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Should Tottenham be retrospectively crowned Premier League champions for the 2016-17 season?

That's the opinion of former manager Mauricio Pochettino, who led Spurs to a second-place finish - seven points behind Chelsea - that season.

This is about Chelsea making £47m in secret payments, according to a Premier League investigation, to unregistered agents and third parties to seal transfers between 2011 and 2018.

The transfers included Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto'o, Willian, Ramires, David Luiz, Andre Schurrle and Nemanja Matic.

Four of those - Hazard, Willian, Luiz and Matic - were at the club in 2016-17.

During that period Chelsea won two Premier League titles (2014-15 and 2016-17), two FA Cups (2011-12 and 2017-18), the EFL Cup (2014-15) and the Europa League (2018–19).

Chelsea have been fined by Uefa, the Premier League and the Football Association, but Pochettino thinks that is not enough.

"If they admitted they broke the rules, the Premier League title was for the second-best team," Pochettino said.

Pochettino is one of the first people of significance to articulate what many feel - that Chelsea got off lightly with a fine.

Fans of Everton and Nottingham Forest have pointed out that their clubs faced points deductions for relatively small profit and sustainability breaches, while Chelsea sought to sign star players with secret payments.

Meanwhile, there is no sign of a verdict in the case of Manchester City's 115 charges for alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules.

Does Pochettino have a point? And how much of an impact did those four players have on the title race?

Hazard is seen as the poster boy for Chelsea's breaches.

The Blues fought off most of Europe's top clubs to sign him from Lille for £32m in the summer of 2012.

Between May 2013 and August 2016, according to the investigation, seven payments totalling £5.6m were made to an unregistered agent "for the benefit of the club in connection with Hazard's transfer".

Pochettino's argument is that Spurs could have beaten other clubs to the signing of players of similar ability had they also ignored the rules.

What about Hazard's impact in the 2016-17 season?

It was considerable.

The Belgium forward started 36 Premier League games, scored 16 goals and provided five assists. Only Cesar Azpilicueta started more matches, and only Diego Costa netted more goals (20).

Hazard was Chelsea's player of the year, was named in the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) team of the year, and made the shortlist for PFA player of the year.

Then there's the direct impact of his goals and assists in the results of four fixtures.

Hazard scored the first goal in a 2-1 win over West Ham in August, then scored a goal and provided an assist in a 2-0 victory over Southampton in November.

In March he scored the opener as Chelsea again beat the Hammers 2-1, and got both goals in a 2-0 win over Manchester City in April.

You could argue that input was worth 10 points.

There is no doubt that Hazard had a huge influence, but this was his fifth season at the club. It was not as if Chelsea signed him in the summer of 2016.

Willian joined Chelsea from Anzhi Makhachkala in 2013, with the investigation finding that transfer fee payments totalling £19.2m were made to two unregistered entities in connection with his move and that of Samuel Eto'o.

Willian was not a regular starter in 2016-17, with 19 of his 34 appearances coming from the bench.

But he still had a huge influence, scoring eight goals and providing eight assists.

The Brazilian's attacking returns were crucial in four matches.

He had an assist in a 1-0 win at Sunderland in December. He scored two goals in a 4-2 victory over Stoke in December, and the first goal as Chelsea beat Stoke 2-1 in March. He provided an assist for the winning goal in a 4-3 victory over Watford in May.

His contributions helped Chelsea take eight points from those fixtures.

Crucially, Chelsea nipped in at the last minute to sign Willian from under the noses of Spurs, who might argue that was only because of the secret payments.

The investigation found that Chelsea made payments totalling £5.1m between 2012 and 2015 "to provide talent identification services in certain European countries".

This was identified as payments in relation to the registrations of Ramires, Luiz, Schurrle and Matic.

However, by 2016-17 Matic and Luiz were in their second spells at Chelsea. The deal with Benfica which meant Matic and Luiz swapped clubs in 2011 was looked into.

Matic returned to Stamford Bridge in 2014, with Luiz having a spell at Paris St-Germain from 2014 to 2016.

While the deals that took the players back to Chelsea were not specifically referenced, the association was created.

Matic played 35 league games in 2016-17, including 30 in the starting XI. He scored one goal and set up seven.

