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Three very different transfer options Postecoglou could sign to replace Emerson at Tottenham

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Tottenham Hotspur are looking to sign a new full-back this summer and with Emerson Royal wanted by AC Milan they may have to make their move sooner rather than later.

Spurs are believed to be holding out for around £21million for Emerson, who found starts hard to come by under Ange Postecoglou last season, most of them coming in central defence during the club's injury crisis midway through the season when he stepped in admirably.

However, the Brazilian does not naturally fit the Australian's inverted full-back system and Milan are keen to take him to Serie A this summer.

We've looked at three different ways to replace Emerson and provide competition and back-up for Pedro Porro this summer:

Vanderson

Spurs have been linked with another Brazilian to replace Emerson in the shape of 22-year-old Vanderson. The young Monaco right-back is likely to cost a considerable chunk more than Emerson's £21million valuation as he has four years left on the new contract he only signed four months ago at the Ligue 1 club.

Vanderson is more of a natural right-back in the Porro mould and can also play as a wing-back. Whether he can play inside as a midfielder as Postecoglou full-backs are meant to play is another thing, but he did weigh in with three goals and an assist for Monaco this season around a couple of knee and hip injuries that fragmented his season in France.

Spurs are believed to like the Brazilian, who turns 23 on Friday, but much will depend on that price tag and whether his current side are willing to let him go.

Archie Gray

Another option is to go for a young British homegrown talent, albeit one who would likely cost more than Vanderson, who can play across the pitch.

football.london have previously reported that, along with most of the Premier League's top sides, Spurs have a strong interest in and have been closely watching the Leeds teenager Archie Gray. The youngster only turned 18 in March but played 52 times last season for Daniel Farke's side.

His versatility meant he started the season in attacking, defensive and box-to-box central midfield roles, where he spent much of his academy years, but then went on to become a very effective right-back for Leeds, keeping the then on-loan Djed Spence out of the team late in 2023.

That ability to play in both midfield and right-back would mark out Gray as a good candidate to take on Postecoglou's inverted right-back role.

There would be plenty of competition for the teenager though, and he would be worth big money with a long contract until 2028, after only signing a new deal in January with some placing a £50million tag on him. Much could depend on how much money the Yorkshire club needs to raise after missing out on the riches of promotion to the Premier League even if they will be loathe to lose their homegrown star.

Rav van den Berg

A bit different this one but Spurs have been looking at potential left-sided centre-backs who can play at left-back like Bologna's Riccardo Calafiori and Hiroku Ito before his move to Bayern Munich, so why not look at a similarly versatile centre-back option on the right?

There will be plenty of centre-backs who can play on the right if required across the European game, but plenty of plaudits have been coming in the past 12 months for Middlesbrough's 19-year-old Dutchman Rav van den Berg.

The teenager started the majority of the Championship side's matches in the last campaign, either in the centre of defence or as a right-back, and was named as both the club's player of the season and young player of the season by the Middlesbrough supporters.

The Dutchman could end up being more less attacking than Porro as a right-back, but he would bring options in two different positions for Postecoglou.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham by clicking here! In depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Tottenham have already completed £26m signing as Ange Postecoglou sent clear transfer message

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Tottenham have already completed £26m signing as Ange Postecoglou sent clear transfer message - Football.London
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Before making an appearance on the punditry panels for Euro 2024, Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou would have been very pleased with what he saw from the tournament on Monday.

Last month, it was confirmed that Postecoglou would be on ITV providing analysis during the tournament with his debut to be made this Saturday. While not needing to cast an eye over the European championships, it is certainly likely that Postecoglou is watching on with several of his players in action.

Micky van de Ven made an appearance of the bench for the Netherlands on Sunday with Guglielmo Vicario an unused Italy substitute the previous day. On Tuesday it was Radu Dragusin's turn to make his tournament bow with the Spurs defender putting in an excellent 90-minute performance in Romania's dominant 3-0 win over Ukraine.

"He was my man of the match," former Premier League defender Ashley Williams said of Dragusin on the BBC. "I thought he was excellent. He grew and grew into the game. (While watching one tackle) Boom. That's like hitting a brick wall. He was like that all game. We mentioned him before and we don't really see enough of him in the Premier League.

