Football.London

Hello everyone, Alasdair Gold here, football.london's Tottenham Hotspur correspondent. Life is never, ever dull in N17. That's at least one thing we can agree on.

That means Spurs moments that swing from the sublime to the ridiculous within the blink of the eye, both on and off the pitch.

Managers have come and gone in the past half a decade like travelling salesmen, knocking at the club's door and offering the world but ultimately leaving everyone short-changed. The hope is that Ange Postecoglou changes that.

The Australian has already made progress in that he's the first manager to last a full season at Spurs since the 2018/19 campaign. That in itself can be considered a trophy of sorts, right?

It is that quest for silverware that drives and frustrates Tottenham and their fans in equal measure. By the time 2025 rolls around with its various chances of lifting a prize, it will be 17 years since the north London club's trophy cabinet last featured something new, well something that wasn't one of those random pre-season friendly tournament trophies bought from the local sports shop.

Yet there does feel like progress is being made under Postecoglou and he is a man who has won trophies throughout his career. His second seasons at clubs are always spectacular affairs and they always result in league titles. The Australian would love to keep that pattern going at Tottenham, but let's be honest, simply progress and a trophy of any sort (not the Audi Cup) would be a huge leap in the right direction.

In his first season, despite losing Harry Kane on the eve of the opening game and an injury list that reached double figures for most of the middle months, Postecoglou's Tottenham scored more goals, registered more points and conceded fewer goals than the season before.

Spurs, with Son Heung-min as captain, also played with a swagger more often than not and far more exciting football than witnessed in recent years.

This summer has been one of bringing in some of the best young talent around that can play now as well as for the long-term future of the club.

Wilson Odobert's £30million transfer on Friday from Burnley made it four teenagers arriving this summer. The 19-year-old follows in the footsteps of a trio of 18-year-olds in £40million Archie Gray, £8.5million Lucas Bergvall and Yang Min-hyeok, who will arrive in January in what the Korean media have reported is a £4million deal.

That quartet makes the other two signings - £65million striker Dominic Solanke and loan returnee Timo Werner - look like old men even if they're only 26 and 28.

It's worth pointing out that the last time Spurs built an exciting young side, it was under Mauricio Pochettino and the club enjoyed their most successful recent period, with three top three finishes as well as reaching that historic first Champions League final.

The fans also connected with those young, driven and talented players more than ever before and that could well happen again this time around under Postecoglou.

We at football.london will be bringing you every twist and turn of this season. We'll be breaking news, taking you deep inside the club and putting the questions to Postecoglou that you want answered.

He can't escape us and he knows it, the 58-year-old telling us on the pre-season tour last month when he spotted us that he was disappointed when he went on holiday this summer and didn't see us there.

That's because we throw ourselves into every aspect of the club, from top to bottom, and we try to cover every angle at home, away and abroad with Tottenham back in Europe this season and games galore to come.

As well as the articles, there's also our popular podcast Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham, which is consistently found in the upper reaches of the UK's football podcast charts as we discuss every talking point and give you behind-the-scenes looks into what happens behind the curtain at Spurs.

The podcast is also available to watch on YouTube for those that prefer to put a face to a voice and then there's the Alasdair Gold Newsletter which brings another behind-the-scenes feature each week on Tottenham Hotspur to your inbox.

Jump on board and we'll take you through the drama of the 2024/25 season to come with all its thrills and spills. You're a Tottenham Hotspur fan so you already know it's going to have a bit of everything and hopefully this time something spectacular at its end.

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Despite not playing their opening game of the Premier League season until Monday night, Tottenham Hotspur cannot register any new players as the deadline has passed.

Chelsea also have no more time to make new signings despite the cut-off coming more than 48 hours before their first game against Manchester City on Sunday afternoon. Arsenal are less affected as they are kicking off on Saturday afternoon.

All three clubs, plus Brentford, Crystal Palace, Fulham and West Ham United, would be making any last-minute moves in vain. The league's registration deadline is always noon on the Friday before the opening weekend.