Only one of those attacking contributions influenced a result, but that was an assist for Chelsea's first goal in a 2-1 win over Tottenham in November.

Luiz, who was named in the PFA team of the season, started 33 matches and scored one goal - the opener in a 1-1 draw at Liverpool in January.

Tottenham were relentless at the end of the 2016-17 season, winning 12 of their final 13 matches to finish on 86 points.

Yet Antonio Conte's Chelsea were almost as relentless, winning 11 of their last 13 to take the title with 93 points.

Spurs' tally would have been enough for the title in 2015-16, when Leicester finished on 81.

However, since 1999-2000, when Manchester United were champions on 79 points, 86 points would only have won the title twice, including the two most recent seasons.

Tottenham's problem in 2016-17 was too many draws at the start of the campaign. Despite an unbeaten 11-game start, only five of those were victories.

Chelsea lost more matches - five to Spurs' four - but secured 30 wins to Tottenham's 26.

Pochettino might argue that the attacking influence from Willian and Hazard proved the difference, with those two players having attacking contributions in eight different matches which led to points.

Then there is the mere aspect of sporting advantage - how the signings of players like Hazard enabled Chelsea to win trophies, qualify for the Champions League and therefore attract more top talent.

Pochettino feels he should have a Premier League title to his name.

Remember that he managed Chelsea for one season, when he struggled to win over supporters.

Chelsea finished sixth in 2023-24, but neither Pochettino nor the club are likely to look back fondly on that period.

It is different at Tottenham, with the Argentine still adored for his five-year spell in charge from 2014.

As well as finishing as Premier League runners-up, he took the club to the Champions League final in 2018-19.

The 86 points earned in 2016-17 is a club record too.

So do Spurs fans share his view?

"Of course I do," said Chris Paouros, co-founder and co-chair of Proud Lilywhites, external and Women of The Lane., external

"He could tell me the moon was made of halloumi and I'd nod along.

"The Spurs 2016-17 team was the best in the league by most measures: best attack, best defence, fewest defeats, unbeaten at home in the last season of the old White Hart Lane.

"If the playing field was tilted, the least you can do is ask the question."

Paouros knows Spurs will not be handed the title, but said the "rules have to mean something, whoever benefits".

There is another side to this, however.

If you get given a title a decade later because of a rule breach, could you celebrate it?

"It would still be something that Spurs fans would celebrate," said Tristan Foot, secretary of the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust. "A victory over Chelsea, albeit 10 years after the event."

But that sense of injustice is still there for other Premier League clubs.

"It means that to an extent crime does pay in football," Foot said. "And that's the serious underlying part all of this.

"During the transfer window they were signing players that we had no chance of winning, the obvious example being Willian.

"The Premier League has got to be better about imposing sporting sanctions and making sure that its rules actually have teeth."

With all investigations now concluded, it seems unlikely that Pochettino - or anyone else - will get a retrospective trophy parade.

Will clubs get that same feeling when the Manchester City saga is finally over?

Mauricio Pochettino believes Chelsea should be stripped of the Premier League title for 2016-17, when his Tottenham team finished runners-up.

Chelsea were fined £10.75m in March after being charged by the Premier League for historical breaches of competition rules.

The club also had a six-point deduction "set aside" on appeal. Antonio Conte's Chelsea team finished seven points clear of Pochettino's Spurs in 2016-17.

Chelsea owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital self-reported 74 breaches of Football Association rules when they purchased the club in 2022.

The Blues admitted making £47m in secret payments to unregistered agents and third-parties over transfers between 2011 and 2018.

Pochettino, who managed Spurs from 2014 to 2019, said: "We should win one title, one Premier League. We should have been awarded it.

"[Chelsea] were punished, they admitted, so that's it? The title should be for the team that was second.

"It's true that we didn't compete with the same rules. It's completely fair to say that we didn't compete before the start of the season with the same card."

The current USA coach led Tottenham to the 2019 Champions League final during his five years in charge of Spurs.

They did not win a trophy during his time there, with his best Premier League finish being that second place to Chelsea in 2017.

"Maybe with the same rules, if we apply the same things, maybe we could've signed some players that would have made the team better or scored more goals," added the Argentine, who later became Chelsea boss for the 2023-24 season.

