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Tottenham fans won't have to wait too much long to discover who Ange Postecoglou's side will be playing in this season's Europa League. After one year away from Europe, Spurs will be looking to make up for lost time by going far in UEFA's second club competition.

The Lilywhites will be one of the favourites to get their hands on the famous trophy, with the final set to take place at San Mames Stadium in Bilbao on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. UEFA's club competitions will be operating with a league phase format from this year onwards rather than the traditional group stage.

A total of 36 teams will be involved in the league phase, playing a total of eight games between September and the end of January. The teams involved will be split into four pots and drawn alongside two teams from each pot to determine the eight fixtures.

Tottenham will be in Pot 1 for the draw on Friday, August 30 and there is a possibility that they comes up against teams such as Roma, Lazio and Porto. Manchester United will also be in Pot 1 but clubs cannot come up against a side from the same nation in the league phase format.

Prior to Tuesday evening, a total of 13 teams were already confirmed for the Europa League league phase. Joining Tottenham and Man Utd in this season's competition are Olympiacos, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad, Eintracht Frankfurt, Hoffenheim, Roma, Lazio, Nice, Lyon, AZ Alkmaar and Porto.

Following Tuesday evening's Champions League third round qualifiers, a further four teams have now joined the aforementioned 13 clubs in the 2024/25 Europa League league phase after losing out over two legs via the League Path. Rangers are one of the quartet following a 3-1 aggregate defeat against Dynamo Kyiv.

Tottenham did come up against the Scottish giants at Ibrox in a friendly two years ago but fans would no doubt love a big 'Battle of Britain' game during the Europa League league phase. Rangers will join Tottenham in Pot 1 and there is a chance they still come up against each other due to the new league format.

There is also the possibility of a reunion with Jose Mourinho after Fenerbahce lost 3-2 on aggregate at Lille following a 1-1 draw in Istanbul on Tuesday evening. The former Spurs boss has just taken over the Turkish side this summer and he will undoubtedly stamp his mark on the club and look to go far in the Europa League due to his previous triumphs in the competition.

An away trip to Fenerbahce will be a daunting trip for whoever comes up against them this season. Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise have also dropped down to the Europa League after a 4-1 aggregate defeat at Slavia Prague, with FC Twente of the Netherlands also now joining them in the competition following a nail-biting 5-4 defeat against Red Bull Salzburg over two legs.

A further seven teams will drop down from the Champions League into the Europa League in two weeks' time. The losers of the ties involving Young Boys vs Galatasaray, Dinamo Zagreb vs Qarabag, Midtjylland vs Slovan Bratislava, Bodo/Glimt vs Red Star Belgrade, Malmo vs Sparta Prague, Lille vs Slavia Prague and Dynamo Kiev vs Red Bull Salzburg will join Tottenham and Co. in the Europa League from September onwards.

The league phase will then be finalised by 12 teams qualifying via the Europa League play-offs. The exact play-off fixtures will become clear on Thursday night once the second leg of the third round qualifiers have taken place.

Teams such as Ajax, Braga, Anderlecht and Hearts could qualify for the league format from the play-off round. Once the play-off round is completed, teams will discover their Europa League schedule when the draw for the league phase is made on Friday, August 30.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham! Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho repeated one of his most iconic rants as his Fenerbahçe side failed to qualify for the Champions League after they lost to Lille in brutal fashion last night.

Despite a bright start to their domestic campaign last weekend, his Turkish Super Lig side were knocked out of the qualification rounds by the Ligue 1 outfit after a 118th-minute penalty dispatched by Jonathan David saw them lose 3-2 on aggregate. The spot-kick had originally not been given by Spanish referee Sanchez Martinez but the official was quickly ushered to the pitch-side screen by VAR.

Defender Jayden Oosterwolde was then judged to have handled the ball and the spot-kick was given, which was slotted home by David to leave Mourinho in shock on the touchline. It means that the Special One and his Fenerbahçe side will be forced into another season of Europa League football but he made sure his anger was known at full-time in a way only he could.