That is perhaps why Spurs signing Wilson Odobert from Burnley came as such a surprise, with the move catching many out when the club announced it at 10:30am, an hour-and-a-half before the deadline. Tottenham got their business done well before midday, whereas Ipswich Town announced the signing of Sammie Szmodics from Blackburn Rovers at 12:30pm.

Their website only claims the player "could potentially make his Town debut" this weekend against Liverpool. An hour later, the newly promoted side also confirmed the arrival of Kalvin Phillips on loan from Manchester City, sharing a similar sentiment that he, too, "could potentially be available" for their season-opener.

The new season has always started on a Friday since 2017/18, but even before that, the cut-off point remained noon on Friday, falling at least 24 hours before the opening game of the campaign.

It remains the same throughout the season but becomes particularly pertinent during the final fortnight of the summer transfer window and then again during January.

Tottenham Hotspur strengthened their attack further on Friday morning with the signing of Burnley attacking midfielder Wilson Odobert. The 19-year-old becomes Spurs' sixth signing of the summer for £25million plus £5m in add-ons.

Odobert moves to north London after making 29 appearances in the Premier League last season. The former-PSG academy star scored three goals and assisted another three, becoming Burnley's youngest ever Premier League goalscorer in October.

Capable of playing in either central attacking midfield, centre-forward or on the left wing, Odobert further bolsters Ange Postecoglou's forward options after Dominic Solanke's £55million move from AFC Bournemouth last weekend. The teenager will provide back-up to Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and Heung-min Son for the 2024/25 season.

The reaction from supporters to Odobert's arrival has been mixed. One on hand, the fanbase are excited about the prospect of a tricky, young forward fitting into Postecoglou's 'Rock n Roll' style of play. But on the reverse, there's a clear frustration after missing out on Pedro Neto, who joined Chelsea.

When assessing the quality of a signing, fans often turn to their statistics, such as goals and assists. That then turns into the eye test. For Tottenham, a team who will be keen to challenge for a top-four finish this season, that eye test will determine whether Odobert is deemed good enough to help Spurs.

However, statistics from previous performances on certain metrics do provide interesting reading. In fact, when compared to highly-rated Athletic Bilbao star Nico Williams, Odobert's attacking metrics are strikingly similar.

The new Spurs signing played two less league games than Williams across the 2023/24 season. According to Squawka, Odobert recorded better numbers for passing accuracy (79.45%/79.24%), crossing accuracy (31.43%/29.41%), forward passes (5.2/5.1), take-on successes (51.96%/48.31%) and ground duel successes (46.11%/45.7%).

From the metrics provided, Williams only beats Odobert on three - assists, backward passes and sideways passes. Overall, according to the statistics, Odobert enjoyed a better season than Williams last season. Obviously, the Bilbao star has followed that up with a key part of Spain's Euro 2024 success and has a reported €58m (£49m) release clause.

It's over to the France Under-21s international to continue his development in Tottenham colours.

Ange Postecoglou has another attacking option to choose from for the 2024/25 campaign after Tottenham completed the signing of Wilson Odobert from Burnley. Very much a deal that went completely under the radar, Spurs confirmed the arrival of the talented Frenchman on Friday morning.

Odobert has penned a five-year contract in north London and he takes on the No.28 shirt that has been vacant since Tanguy Ndombele's departure from the club earlier this summer. The 19-year-old has been in the headlines already this week after helping Burnley to a thumping 4-1 win away at Luton Town in their Championship opener on Monday night.

Lining up in an attacking midfield role, the youngster got his name on the scoresheet eight minutes before the interval with a smart finish beyond Thomas Kaminski. Odobert did give Tottenham fans a glimpse of just what he can bring to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with his goal after showcasing his pace to burst beyond the Luton backline before calmly slotting home.

The Meaux-born player will give Postecoglou plenty of choice going forward as he can play as an attacking midfielder, on either wing or as a centre forward if required. Joining Burnley from French side Troyes ahead of last season, Odobert contributed with four goals and three assists in 33 appearances in all competitions.

