Tottenham transfer news

ANGE POSTECOGLOU finally has all his big-hitters available this weekend for the first time since taking over.Now he will be looking to prove the doubters wrong and show Tottenham are genuinely in the title race.
Son Heung-min (left) is set to return against Brighton on SaturdayCredit: AFP
Straight-talking Postecoglou claimed back in mid-January that it was possible his Spurs side could win the league this year.
The 58-year-old said: “Yes, we are (in a title race) and I’ve said all along that until the point where you’re not, why would you discount the possibility?”
At that point they were six points off table-topping Liverpool. A little under a month on, that gap has extended to seven.
Most pundits and fans cannot envisage the North Londoners winning their first-ever Premier League crown come the end of the season.
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Indeed, a supercomputer over at number-crunchers Opta calculated on Tuesday that fifth-placed Spurs have less than a 0.1 per cent chance of finishing top of the pile.
But given how dominant his side were from August to October, when they were first after an unbeaten opening ten games, Postecoglou will certainly not be throwing in the towel.
The only key player they were missing during those initial three months was classy midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur who was still recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in February.
Though September’s blow when Ivan Perisic suffered a complex ACL issue of his own was keenly felt too, even if the veteran winger was largely used as an impact sub.
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Then all hell broke loose on November 6 with that unforgettable 4-1 home defeat to rivals Chelsea, when they had two players sent off as well as losing star men Micky van de Ven and James Maddison to serious hamstring injuries.
Further injuries and suspensions followed, while Son Heung-min, Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma all headed off on international duty to the Asia Cup and Africa Cup of Nations respectively.
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Yet, slowly but surely, Postecoglou has got all his main men back.
And for the first time in his tenure, he should be able to pick his strongest XI at home to Brighton on Saturday.
That is providing ex-Seagulls star Bissouma is fit after a reported bout of malaria while with Mali and that Son is ready after South Korea’s shock exit to Jordan on Tuesday. The 31-year-old is due back in Tottenham training on Thursday.
Should that pair be fit and available, Postecoglou could go with what may well be his preferred team of: Guglielmo Vicario; Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Van de Ven, Destiny Udogie; Bissouma, Bentancur, Maddison; Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison, Son.
The competition for places would be decent too with Timo Werner, Sarr and Brennan Johnson all making strong cases to start as well.
Postecoglou has always been confident of having a stronger second half to the season than the first, believing his team would have wised up to his methods by then.
Should that come to pass, then it is not beyond the realms of possibility that they are in the mix come the end of campaign – no matter what the Opta AI suggests.
They have some serious ground to make up but they have three winnable home games up next (curiously, all at 3pm on a Saturday) in Brighton this week, then Wolves, then Crystal Palace.
Is this Postecoglou’s best side?RODRIGO BENTANCUR is one of many Spurs stars Ange Postecoglou has been unable to call upon every week this season due to injury.
But the Uruguayan is fully fit now and Postecoglou finally has all his main stars back, giving him the chance to pick his best XI.
SunSport predicts that to be:
Vicario;
Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie;
Bissouma, Bentancur, Maddison;
Kulusevski, Richarlison, Son.

Then follows a tough trip to Aston Villa, currently two points above them in the table, and they would likely have to win that to stay in contention.
The ultra test, though, comes in the back end of April going into early May.
They host Manchester City, then Arsenal and then go to Liverpool.
It is a frightening trio of fixtures but Postecoglou has managed to eradicate the fear from this team during his short time in charge.
And, remember, he has not lost to any of those sides in the league this term, either.
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It is a long shot, of course it is.
Then again, Postecoglou is at the peak of his powers now from a selection perspective, which is something we have never seen before. More

COMING up behind Tottenham’s exciting crop of youngsters, they have . . . an exciting crop of youngsters.Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Pape Matar Sarr and Brennan Johnson are all 22 or under.
Ange Postecoglou has one of the youngest squads in the Premier LeagueCredit: AFP
Swedish wonderkid Lucas Bergvall signed for Tottenham last weekCredit: Rex
Even Dejan Kulusevski — with 81 Spurs appearances since arriving in January 2022 — is still only 23.
But all are first-team regulars at the North London club, making boss Ange Postecoglou’s squad the joint-third youngest in the Premier League.
The average age across the whole squad is 25 years and four months — the same as rivals Arsenal, with only Burnley and Chelsea coming in younger.
But underneath the first team, a rejuvenation project of its own is happening which also has fans feeling optimistic.
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Spurs have been quietly adding teen prospect after prospect to set themselves up for the future.
That has seen them splash out on red-hot talent from abroad, like last week’s capture of Swedish sensation Lucas Bergvall, 18, from Djurgarden.
Midfielder Bergvall looked all set to join Spanish giants Barcelona but changed his mind, seeing more of a pathway to the first team at Spurs.
Tottenham have also looked to the domestic academy market to bolster their ranks — Will Lankshear, now 18, joined from Sheffield United in 2022 — while they have made renewed efforts to stop their own whizkids from being poached.
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Last summer, Spurs successfully held on to one of the most-talked-about kids around in 16-year-old Mikey Moore.
Former managing director of football Fabio Paratici sparked this fresh focus on youth by convincing Spurs chairman Daniel Levy to spend more on signing academy players.
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The Italian resigned last April after being banned over his role in the financial scandal at former club Juventus.
After part of his suspension was lifted, Paratici has continued to work with Tottenham on a consultancy basis.
 Fifth-placed Spurs are going well in the Premier League but they are doing even better in Premier League 2, the Under-21 equivalent of the top flight. That means the reserves, in old money.
They are top of the table having won all 11 of their games — with Lankshear grabbing 11 goals and Jude Soonsup-Bell, 20 and signed from Chelsea, on eight.
In the Under-18s league table, for the south of the country, Spurs are also top, although they have lost three games.
Despite all this development and the fact that Tottenham are making progress on Postecoglou’s desire to make them THE destination for the world’s best young players, the Aussie feels the club’s academy is well short of where he wants.
The former Celtic boss, 58, said ahead of Spurs’ 2-2 draw at Everton last time out: “We have got a lot of work to do in our academy — and (academy director) Simon Davies is certainly one that is putting a lot of emphasis and priority there.
“I don’t think we have the production line other top clubs have, certainly not.
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“Even currently that’s why we’re investing in some younger players, even for the first team.
“For us as a football club that’s definitely the way forward.”
TOTTENHAM’S YOUNG GUNSFive of the top teens at Spurs:
LUCAS BERGVALL, midfielder, 18
Swede snubbed Barcelona at the 11th hour to join Spurs in an £8.5million deal plus add-ons.
And the 6ft 1in midfielder expects to go straight into the first team when he arrives on July 1.
JAMIE DONLEY, attacker, 19
MADE himself a hero cynically taking out wind-up merchant Neal Maupay near the end of last week’s 3-2 win over Brentford.
Played for England and Northern Ireland Under-19s.
MIKEY MOORE, winger, 16
TIPPED as a future star, Moore’s natural dribbling ability and vision on the ball certainly make him one to watch.
Last summer, Spurs convinced him to sign a new deal until 2026
LUKA VUSKOVIC, centre-back, 16
IT is hard to believe the Croat is only 16 given what a unit he is, at 6ft 4ins.
Spurs saw off Man City to land him last summer for £12m from Hajduk Split — but he will not join until 2025.
WILL LANKSHEAR, striker, 18
THE Welwyn Garden City-born ace started at Arsenal’s academy before heading to Sheffield United.
Spurs paid £2m to bring him back to London and this year he has been on fire in PL2. More