"It's not me complaining - it's the truth. If they admitted they broke the rules, the Premier League title was for the second-best team.

Tottenham winger Mykhailo Mudryk is set for around six to eight weeks on the sidelines after injuring an ankle in training.

The 25-year-old is understood to have sustained the injury on Monday and is currently believed to be in protective boot.

Mudryk joined Spurs from Chelsea on a season-long loan on deadline day - making him the first player to move between the clubs in 17 years - and came on as a 74th-minute substitute in Saturday's goalless draw at Nottingham Forest, which was his first senior appearance since November 2024.

The injury coincides with a three-week international break and a return in October is considered a realistic prospect.

We asked for your views on whether Marcos Senesi's minutes and if he can be a long-term starter in Roberto de Zerbi's Tottenham team.

Here are some of your comments:

Peter: It's great to have three starting options, but that's also the problem. With two of them (Jan Paul van Hecke and Senesi) having an almost identical profile, it's hard to balance game time with all of them. But with how bad our defence has been, why not give him a go against Everton?

Aston: I'm quite disappointed that Senesi isn't getting game time. I think he's an excellent player and I was looking forward to seeing him quite a bit. Obviously Van de Ven is our first-choice centre back, but I'd like to sometimes see Senesi play with him instead of Van Hecke. But all three are amazing, so there's gotta be some competition!

Nick: I'm not sure that Senesi has complained about his lack of game time, but I have long thought Spurs' biggest problem is our players think themselves better than they are. I'd rather they forced themselves into first team reckoning, or changed the game from the bench rather than moaning about not being picked. Looking at better teams, when they make changes players bust a gut to make sure they stay in. Look at Myles Lewis-Skelly - he's keeping Bruno Guimaraes out of the team. Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino also always make sure Arsenal see out the game from the bench. Whereas whenever we bring on a sub, everything falls flat and our football dies a death.

Martyn: The fact we spent £52m on Van Hecke means it's obvious he was going to be first choice. I expect us to play three at the back sometimes, where Senesi will thrive alongside the two Vans. He's a quality defender and will get his chances. We're three games in... Overreaction to everything at Spurs. Fueled by the social media.

Johnny: Senesi won't be RDZ's first-choice starter - that will be Van de Ven, his captain, and Van Hecke, a player whom he trusts from their time at Brighton together. With Kevin Danso and Cristian Romero leaving, Senesi will get other opportunities though, either through squad rotation, the result of injuries, being a few goals up in a game and resting players (we can dream) or actual good form in training. After three league games, I'm surprised this is even a question really.

"He's comfortable playing in a possession-based team, reads the game very well and has the personality to thrive in a demanding environment," Roberto de Zerbi said on Marco Senesi after Tottenham signed the defender in June.

"I also love his mentality and desire to keep improving and I'm looking forward to working with him and seeing the big contribution he can make to the team."

Senesi was a big get for Spurs. The 29-year-old had rejected three contract offers at Bournemouth before leaving on a free, and had previously been linked with other big European clubs including Chelsea, Barcelona and Juventus.

He then went on to earn a late call-up to Argentina's World Cup squad and was part of the group that reached the final.

It was expected Senesi would slot straight into De Zerbi's starting XI - and he did for the Premier League opener away at Brentford. However, after a shambolic defensive showing from Spurs in the 3-0 defeat, he has not played a minute since.

Captain Micky van de Ven was injured for that game, but has started alongside other new addition Jan Paul van Hecke in the centre of defence in the 2-0 home defeat by Newcastle, and then as Spurs recorded their first point and clean sheet of the season in the goalless draw at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

The statistics from last season illustrate Senesi's qualities and what he can offer a side in terms of build up. He led the entire Premier League for forward passes (1189) and successful long passes excluding goalkeepers (182), while he ranked in the top three for line-breaking passes (457) and progressive carries (388).

Interestingly, the only player to make more line-breaking passes, line-breaking actions, and have more progressive carries than the Argentina international was fellow Spurs summer signing Van Hecke.

De Zerbi's teams are built from the foundations of building from defence and inviting the press on so they can play through it. It is clear targeting defenders with the ability to progress the ball and break lines with their passing was part of the club's recruitment strategy.