After Tuesday night's brutal defeat, Mourinho harked back to one of his most infamous rants while at Chelsea back in 2014 when speaking about the state of the officials in the match.

"We can do very well in the Europa League, but if... I prefer not to continue with this sentence," he said at full time. "Because if I say it, I will get into trouble. It's better not to talk about the penalty. When I look at other incidents that have happened to me recently.

"Only the referee knows why it was a penalty, only the VAR knows. I'm proud of my team. This [not wasting time] is the referee's job, he has to respect the game. He has to make the players respect it.

"I can't criticise the opposing teams. They also try to get a result. If they showed a yellow card in the first 20 minutes, everything would change, but they don't."

Mourinho first said the iconic line when he was asked about referee Chris Foy's performance when Aston Villa beat his Chelsea side 1-0 ten years ago in a match which saw both Willian and Ramires on top of Mourinho himself all sent off, saying: "I prefer not to speak. If I speak, I am in big trouble. In big trouble. And I don’t want to be in big trouble."

Ledley King believes that Ange Postecoglou is building a Tottenham Hotspur squad that will bring long-term, prolonged success to the club.

The Australian's first season at Spurs provided more goals and points than the previous year with fewer goals conceded despite losing star Harry Kane on the eve of the campaign and having an injury crisis at the club before the turn of the year, meaning a list of unavailable players often running into double figures.

Players like Dejan Kulusevski and Destiny Udogie told football.london during the club's summer tour to Japan and South Korea that they have noticed a difference in training this pre-season with extra layers of tactical detail as a Postecoglou Tottenham version 2.0 is created.

Former Spurs captain King is the last man to lift a trophy for the north London club and he believes Postecoglou is building something bigger than what happened around that League Cup win in 2008.

"I think in some ways, we probably over achieved a little bit last season. We weren't sure, with the new manager coming in, how long it would take for him to get his style across to the team," he told football.london. "We obviously hit the ground running with that, so then the next step is, building on what we had last season, trying to maintain that consistency throughout the season.

"But we have some new players that have come in. We have a young squad, and for the manager, I think his main goal will be developing the young players that we have not just physically and in terms of the system that he wants to play, but also mentally get them in the right mind frame to become winners, to have that winning mentality, which is important moving forward."

He added: "I think the main thing is to put in the building blocks. Anyone can win a trophy, but I think the most important thing is that you're building towards something and going in the right direction. You're trying to build something that's sustainable.

"Even when I think back to when we won the trophy in 2008, the next season the manager was sacked and I think it's important that we build something. We have a young group and I think that we want to build them in the right way, that we can compete on all levels moving forward for the future rather than just a flash in the pan trophy.

"I think that's the most important thing for us, and I think if we do that then it gives us the best chance to compete and to win multiple trophies moving forward, which is what we want to do. I think with that it does take some time and a bit of patience. Of course, no one wants to hear that in football, but I think for this season, I think it's just progressing again, trying to progress again.

"Like you say Ange 2.0 in terms of we've had a season now of seeing what we want to do and let's see if we can kind of move that forward to the next level."

As someone who knows how to wear the armband and did so for years, King has also been impressed with Son Heung-min's captaincy of the club.

"I think it makes sense. First and foremost, he's loved by the fans. He's loved by his team-mates. He's respected in the game. I've had the opportunity to work with Sonny on the training pitch as well and see how he works and you know, he's someone that that every single day, every single minute is giving the best that he can," he said.

"He's determined, and he has a a streak in him that he doesn't like to lose, which is important to have. If he doesn't win on the training pitch, he comes off the pitch upset. I just think he's grown into that natural kind of leader in the team. I think he's been a great captain so far. I'm sure he's still learning along the way, but I absolutely think he was the right man to lead the team."

So what kind of captain was King himself, a man who never looked from the outside to be a shouter or a screamer on the football pitch.