"He's got energy, we said he was good on the ball. He's brave, he's got first contact in his six-yard box and then he's driving his team all of the way up the pitch. That's not what he's in the team for but he does have the ability to do that."

Since his £26million move from Genoa in the January transfer window, Dragusin has been mostly forced to settle for cameo appearances from the bench, because of Cristian Romero and Van de Ven's performances, though he started the final two games of the season. Considering he had made just two starts prior to that, with 244 minutes played as a result, numerous Spurs fans may have been surprised by his defensive dominance.

Postecoglou however, was likely well aware of his abilities but the performance still served as a huge transfer reminder. With the summer window now officially open, Postecoglou will be looking to make some key additions with the signing of a new centre-back an option.

However, Dragusin has shown the Spurs boss that he already has three quality central defenders in his squad with the need for a fourth perhaps not a priority over recruiting in other positions. Spurs' homegrown issues do need to be looked at though with it therefore possible Postecoglou looks at promoting an academy star into the senior team.

Alfie Dorrington and Ashley Phillips could be the ones to benefit with the latter fresh off a strong loan spell at Plymouth Argyle. Dorrington meanwhile starred in Tottenham's Premier League 2 triumph though he a hamstring injury curtailed the end of his season.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham by clicking here! In depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Danny Murphy could not be more wrong about Radu Dragusin after Tottenham defender masterclass

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Danny Murphy could not be more wrong about Radu Dragusin after Tottenham defender masterclass - Football.London
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Tottenham defender Radu Dragusin was one of the names being spoken about after he played a big part in Romania’s 3-0 win over Ukraine in the Euro 2024 opener.

The centre-back played the full 90 minutes of the game on Monday afternoon as Romania got off to the perfect start. While they had been defensively solid in qualifying, there were some worries about their goal-scoring.

That was, however, put to bed in the 29th minute when Nicolae Stanciu opened the scoring in spectacular fashion. Things got even better for Romania in the second half thanks to goals from Razvan Marin and Denis Dragus.

Dragusin played a key part in his nation's achievement of seeing off Ukraine and coming away from the game with a clean sheet as well as three goals. It’s something that could prove crucial in qualifying for the knockout stage.

Speaking on BBC One pundit Danny Murphy was full of praise for the Tottenham man, but did have one criticism. “I think he's epitomised everything good about Romania today,” he said.

“I don't think you should be celebrating doing your job that much, just a block. I mean come on.”

The former midfielder couldn’t be more wrong about the celebration for what was a crucial block. If you take the view that players shouldn’t celebrate when doing their job, then strikers shouldn’t celebrate when scoring a goal, just because they are doing their job.

A January signing from Genoa, Dragusin had to be patient for game time at Spurs, he did however start the final four Premier League matches before the end of the season. If he is able to impress on one of the biggest stages of all for Romania, then that is only going to help him retain his place in the Spurs team when the new season starts.

The block that Murphy is talking about came in front of his own raucous fans. The reaction from the player is exactly what the fans want to see, and only improve the atmosphere of the team.

As already mentioned, that block also helped his nation to keep a clean sheet. Depending on results and scores throughout the rest of the group over the next week or so, that could prove to be crucial in Romania’s hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage for just the second time - given that qualification could potentially come down to goal difference.

Tottenham fans will be hoping to see more performances from Dragusin than he showed against a Ukrainian side with quality in their attack. If celebrating goal saving blocks come with that then Spurs fans certainly won’t be complaining.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham by clicking here! In depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Ange Postecoglou Euro 2024 games confirmed as Tottenham boss takes new role

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Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou will be part of ITV’s pundit team for five of the upcoming Euro 2024 games as the tournament continues.

The Australian will be preparing for the new Premier League season in charge of Spurs, where they will be looking to build on last season’s fifth place finish. But without games, he may have found some extra time on his hands.

He is using that to give his thoughts on some of the Euopean Championships games for ITV. It has now been confirmed which games he will be covering.