However, it appears now that Van Hecke is the first choice alongside captain Van de Ven - and Senesi may need to work harder than he thought to get starts at his new team.

Spurs fans, do you see Senesi as a long-term starter? And do you think his qualities suit a De Zerbi team?

Exeter City saw off Tottenham Hotspur U21 and Huddersfield Town came back to win at Doncaster Rovers in the EFL Trophy.

League Two Exeter broke the deadlock 10 minutes before half-time when deadline day signing Danny Rose swiveled and found the back of the net for his first goal for the club.

Taylor Perry went close to doubling the hosts' advantage but he could only sting the palms of Spurs keeper Jacob Knightbridge.

Alfie Dorrington could have equalised for the visitors but his low effort was kept out well by Frankie Phillips before Reiss Elliot-Parris spurned an even better chance over the bar from close range.

But Exeter sealed the win late on when Louie Cayless reacted quickest to Josh Gordon's header across goal to turn home with four minutes remaining and put the win beyond doubt.

In the all-League One tie in South Yorkshire it was the home side, winless in the league this season, who took the lead before the break when Leon Ayinde hammered in for his first goal for the club after joining from Ipswich Town this summer.

Huddersfield, who have won three and drawn two of their league games, levelled when teenage debutant Jamie Spencer curled in a fine effort just moments after coming off the bench.

Martin Drury's side completed the comeback in the 74th minute when defender Josh Low headed in from a Cameron Humphreys corner and Lasse Sorensen capped off the victory three minutes later.

BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club has been discussing Tottenham's start to the season, with Chris Sutton asking when boss Roberto de Zerbi is going to "take responsibility" for results against a background of the amount of money spent.

Spurs are in the bottom three having picked up just one point from their opening three league games, and are yet to score a goal in the competition - though they did put five past Charlton Athletic in the Carabao Cup second round.

"I've not seen those comments if he has done, but he's made a fair few excuses so far this season," said former Premier League striker Sutton.

"After the Brentford defeat, he spoke about their lack of physicality and then threw the forwards under the bus after Nottingham Forest. He's spent a lot of money.

"When he went to Brighton he changed things around pretty quickly and you saw his stamp on that particular team. At this moment in time, I don't think any of us can work out what Tottenham are or what they're trying to become.

"So, surely he has to do better? If you're a Spurs fan, you can think it will take time because of all the change which has happened in terms of bringing personnel in, but you also have to marry that with the money they've spent and think we should be doing better.

"I don't think that's unfair - but three games is very difficult to judge.

"Spurs fans would have expected to see more than they have and that's De Zerbi's problem."

Tottenham Hotspur have only lost one of their last 17 Premier League home games against Everton (W12 D4), winning their last five since a 0-1 defeat in September 2020.

Everton lost both Premier League meetings with Tottenham Hotspur last season by an aggregate score of 4-0, but have never lost three in a row to Spurs without scoring in their league history.

Tottenham are one of three teams yet to score in the Premier League this season along with Aston Villa and Coventry City. Spurs have never failed to score in any of their first four league games in a single campaign before.

Tottenham Hotspur have failed to score in any of their three Premier League games this season. They last went four without a goal in August/September 2006, a run which included a 2-0 home loss to Everton.

Everton remain unbeaten in the Premier League so far this season (W1 D2), netting stoppage time equalisers in their last two games. However, the Toffees are winless in their last six away league games, alternating between defeat (3) and a draw (3) each time.

Only Brighton (34) and Crystal Palace (32) have forced more high turnovers than Everton (28) in the Premier League this season, with the Toffees’ seven shots following a high turnover the joint-most so far.

Tottenham’s only win and clean sheet in their last 12 Premier League home games came against Everton on the final day of 2025-26 (D4 L7). Their next loss will be their 50th at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the competition.

Tottenham Hotspur have made eight changes to their starting XI in the Premier League this season, the most of any side and their joint-most in the first three games of a campaign in the competition (also 8 in 2011-12).

Spurs’ Mathys Tel has completed more dribbles than any other player in the Premier League this season (10).