Certainly not a bad total at all in a struggling Burnley team and for someone who was getting his first taste of football in England, the 25 games Odobert started for the Clarets should stand him in good stead as he looks to make an immediate impact at Tottenham. Working under Vincent Kompany at Turf Moor, the Belgian rated the teenager incredibly highly and opened up on a couple of occasions last season about how talented Odobert is.

Speaking after the French youngster scored in a 4-0 win at Salford City in only his second appearance for the club, Kompany revealed that Odobert had the potential to be a hero for the team over the course of the season.

“We talk about the team settling and stuff and as I’ve told you, some of the guys who will be the heroes for us this season, you don’t see them but I see them in training and we have to be prepared for them to come into the team,” said the now Bayern Munich manager, as reported by beIN SPORTS.

“Guys like Wilson are these type of guys. You can see the talent. It’s a matter of time. Is it tomorrow? Is it in a week or a month’s time? We don’t know. We’ll go with them.

“Just like Luca Koleosho, we’ve some exciting players and hopefully they’ll be able to show it very soon for us. We’ll need it.”

Even more praise was to come Odobert's way at the beginning of May, with Kompany stating he doesn't even think people realise how good the player actually is. The Man City legend was also quite coy on Odobert and perhaps didn't deliver his true feelings on the attacker as he wanted to avoid setting big expectations too soon in his young career.

“I will almost refrain from what I really think about him, because at this moment in time, I don’t think people realise how good he is,” he said, as reported by Burnley Express.

“He’s still playing in a team that is playing for survival, but the things he’s able to do, whether it’s defending or whether it’s attacking…like I said I will refrain from what I really think because I don’t want to jinx it, I don’t want to create a situation where the expectations become too big for him too soon.

“He’s in the right place right now with us, that’s absolutely the right step. He’s getting the right game time he needs for his development. But we will have fond memories of him in five or six years’ time when we have this conversation again.”

Postecoglou and Tottenham will be hoping to have fond memories of Odobert over the coming years in N17 if the player can follow up a strong first season at Burnley and take his game to new heights altogether. Going on Kompany's comments about Odobert, it is perhaps no surprise at all why Johan Lange and Postecoglou wanted him as part of their Tottenham team for the future.

The 2024/25 Premier League season kicks off on Friday evening as Manchester United host Fulham at Old Trafford. Tottenham fans have three more days to wait to see Ange Postecoglou's side back in action, with the team starting the new campaign away at Leicester City on Monday night.

Spurs have been active in the transfer market this summer after adding to their squad with the signings of Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Yang Min-hyeok, Dominic Solanke and now Wilson Odobert, who takes on the No.28 jersey vacated by Tanguy Ndombele. Timo Werner is also a Tottenham player once again after rejoning the club on a season-long loan from RB Leipzig.

Ahead of the new term, a host of Premier League clubs have already confirmed their squad numbers for the season ahead. Tottenham, on the other hand, have yet to do so, although they did reveal prior to the summer tour of Japan and South Korea that Guglielmo Vicario and Destiny Udogie will both take on new numbers for the 2024/25 campaign.

Vicario has swapped No.13 for No.1, with Udogie taking on his preferred No.13 shirt in the process after last season wearing No.38. It was also announced before the tour of Asia that Gray will be Tottenham's No.14 and Bergvall No.15.

There has still yet to be any confirmation regarding the shirt number Solanke will inherit following his big-money transfer from Bournemouth. The 26-year-old did wear No.9 for the Cherries but that is currently occupied by Richarlison, with No.19 potentially an attractive one for the new signing as strikers do like to have the nine on their back.

The north London club did leave it rather late to announce their squad numbers last season as confirmation only arrived two hours before their Premier League opener against Brentford. While all eyes will of course be on what number Solanke takes on, we could also see a few squad number upgrades for the 2024/25 campaign.