He will make his first appearance on Saturday 22 June when Belgium take on Romania in the Group E clash. He will then return three days later when England take on Slovenia in their final Group C clash, the clash between Denmark and Serbia will also take place at the same time and shown on ITV4.

Postecoglou will also be part of the coverage for the Group F clashes between Georgia and Portugal and Czech Republic against Turkey.

Postecoglou was said to be a wanted man for the summer tournament with both ITV and BBC battling it out for his services. ITV ultimately won with the manager set to make his punditary debut for the broadcaster in just a few days.

He is not the only current manager to offer his services for the tournament with Sheffield Wednesday’s Danny Rohl also part of ITV’s pundit team. BBC are also using the services of David Moyes, who is currently out of work, as well as Como’s Cesc Fabregas and Brentford’s Thomas Frank as well as Frank Lampard, who has been linked with the vacant Burnley job.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham by clicking here! In depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Ange Postecoglou told to make key Tottenham change after Radu Dragusin sends clear message

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Danny Murphy believes that a Tottenham back three featuring Radu Dragusin alongside Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven would be one few would want to play against.

Dragusin was in imperious form for Romania on Monday as they beat Ukraine 3-0 at the European Championships. The 22-year-old signed for Spurs from Genoa for £25million in January to become the most expensive Romanian footballer of all time. He only started four Premier League matches under Ange Postecoglou with Romero and Van de Ven first choice in the centre of defence but this was a performance that reminded everyone of the level the young Romanian can reach.

Alongside the experienced Andrei Burca, Dragusin kept out Ukraine's attacking stars, including £88.5million Chelsea star Mykhailo Mudryk, Arsenal-linked Girona forward Artem Dovbyk, who scored 24 goals in 36 La Liga games last season, and the highly-rated Georgiy Sudakov and Viktor Tsygankov, from Shakhtar Donetsk and Girona respectively.

Dragusin's display was well received by the BBC panel of pundits that included Brentford boss Thomas Frank, former Wales centre-back Ashley Williams and ex-England midfielder Danny Murphy.

"He was my man of the match," said Williams of the Spurs defender. "I thought he was excellent. He grew and grew into the game. (While watching one tackle) Boom. That's like hitting a brick wall. He was like that all game. We mentioned him before and we don't really see enough of him in the Premier League.

"He's got energy, we said he was good on the ball. He's brave, he's got first contact in his six-yard box and then he's driving his team all of the way up the pitch. That's not what he's in the team for but he does have the ability to do that."

On a flying block Dragusin made before roaring at the Romanian fans behind the goal, he added: "He's a little bit out of position but the desire to get back in front of the striker, and he celebrated this and he should celebrate it. I'm happy for him. He had a great day today and as a former centre-half myself we don't get the chance to score that many goals but that's our bread and butter and if you do that it gives the better players in the team a chance to win it."

Murphy believes that Dragusin has all of the ability and physical attributes to settle into Premier League life comfortably.

"I actually thought that his performance deserves plaudits because he was outstanding and the Tottenham fans watching that will be really pleased because they haven't seen much of him," he said. "His capability is there though and he's going to be a decent player, he's perfect for the Premier League."

When host Mark Chapman suggested a back three of Dragusin alongside Romero and Van de Ven, with Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro bombing on as wing-backs, as being the best back five in the Premier League, Murphy admitted: "You wouldn't want to play against those three. I think he epitomised everything good about Romania today."

Postecoglou has so far only used a back three late on in a couple of matches at Tottenham but he could be tempted to use it more as Dragusin continues his rise. Spurs will have more matches to hand around their players next season with the return of Europa League football to the club.

There was also some debate around the celebrations of the Romania players after making good defensive interceptions and Frank was all for it.

"It's passion and it shows something. We spoke about how good they were defensively. They know it's their way to have a great tournament and they were good together. I thought he was good Dragusin, but I also thought the other centre-back, Burca, they were both great in the box," said the Brentford boss.

Murphy added on Dragusin: "To be fair to him, his emotion after his blocks and his celebrations, it didn't affect him mentally. He wasn't getting carried away with the crowd to a point where it affected his performance. That's what you've got to be careful about."