"I think the best thing to say is that my team-mates, they could look into my eyes and they knew that I was there, and I was ready to give everything for them and battle for them. I didn't need to scream or shout about that. I tried to uplift my team-mates, try to get the best out of them, try to motivate them," he said.

"There's always a time for screaming and shouting, of course there is. But, you know, it's not my preferred method in any way. It became difficult for me when I wasn't on the training pitch, that's for sure. You know, it became a lot harder. Sometimes [I'd watch sessions], but I was doing my own kind of work as well, so that was a difficult period to try to lead the team. And then it become about having a big influence on the pitch when I was out on it, just making my team-mates better.

"So I went through different phases of when I should have been going into my prime, it was a time when I'm, I suppose, on the decline and then not being able to be on the training pitch with my team-mates, so it made it a difficult dynamic. It was a strange experience, but as I say, my main focus was then being on the pitch and having an impact on my teammates when I was there."

Ledley King was speaking at Sounds Forest, located in one of the most famous landmarks in Seoul, the Hyundai Mall.

The 2023/24 Premier League table could have looked rather different for Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham side had injuries and suspensions not hit the team hard. Losing Ivan Perisic and Manor Solomon to long-term injury issues early on in the campaign, things then came to a head for Spurs in November.

The 4-1 defeat at home to Chelsea proved disastrous for the team as not only did they lose their unbeaten start to the campaign, they also lost some key players for a period of time. James Maddison and Micky van de Ven wouldn't return until 2024 after sustaining injuries, with Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie having to serve bans for their red cards.

In the weeks that followed, Postecoglou had limited options to choose from when it came to naming his starting XI and also substitutes' bench. The 3-3 draw away at Man City at the start of December saw Tottenham line up with four full-backs in defence and the bench featured two goalkeepers and three academy players to help make up the allotted nine players.

Speaking ahead of last Saturday's pre-season friendly against Bayern Munich, Postecoglou admitted that the loss of key players throughout the 2023/24 campaign shaped the club's transfer policy going into this summer.

"Yes. That was pretty glaring last year when we had disruptions and bad injuries, self-inflicted with suspensions. We really struggled to maintain performance," he said.

"We signed Radu [Dragusin] in January which helped us enormously in terms of making sure we have really good centre-back options irrespective of who starts. Some of our players, hopefully having been through a season with us, are going to be more robust this year.

"Hopefully we can rotate a little bit more in terms of the starting line-up to protect them. What we've tried to do this year is make our squad more resilient and more able to tackle the challenges we’ll have."

In need of adding to the squad for the new campaign with European football back on the calendar, Tottenham have so far brought in Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Dominic Solanke to give them a bit more quality and also depth. Timo Werner, who proved to be a smart acquisition in January, has also returned to the club on a season-long loan and Djed Spence is now back in Tottenham's plans after 18 months away on loan.

Heading into Monday's Premier League opener away at Leicester City, Postecoglou is going to have some decision to make in regards to his 20-man squad for the game at the King Power Stadium with practically every player available. Richarlison and Fraser Forster have yet to appear for the team in pre-season so far but Postecoglou admitted to football.london in last Friday's press conference that both are now back on the training pitch and have had a "good block of training".

The head coach also has talented youngsters Mikey Moore, Alfie Devine, Jamie Donley and Will Lankshear to choose from for the match following standout pre-season campaigns. Experienced players such as Oliver Skipp and Solomon could well miss out on the squad, with Giovani Lo Celso also unlikely to be called upon with a permanent move away looking likely and also because he wasn't selected against Bayern.

A decision may potentially even have to be made over Spence despite such a good summer. As Gray can also operate at right-back as well as his usual midfield berth, Spence could possibly make way for another attacking option if Postecoglou wants to include one in his squad.

These are the tough decisions Postecoglou wants, though, as it means he has a big squad to choose from and that is exactly what Tottenham require going into such an important season after their previous struggles with player numbers. Quite how long it stays like this remains to be seen as injuries and suspensions could once again strike over the course of the 2024/25 campaign.