So could any Tottenham players currently at the club be in line for an upgrade? football.london takes a look below.

Plenty of Tottenham fans want to see Micky van de Ven take on the No.5 jersey following Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's departure to Marseille. The Dutchman is no stranger to the number having played with it on his back at both Wolfsburg and Volendam.

Whether or not he does decide to swap numbers for this term remains to be seen as he revealed earlier this year that his No.37 shirt has a significant meaning to him.

"With a friend of mine, he passed away when we were younger, and it was always his favourite number," he admitted. "So when I had the opportunity to choose No.37 when I signed for Tottenham... to be honest, it's for him."

Werner does have the opportunity to swap his No.16 shirt for his dream number following Bryan Gil's loan departure to Girona. No.11 is now available and Werner may want to get his hands on it after wearing it previously for Chelsea, RB Leipzig and the German national side.

One player who could be in line for an upgrade is Mikey Moore after making a huge impression on Postecoglou in recent months. Training with the first team towards the end of last season and appearing in Tottenham's final two league games of 2023/24, the 17-year-old has featured heavily throughout pre-season and looks set to get minutes over the course of the new campaign.

Taking on No.59 ever since his breaking into the first team, numbers that are currently vacant for the player if he wants to swap include 12, 19 and 25 as well as plenty of others. Fellow academy ace Will Lankshear is another player who could swap his No.62 jersey for something different after a breakout pre-season, with Jamie Donley someone else who could do likewise, although his upcoming loan move to Leyton Orient could see him remain Tottenham's No.63 for the time being.

Well that one came out of the blue. Tottenham have completed their sixth signing of the summer with a move for Wilson Odobert signed on Friday morning.

It was a transfer that crept up on everyone and was almost announced before anyone got wind of it. That's how Spurs technical director Johan Lange likes it.

Odobert has put pen to paper on a five-year contract in N17, signing from Burnley. He became the Clarets' youngest ever goalscorer in the Premier League last year when netting at the age of 18 against Chelsea. He ended the season with three goals and three assists to his name.

And he started this season well too, playing the full 90 minutes and scoring in Burnley's opening Championship game of the season - a 4-1 win away at fellow relegated side Luton Town.

Odobert, now 19, joins Lucas Bergvall, Timo Werner, Archie Gray, Yang Min-Hyeok (arriving in January) and Dominic Solanke as summer signings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

And Tottenham have already met one key transfer deadline when it comes to Odobert. The former Burnley man can go straight into the side for the opening Premier League game of the season against Leicester City - if head coach Ange Postecoglou decides he is ready for a role in the squad this early.

The first mini transfer deadline of the summer is set to pass today. If players want to play some part in the first matches of the new season, they must be signed and registered by 12pm on the Friday of the weekend's round of games.

Tottenham announced the deal at 10.30am on Friday, and assuming they registered Odobert at that time, the teenager could be part of the Spurs squad to face Leicester City on Monday night.

Tottenham Hotspur have announced the £25million signing of Burnley attacking midfielder Wilson Odobert.

The 19-year-old has agreed a contract with Spurs that will run until 2029 and he will wear shirt number 28. The former PSG academy starlet became the Clarets' youngest ever Premier League goalscorer in October last year with a goal against Chelsea.

During his time at Turf Moor, the teenager made 35 appearances in all competitions, scoring five goals and is a current France Under-21 international.

He can play either in attacking central midfield, up front or on the wing, which is wear he spent much of last season, and will add to Ange Postecoglou's attacking options for the coming campaign. Odobert made the fourth most successful dribbles by a teenager in Europe's top five leagues last season with 53 and the most for a teenager in the Premier League.

football.london understands the player will cost Tottenham £25million plus another £5million in add-ons. He will take on the shirt number 28 last used by Tanguy Ndombele and Spurs supporters will be hoping that this young Frenchman will provide more on the pitch than his compatriot.

The 2024/25 Premier League campaign begins today, with big seasons ahead for Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham.