Ainsley Maitland-Niles scored on his Premier League debut for Everton last time out, having netted in just one of his previous 109 appearances in the competition. Only three players have scored in both of their first two for Everton – Brian McBride (2003), Romelu Lukaku (2013) and Richarlison (2018).

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New video footage has been released that shows the ball coming off Neco Williams' arm in the lead-up to his disallowed goal in the 0-0 draw against Tottenham Hotspur.

The Nottingham Forest defender bundled the ball home in the 67th minute but video assistant referee Peter Bankes stepped in to rule out the goal for accidental handball.

Williams and Forest manager Oliver Glasner were adamant after the match that there was no proof the ball touched an arm.

While the footage vindicates the VAR's decision, it may not end the arguments about the decision to rule out the goal.

It has been a tough couple of days for Bankes, because while the VAR was 100% confident he had made the correct decision, it has attracted intense media scrutiny.

He will now feel vindicated - but there is one important distinction to make.

The new camera angle was not one of those available to Bankes during the game - so it is unlikely to end the anger from Forest fans over the validity of the intervention, even if we know the VAR was ultimately correct.

On the new footage, Williams touches the ball with his left arm then his right forearm before it goes into the net.

The VAR hub only has access to the broadcast cameras, and this camera was one of several which does not transmit as part of match coverage.

Bankes believed the proof on the angles he had available came from the ripple of Williams' shirt as the ball touched his right forearm.

Former midfielder Danny Murphy said on Match of the Day he could understand the argument for the handball but was not convinced the goal should have been ruled out.

"It's a really tricky one," Murphy said. "Maybe it could be a tiny bit on his sleeve or right forearm. But is it clear and obvious? No. That's the answer."

BBC Sport understands that Pro Ref - the new name for the refereeing body that was previously called Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) - is completely happy with the decision to rule out the goal.

There is irritation within Pro Ref about how the story has developed, partly because Williams was so unequivocal that the ball had not touched his arm - when there is now evidence to the contrary.

"I've seen the images and the replays and at not one moment did I think I handballed it," Williams told Sky Sports.

"I have seen all the images and at not one moment can you tell that has clearly hit my arms, because it never. I knew straight away I've headed it down in between my arms. It didn't hit my arm."

The feeling is that if Williams had not been so certain with his comments that the criticism would not have been as strong.

The new evidence also shows the ball did not touch his head, although because it all happened in a split second it is conceivable he was not aware of that.

Nottingham Forest have been approached for comment.

Much of the commentary on the incident has centred around the VAR not having evidence of a clear and obvious error as a reason to disallow the goal.

Glasner mentioned it and Williams posted on X to that effect too.

But clear and obvious errors only cover subjective incidents - those that require the referee to go to the pitchside monitor to review an incident.

Factual interventions, such as handball before a goal, are evidence-based judgements made by the VAR.

If the VAR feels they have the proof of an offence, they will disallow the goal.

For all Forest's disquiet, there are plenty of people who believe you can see the handball, and Bankes was clearly one of those.

It shows one of the issues with VAR that can never be solved - even the factual interventions like this are, in truth, subjective. It is one person's judgement that others can disagree with.

A case in point is Benjamin Sesko's goal for Manchester United against Liverpool last season.

The ball looked as if it might have brushed the fingertips of the Slovenia striker before going into the goal, but the VAR Stuart Attwell felt he could not be certain and allowed the goal to stand.

Referees' chief Howard Webb later said the ball "probably does hit the hand" but "the VARs need to see that conclusively".

Attwell did not feel he had proof, but Bankes did.

During pre-season media briefings, Webb said attacking handball was one law he would change - which would mean goals like Williams' would not be ruled out based upon the original evidence.

"The problem is the law forces VARs on every goal to look at what body part the ball went in off," Webb said.

"If you were only to penalise when the attacker deliberately handles the ball or makes himself unjustifiably big - and not have that forensic examination - you could 'check complete' it more quickly.

"It is a law I would definitely look to change. So Pro Ref and the Premier League are going to try and lobby for that to be changed."

VAR is being operated with a lighter touch this season. So far there have been just two subjective interventions at 0.06 per game, compared to 0.15 last season.

However the generally negative narrative around VAR and the tribal nature of football mean its involvement in key incidents attracts widespread attention.