For now, Postecoglou will welcome his current squad dilemma and hope it brings out the very best in his Tottenham squad in the process.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham! Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Archie Gray will be hoping to make his competitive Tottenham debut against Leicester City next Monday evening. The versatile 18-year-old joined Spurs from Leeds United during the summer transfer window with the move costing between £25million to £30million following Joe Rodon's permanent move to Elland Road.

Since his arrival, Gray been deployed in midfield, at right-back and surprisingly in the centre of defence. Ange Postecoglou, judging by how he has used the teenager, is clearly a fan of his abilities with 335 minutes of football to his name in pre-season.

Despite impressing, Postecoglou could leave Gray out of his starting XI with a number of decisions needing to be made before the club's opening day fixture against newly-promoted Leicester. Dominic Solanke and Lucas Bergvall will be pushing for league debuts, while Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson are both hoping to start.

Tottenham's back four however, will likely pick itself with Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie flanking Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven. With Porro seemingly in at right-back, the chances of Gray starting have decreased especially with one of Yves Bissouma or Rodrigo Bentancur expected to start at the base of midfield which would leave Gray on the bench.

Nonetheless, ahead of being back in front of the cameras, Gray has made a significant change to his appearance. On Instagram, he reposted a video from the page of east London barber Billy Spriggins which shows the teenager sporting the new look of a mullet and the bulk of his hair also shaved off on the sides.

While Gray is not exactly unrecognisable, it is a major change from the thick and curly hairstyle he has donned for the last few years.

Alongside his new haircut, Gray will be hoping to make an immediate impact for his new club. Last season, while at Leeds, Gray scored in a 3-1 win against Leicester and repeating that on Monday evening would certainly see his Tottenham career get off to a great start.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham!Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Dane Scarlett will be praying for better luck in the Championship in the 2024/25 campaign after departing Tottenham to join Oxford United on loan. Following his time with Portsmouth in League One two seasons ago, the striker moved up a division last August after linking up with Ipswich Town but game time was extremely hard to come by.

The 20-year-old was restricted to only 146 minutes for the Tractor Boys across 12 Championship games, which in turn resulted in him returning to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the beginning of the year. Spending pre-season with Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham squad and getting his name on the scoresheet in July's 2-0 win at QPR, the academy graduate has actually slipped down the pecking order over the last month with Will Lankshear enjoying a fine pre-season after his goalscoring heroics for the Under-21s last season.

Scarlett did not feature in any of Tottenham's three games on their tour of Japan and South Korea and he was also not part of the squad for last Saturday's 3-2 defeat against Bayern Munich. Very much in the same boat as Alejo Veliz prior to the Argentine's loan move to Espanyol, Scarlett has now followed his fellow frontman out of the exit door after joining Championship newcomers Oxford United.

Tipped for big things in north London but unfortunately not seeing his loan spells with both Portsmouth and Ipswich Town go his way, Scarlett needs to have a strong season with Oxford now that Lankshear is on the scene at Tottenham. The Hillingdon-born player has proved in the past he knows where the net is and goals will be a priority for him as he bids to force his way into Postecoglou's first team in the years ahead.

Oxford fans will be hoping that the goals do indeed flow for Scarlett at the Kassam Stadium, especially as he stated "I bring goals" in his first interview with the club.

“I’m over the moon to be here and I’m ready to get started," said the youngster when speaking to Oxford's official website. “The team did really well last season getting promoted to the Championship and I see an opportunity here for myself.

“I've had some experiences in the last two years and Oxford for me was the best option to come and prove myself and show what I can do. I'm hard working, I bring goals when the opportunity comes, I'm a team player, I fight for the team and hopefully we can do really well this season.

"I think the style of play will suit me well and I spoke to the gaffer and it seems a really good opportunity here, so I'm looking forward to just getting started."

Tottenham have struggled to find the perfect loan clubs for their players in the past but Oxford do appear to be the ideal team for Spurs due to their style of play. Des Buckingham, like Postecoglou, wants to excite supporters with a brand of attacking football that is easy on the eye, with the Oxford head coach indicating that Scarlett will be "important" for the team both in and out of possession.