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham by clicking here! In depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

James Maddison fires clear Radu Dragusin Tottenham message after Romania Euro 2024 heroics

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James Maddison has praised Tottenham teammate Radu Dragusin following his excellent defensive performance for Romania at Euro 2024. For their tournament opener against Ukraine, Romania were considered slight underdogs, however they put in a superb 90-minute team performance in Munich.

Goals from Nicolae Stanciu, Razvan Marin and Denis Dragus saw Romania blitz their opponents in Germany with Dragusin and centre-back partner Andrei Burca dominating the red-hot Artem Dovbyk. From the opening stages it was clear that it would take some effort from Ukraine to score with the duo celebrating after Burca's expert defending against the Girona striker.

Throughout the second half it was Dragusin's turn to come up with moments of brilliance at the back with the Tottenham defender blasting through Ukraine's Georgiy Sudakov to get to the ball. The 22-year-old also showed his quality going the other way as a driving run ended with him being fouled far up the pitch.

Several impressive moments from Dragusin were recognised by the Romanian supporters inside Allianz Arena as they chanted his name in unison. At club level, Spurs fans have rarely been able to witness Dragusin's ability with Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero as Ange Postecoglou's first-choice centre-backs.

Signed in January for £26.7million from Genoa, Dragusin mostly made cameo appearances in his first few months at the club however he was awarded numerous starts towards the end of the season with Van de Ven pushed out to left-back.

While his dominance may have been a slight surprise to Tottenham supporters, those who train alongside him at Hotspur Way likely already know of his talents. James Maddison is one who has undoubtedly been on the end of a few strong challenges with the midfielder praising Dragusin's display on social media.

On his Instagram story, Maddison posted a picture of his TV which shows the Romania match on with a caption reading: "@RaduDragusin5 [three clapping emojis]."

Following his excellent start to Euro 2024, Dragusin will be hoping to continue at that level and present a rather difficult dilemma to Postecoglou.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham by clicking here! In depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

What Radu Dragusin did before Romania masterclass hands Tottenham hidden transfer benefit

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Tottenham defender Radu Dragusin was in top form on the big stage on Monday as Romania beat Ukraine 3-0 in the first Group E game of Euro 2024 with plenty of attacking talent to deal with.

The 22-year-old made the switch to Spurs from Genoa for £25million earlier this year, making him the most expensive Romanian footballer of all time. After playing every single minute in Serie A last season before his January move, Dragusin had to be patient at Spurs with substitute appearances here and there but ended up starting four Premier League matches before the campaign ended for Ange Postecoglou.

Bayern's Allianz Arena, known as the Munich Football Arena for the Euros due to sponsorship reasons, was where Dragusin could have ended up playing had he not rejected the German giants for the move to Tottenham in the winter window.

On Monday, the centre-back showed exactly what he will bring to Spurs as he was up against Ukraine with their attacking options, which included Arsenal-linked Girona forward Artem Dovbyk, who scored 24 goals in 36 La Liga games last season, £88.5million Chelsea star Mykhailo Mudryk and the highly-rated Georgiy Sudakov and Viktor Tsygankov, from Shakhtar Donetsk and Girona respectively.

Here is our scouting report of Dragusin's performance and our Spurs reporter Alasdair Gold's verdict on his display at the end.

Playing on the right of the central duo, the young Romanian centre-back's first real involvement came early on with Dovbyk running in behind him on to a long ball from the left. Dragusin was fortunate as the Girona striker could not quite get the ball under control after running clear and the ball ran through the goalkeeper as the Spurs defender looked across for an offside flag that never came.

On six minutes, Dragusin made an important volleyed clearance from a dangerous cross into the edge of Romania's six-yard box.

Three minutes later and the Spurs man paid close attention to Sudakov and ushered him to the touchline and out of play. A minute on and Dragusin won a key header as Mudryk looked to run beyond him.

Dragusin has little to do during this period as Romania's strong foundation allowed their forward players to start advancing up the pitch.

That resulted in a beautiful opening goal from Nicolae Stanciu as he curled a first-time effort into the top left corner of the net to leave Ukraine stunned.

