off, though, and splashed out big money on the Dutch defender who will likely form a solid partnership with Dayot Upamecano for many years.
    Matthijs de Ligt completed his transfer from Juventus to BayernCredit: EPA
    8. MARC CUCURELLA – Brighton to Chelsea – £55m
    Despite having £50m Ben Chilwell who plays in the same position, Chelsea decided to spend an initial £55m on Marc Cucurella from Brighton.
    The Spanish left wing-back, who can also play in a back three, was also a target for Manchester City but they refused to pay what the Seagulls demanded.
    Among the other new arrivals at Stamford Bridge this summer were Raheem Sterling (£47.5m), Kalidou Koulibaly (£35m) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£12m) on deadline day.
    Eyebrows were raised by the amount Chelsea spent on Marc CucurellaCredit: Getty
    9. ERLING HAALAND – Borussia Dortmund to Man City – £51m
    He may have cost £51m but Erling Haaland is already looking like an absolute bargain with nine goals – including two hat-tricks – in his first five Premier League games.
    City, who Haaland’s dad also played for, won the race for the Norwegian’s signature ahead of some of Europe’s biggest teams after triggering his low release clause at Dortmund.
    Erling Haaland wasted no time in continuing to fire in goal after goal at his new clubCredit: AFP
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    10. RICHARLISON – Everton to Tottenham – £50m 
    Completing the top ten – eight of which are Premier League signings – is the £50m move Richarlison made from Goodison Park to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
    The deal could rise by a further £10m for the Brazil star who has more keepy-uppies than goals and assists combined so far under Antonio Conte after riling Nottingham Forest players and supporters with his cheeky showboating.
    Richarlison swapped Everton for Tottenham for an initial £50mCredit: Getty More