“Dane is such an exciting young centre-forward and it’s fantastic to bring him into the club," Buckingham told Oxford's official website. “I always speak about making sure we sign the right profile of player, both in terms of quality on the pitch and attitude off it, and in Dane, we have found that.

“Dane has been involved with Tottenham throughout their pre-season training and we expect that he can come straight into the group and begin making a difference straight away. Not only does he bring an eye for goal, but his pace and intelligence will be important to us both in the way we attack and in the way we press out of possession.”

Buckingham's Oxford side scored for fun in the final few weeks of last term, notably hitting 13 goals in three successive games as they recorded big wins over Fleetwood Town, Burton Albion and Peterborough United. The transition from League One football to Championship football is going to be quite the challenge for The U's but Scarlett should be licking his lips at the prospect of playing in this Oxford team if everything clicks into place.

Confidence is certainly high in the camp if last Saturday is anything to go by following their 2-0 win over Norwich City on the opening day. Scarlett just needs that breakout season if he is to achieve his ambition of becoming a Tottenham regular and all concerned will be hoping that it comes this campaign at Oxford.

Goals are going to be key to that and chances should certainly be there for him in Buckingham's entertaining side. The forward may have dropped behind Lankshear in the pecking order at Tottenham this summer but an awful lot can change in the space of a year and Postecoglou's plans in attack could look rather different this time next year.

Scarlett really needs this loan move to work and so do Tottenham. Promising goals, now it is time for the Spurs man to deliver.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham!Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Alejo Veliz has revealed that he told his agents to "push hard" once Espanyol made their move for the Tottenham striker. Joining the north London club from Rosario Central last summer, the frontman made a handful of appearances for Ange Postecoglou's side in the first part of the campaign before linking up with Sevilla on loan.

His time at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium proved to be rather frustrating after playing a measly 31 minutes in total across six appearances. The 20-year-old also had to contend with a lack of playing time for Tottenham in pre-season following his return to N17.

Coming off the bench in the Hearts and QPR games, Veliz was an unused substitute in all three pre-season games on the club's tour of Japan and South Korea after seeing Will Lankshear jump ahead of him in the pecking order. Another loan move always appeared best for Veliz in the 2024/25 campaign, with the striker last week joining Espanyol on a season-long loan deal following their return to La Liga.

Veliz will be expected to contribute in the final third and score the goals required to help Manolo Gonzalez's men retain their status in Spain's top division. The Tottenham man isn't just thinking about Espanyol doing enough to keep their place in La Liga, however.

“Since my agents told me that this possibility existed, I told them to push hard because I wanted to come here," he said at his press conference unveiling, as reported by Mundo Deportivo via Sport Witness.

“I want to settle in this club. I am not thinking only about staying up but about doing something better, about having a good season and taking the team as high up as possible."

Veliz looks like he is going to play quite a key role for Espanyol up front, with his new head coach Gonzalez very much selling the club and his approach to his new striker.

"I had the opportunity to speak with the coach and that was the clincher for me," revealed the Argentine. "When he explained his tactics to me, it gave me confidence; he told me that he saw me as a point of reference up front and I told him that I was really looking forward to doing my best to help the whole team.”

Veliz may only be joining Espanyol on loan but he has been handed the No.9 shirt following his move to Barcelona. The jersey may come with some pressure but the youngster doesn't look at it that way.

"Wearing the 'No.9' doesn't put pressure on me," he explained. "It's a very important number because of everything it entails, but I feel ready and eager to get started."

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham! Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Ange Postecoglou wants Djed Spence to stay and be part of his Tottenham squad for the coming season, football.london understands, with links to other right-backs currently believed to be wide of the mark.

Spence has struggled for game time at Spurs since arriving two summers ago, being sent out on loan to Rennes, Leeds and Genoa for most of that time. However, the right-back, who turned 24 on Friday, returned to Tottenham this summer and has impressed Postecoglou and his coaches with his application and ability in both training sessions and in matches.