A thrilling 2023/24 season ended in heartbreak for Arsenal, with the Gunners missing out on the Premier League title on the final day, with Manchester City winning the league for the fourth year in a row. After two second-place finishes on the bounce, Mikel Arteta will be hoping it's third time lucky for the Gunners as they look to win the league for the first time since 2004.

Chelsea enter the new season with a host of new signings and a new manager, with Enzo Maresca at the helm. Mauricio Pochettino departed after Chelsea finished sixth last season, though they were amongst mid-table for the majority of the season.

As for Tottenham, Ange Postecoglou's side just missed out on a Champions League spot last season, but with Dominic Solanke now leading the line, the Lilywhites will be looking to go one better and finish in the top four this season.

So, who will win the league this season? And will there be any major shocks? We simulated the 2024/25 Premier League season to find out.

To complete this simulation, we updated the Premier League with the latest squads, transfers, and fixtures before simulating the entire 2024/25 season on Football Manager 2024 to get the most accurate results possible.

Ahead of the first international break, Arsenal got off to a terrific start, with the Gunners winning their first three games, scoring nine goals and conceding zero. In that same time, Liverpool won just once while Man City failed to win a game, giving Arteta's side an early advantage over his potential title rivals.

A surprise three-game losing streak between October and November saw Arsenal drop off from the title race as City found their feet, and despite a rocky start, Chelsea hit their stride at the end of September, with the Blues entering December third in the table. Postecoglou started to feel the pressure a bit in the simulation as Spurs struggled for form, and as the busy Christmas period approached, Spurs sat down in 11th, with Solanke struggling for goals at his new club.

But, Spurs hit a purple patch as they entered the busiest period of the year – wins against Chelsea, Southampton, Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, and Wolves all came during December, seeing them shoot up the table. More often than not, whoever is top at Christmas has gone on to win the Premier League, and in the simulation, it was City, with Pep Guardiola's side leading Arsenal by five points.

A race that was starting to heat up was the battle for the European spots, with just three points separating Aston Villa, Chelsea, Newcastle United and Man United between fourth and seventh place. But, after their run of wins around Christmas, Tottenham struggled, and by the end of January, Ange Postecoglou had been sacked, with Vincent Kompany taking his place after being sacked by Bayern Munich a few weeks prior.

The final few weeks of the season saw the Premier League produce some top-tier drama as usual, and at the end of the 2024/25 campaign, this is what the Premier League table looked like.

Despite proving themselves as one of the best in the league once again, Arsenal fell short in the Premier League title race, finishing six points behind Man City on 78 points. 84 points would be the lowest number of points needed to win the league since Leicester won it in the 2015/16 season.

Due to the performances of English teams in European competitions during the simulation, the Premier League was given five Champions League spots, meaning both Aston Villa and Chelsea booked their spots in the Champions League for the following season as they finished fourth and fifth respectively. Chelsea were third heading into the penultimate game of the season, but two defeats saw them drop two places.

Newcastle finished in sixth while Manchester United had another tough campaign as they finished in seventh, but despite Tottenham finishing eighth in the table, they would be playing Champions League football next season after winning the Europa League. With Komany in charge, Spurs were able to finally win a trophy, with the Lilywhites beating Atletico Madrid 2-0 in the final.

One of the biggest shocks came at the bottom of the league as Wolves finished bottom of the table, being relegated alongside Southampton and Leicester City with just 22 points.

Overall, FM24 predicts that Man City may have just too much firepower once again for Arsenal, with Pep Guardiola's side winning yet another Premier League title. Chelsea improved massively as they earned themselves a spot in the Champions League for the following year, and despite a rocky Premier League campaign, Spurs could finally win a trophy to make it a successful season.

Tottenham Hotspur are finally back in Premier League action on Monday evening as they start the season with a trip to Leicester City.

Ange Postecoglou will soon know whether his Spurs pre-season preparations have worked at the King Power Stadium and he will have three new faces to use in Dominic Solanke, Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall, with one returning face in Timo Werner.