After performing well on the right, the Spurs boss has even trusted Spence to start in the past two matches against Bayern Munich in a more unnatural position as left-back, no easy task against the attacking ability of the German giants.

Postecoglou told football.london during the club's tour to Japan and South Korea that there was a place for Spence in his squad if he continues along his current path and the young defender takes "control of his own direction". football.london understands that the Australian has communicated to the player that he would like him to remain at Spurs for the coming season.

Transfer links to other right-backs such as Monaco's Vanderson and Manchester City's Issa Kabore, who spent last season on loan at Luton, are believed to be wide of the mark.

Provided Spence remains on his current impressive path and barring a late change in his circumstances this month as the transfer deadline approaches, it is expected that Postecoglou will go into the new season with Pedro Porro and the homegrown Spence as his right-back options with summer signing Archie Gray also able to play in the position.

"I think with Djed, for me we got him back into pre-season and we’re judging him on his merits. He's a Tottenham player. To be fair to him, I think he's been very, very good for us this pre-season, in terms of the way he's trained and his general attitude," Postecoglou told football.london. "But a lot of these things are in the players' hands themselves. They kind of decide their own future in many respects and I think Djed is in that boat.

"I think there's an opportunity for him here, for sure. Thinking about building a squad, he would be definitely somebody who could [contribute] with the attributes he has. I thought last year there was a chance but it didn't quite work out. For those kind of things, I think sometimes players really wait for direction when they can really take control of their own direction."

He added: "Djed's here. He is a Spurs player. He's a very good player who fits into our football and so it's as much about him as it is about me making a decision.

"As you see right now, he's been very good pre-season, he's been very good on the tour. He's impressed all the coaches, not just myself. For some of them it’s the first time they've worked with him and they've all been really impressed with him.

"Maybe he's learned a couple of things over the last couple of years about himself and hopefully we can sort of bear the fruit of that."

Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have all been given a new update on the ongoing investigation into Manchester City's alleged 115 financial breaches of Premier League regulations.

There are a number of outstanding legal cases that the Premier League currently has on its doorstep, with the charges against Man City having been held under the microscope for the last five-and-a-half years since allegations were made by the German investigative website Der Spiegel.

However, Chelsea are also at risk as they're currently under investigation over a number of payments made during Roman Abramovich before Todd Boehly and his Clearlake consortium took over two years ago. The league is also yet to approve the moves by the club's current ownership to sell two hotels to a sister company in June last year and to sell the women's team to their parent company two months ago.

Everton and Nottingham Forest were also handed points deductions for breaching the Profit and Sustainability Regulations (PSRs) last season, but with the amount of charges held against City, a points deduction would seem like a slap on the wrist to many without solving the real issues.

With 54 counts of 'Failure to provide accurate and up-to-date financial information from 2009/10 to and including 2017/18' arguably being the most important charge alleged against the club, relegation from the Premier League would be on the cards if they're found guilty.

Those counts, along with a host of others which includes 'not providing full details of former manager Roberto Mancini's pay over the four seasons, between 2009 and 2013' and 'not providing full details of players' renumeration, including of former midfielder Yaya Toure, over a period of six years (from 2010-11 to 2015-16)' means that come the start of the hearing next month, there may be a good indication as to which way the football pyramid will swing amid the huge ramifications around English football this case presents.

In recent weeks, City boss Pep Guardiola has spoken about his rivals across the European continent and their spending, including naming Mikel Arteta's Gunners, saying: "Yes, many years they have done it, many years but it's not news. It's just when City spend money.

"Of course, I am concerned for many years [about] how good they are. Because every year they are better and getting better. You see Arsenal playing at the same level as last season, I saw the game against [Bayer] Leverkusen - they are on fire. Every year looks more difficult; United will be back, you know? They bought players and everyone wants the crown that we have [had] for four years."

Earlier this week, the Times confirmed that City have also been charged with 'not co-operating with an investigation and handing over documents as required over five seasons from 2018-19 to 2022-23', with the new charge tally now sitting at 130 rather than the 115 that has been previously touted.

This is reportedly due to confusion around the Premier League's original announcement of the list of charges in February 2023, and some of the rules pertaining to particular seasons being listed incorrectly. City have consistently denied any wrongdoing and have lawyered up heavily to defend themselves in the case, including Lord Pannick KC, a veteran British barrister that was called to the Bar back in 1979.

City have previously been banned from European football for two years by UEFA around the charges, but that ruling was overturned by The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in 2019.

Ledley King has told young Tottenham centre-back Ashley Phillips that the two of them need to sit down to discuss how to continue to improve his game.

The 19-year-old is yet to make a senior competitive appearance for Spurs since arriving last summer from Blackburn but did star during a half-season loan at Plymouth Argyle. At the end of that spell he was awarded the Championship club's Young Player of the Season prize after 20 appearances for them.

Phillips made a couple of early appearances this pre-season, but then a training ground knock has kept him out of action in recent weeks. The young defender could well head out on loan again this season due to Ange Postecoglou's packed squad which would make registering him for the Europa League difficult this campaign.

When asked during Tottenham's recent tour to Japan and South Korea whether he had spoken to the club's new players yet, former Spurs skipper King - the last man to hold aloft a trophy for the north London outfit - mentioned his plans to speak to Phillips.

"Just in passing, you know, not sat down and had the real opportunity [to speak to them], but I'd like to go into the training centre throughout the season just to speak to some of the youngsters, especially defenders, you know, people like Ashley Phillips," he said.

"I do like him. I think he's got a lot of qualities. I spoke to him the other day and said we definitely need to sit down and speak about your game, and how we can progress it. That's something that I definitely enjoy, especially with centre-backs."

football.london asked former England international King, who spent his entire career at Tottenham, whether he can see any of his traits as a centre-back in the teenager.

"There's always going to be some traits, he's tall, he's quick, he's good on the ball. There's definitely some good traits, but, you know, when you're young, it's good when you just have a wiser head that can give you a few pointers, things just to make your game a little bit easier, because when you're young, you play the game I suppose the hard way, you don't know all the tricks," he said.

"I think that the earlier you know a few tricks and positionally, you're putting yourself in the right positions, it really makes your game a lot easier. So we'll sit down, we will go through his game and see how we can improve it."

Spurs brought in a £40million teenager in 18-year-old Archie Gray this summer from Leeds and King believes that after 52 appearances in a long and tough season for his boyhood club, the young midfielder is ready for what the Premier League will bring.

"He's played in the Championship, which is a tough, tough league. When you've had a good solid season and played many games in the Championship, you are kind of battle already," he said.

"You can see that because he's a mature young player and, yeah, he's one that we've got high hopes of. He's one that can play in multiple positions as well, which is always important. I think he's a fantastic addition to the club."

Another young player arrived at Spurs in the shape of Lucas Bergvall, with the 18-year-old Swede sealing an £8.5million switch from Djurgarden in February before linking up with the Premier League club last month. King believes that the talented attacking midfielder will have benefited a lot from the experience of the recent pre-season tour.

"I think it's important to have a good group, which we do have. You know, we have a good group and we have many young players, so I think that will help. It's very difficult when you come in and you're a young player and there's not many other young faces in the squad," said the former centre-back.

"I think the fact that we have so many other young players will definitely help him, straight away. But yeah, it's never easy when you come in from a different country as a young player to adapt to a different style of football, to a different style of life, but I think it's always good when you come on tour.

"I think it helps you to settle. It's a time where you get to know your team-mates a lot quicker than you would, if you join, say, in the middle of the season, where it's just training and then you're home.

"On tour you get to spend almost the whole day with your team-mates, and I think that helps you bond quicker. And I think when you go back to London, we'll see the benefits of being on tour and spending two weeks away with each other, especially for the new players."

Ledley King was speaking at Sounds Forest, located in one of the most famous landmarks in Seoul, the Hyundai Mall.