We asked our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold and head of football.london Lee Wilmot to give us the team that they believe Postecoglou will pick in the opening game of the campaign.

Here's what the duo chose for the match against the Steve Cooper's Foxes and former Spurs midfielder Harry Winks.

Alasdair Gold - Tottenham Hotspur correspondent

The key differences to Postecoglou's side are going to come in midfield and up top, with the potential of new signings making their competitive debut.

The goalkeeper and back four should be the familiar group we saw for much of last season, with the returning Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven having got 45 minutes each against Bayern last weekend before another six days of training at Hotspur Way. Destiny Udogie also got his first 45 minutes under his belt and after three weeks of training with the team, the Italian should be in a position to get at least an hour to his name on Monday evening.

Up top, Solanke is likely to make his debut following his £65million signing from Bournemouth, with Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski the sharpest attackers in pre-season and first in line to get the spots around the forward.

The midfield offers some more potential options, despite Yves Bissouma's one-game suspension by the club following his laughing gas incident.

Archie Gray has played the most minutes of the midfielders in pre-season and has experience of playing against Leicester last season, while Pape Matar Sarr has also got plenty of minutes in his legs this summer.

Rodrigo Bentancur has only had 45 minutes but looked sharp on his return to Tottenham duty against Bayern. James Maddison has not had the best of pre-seasons but will be even more motivated than usual for the trip to his old club so might just get in ahead of Bergvall and Kulusevski, who has impressed centrally.

Gold's team: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Gray, Bentancur, Maddison; Kulusevski, Solanke, Son.

Lee Wilmot - Head of football.london

It's here, the first game of the new season. But we are being made to wait for Spurs - Monday Night Football away at Leicester City.

Three new signings (and one returning signing) have arrived at the club this summer, but I'm not sure any more than one of them will be in the starting XI. Although I might be tempted to go with two.

The backline will be as you were from last season. Guglielmo Vicario will have Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie in front of him.

With no Yves Bissouma, I would go with Rodrigo Bentancur alongside Pape Matar Sarr, with James Maddison just ahead of them, although an argument could be made for Lucas Bergvall starting. However, given it's against his old club, I'd back Maddison to have an impact.

Then up front we will have Dejan Kulusevski and Son Heung-min flanking new signing Dominic Solanke.

Wilmot's team: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bentancur, Sarr, Maddison; Kulusevski, Solanke, Son.

Tottenham look to have already made a final decision on the signing of Eberechi Eze. The Lilywhites have shown a keen interest in signing the Crystal Palace star, with Ange Postecoglou looking to bolster his midfield ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.

Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall joining the club will certainly have helped, but a marquee addition was arguably still needed. Aston Villa star Jacob Ramsey was another linked to Spurs, though the preference of Postecoglou to sign a striker soon became clear.

Jonathan David, Viktor Gyokeres and Dominic Solanke were just a few names on the club's initial shortlist, with the latter quickly moving up the pecking order. August kicked off with Spurs opening talks with Bournemouth to sign Solanke, who was open to a move, with Spurs quickly agreeing a £55million deal that could rise to £65million with add-ons.

With such a significant fee spent, any further big additions seem very unlikely, and that seemingly rules out any move for Eze being formalised. Arsenal and Chelsea have been admirers of the 26-year-old, with Liverpool also interested; however, Manchester City were the main club threatening Spurs' pursuit.

Pep Guardiola had identified his former teammate Michael Olise as an option before then turning attention onto Eze after he joined Bayern Munich. With Julian Alvarez sold to Atletico Madrid and Oscar Bobb ruled out for the next few months with a leg injury, City look set to turn to the market for an attacking addition.

Considering the £65million release clause in his contract, the reigning Premier League champions bringing in Eze looks very likely, especially with the finances they now have available.

Though they have lost two players, City have plenty of depth in attack, which could result in Eze remaining at Selhurst Park. Spurs then returning for the England international next summer is entirely plausible, with another successful season seemingly on the horizon for Palace under Oliver Glasner.