On 35 minutes, Dragusin did well after being caught slightly out of position to head a Mudryk cross up and over his own crossbar from about five yards out and then he won a header from the resulting corner.

A minute later and the Spurs man was involved again, making an important block to stop Tsygankov's shot as he ran into the box.

Dragusin first touched the ball three minutes into the second half, clearing successive crosses from Mudryk and Sudakov with ease with his imposing frame.

On 52 minutes Romania doubled their lead when Razvan Marin hit a low effort from distance that the Ukrainian goalkeeper Andriy Lunin could not prevent from rolling into the bottom left corner.

Dragusin made one defensive header before Romania made it 3-0 on 56 minutes, when Denis Dragus touched home from close range.

The Spurs centre-back ended this excellent period of play for the Romanians with a crunching, strong challenge on Sudakov just inside the box which took the ball cleanly and left his country's fans chanting his name around the stadium.

With Ukraine reeling and struggling to make in-roads, Dragusin's first real touch was a good block of a header in the wall to send a free-kick well over his own crossbar.

The young defender then went on a rampaging run in the 70th minute down the left flank on a Romanian break and won a free-kick as he dribbled inside in the Ukrainian half.

Dragusin then sprinted back and made a crucial flying block from a cross in his own box and roared in celebration at his country's supporters behind the goal.

The Tottenham defender got his head to a dangerous Mudryk free-kick into the box on 79 minutes.

Dragusin made a clearance just inside the Romania box in the third minute of added time before celebrating a fantastic victory and display, Romania's first win at the Euros in 24 years.

Verdict

This was a big performance from the big Romanian on the big stage and he was a key building block of what his country's impressive victory was built upon, forming a strong partnership with the experienced Andrei Burca, who plays for Saudi side Al-Okhdood.

Dragusin racked up a remarkable 10 clearances during the game, double Burca's tally, and the 22-year-old also managed to block two shots, make one interception, won two aerial duels and had an 88.9% pass success rate.

Brentford boss and BBC pundit Thomas Frank said at half-time: "Dragusin and Burca, the two centre-backs, they've been fantastic."

After Dragusin barged past Dovbyk to congratulate Burca on shutting out the Ukraine striker, his co-pundit and former Wales centre-back Ashley Williams said: "I like to see that celebrating. Today central defenders are being judged on how they can play out from the back and these two boys can as well but to see two centre-halves do something that we all think is a small thing, do some good defending, and celebrate together. He's a big unit (Dovbyk) but they're dealing with him and they're enjoying it."

In the second half, Dragusin only became more assured, dealing with everything that Ukraine's considerable attacking talent could throw at him and the Romanian backline.

The 22-year-old looked calm and composed on the ball and imperious without it and precious little got past his attention. He celebrated every big defensive moment like a goal, something he might just have picked up from his Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, who encourages that from his defenders.

He was also involved going forward with one sparkling run, something Spurs fans have already seen from him before in the Premier League.

The BBC co-commentator and former Everton attacker James McFadden revealed that before the game Dragusin had been involved with Romania's forward players with their crosses and finishing drills, a fascinating little insight into how he gets involved and shows a desire to improve his all-round game.

Williams added after the game on Dragusin: "He was my man of the match. I thought he was excellent. He grew and grew into the game."

This was an important day for Dragusin at his first European Championships and it showed exactly how good a young centre-back Postecoglou has among his options for the season ahead and he can only get better.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham by clicking here! In depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Tottenham receive Europa League clarity after UEFA confirm new landmark plans

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Tottenham Hotspur will be gearing up for Europa League football after Ange Postecoglou's side finished fifth in the Premier League. Spurs will embark on a historic campaign, as UEFA have confirmed the details of the upcoming campaign with a number of important changes.

The Europa League will face one of three wholesale changes from UEFA as the Champions League and Conference League embark on new journeys. Thirty-six teams will enter the competition and be drawn into a 36-team league phase. According to guidance released by the football governing body, the final ranking in the league phase determines which 24 teams advance to the knockout phase and their seeding position for the knockout phase.

The points system will remain the same, with three points per win and one point per draw. Each team will play eight games against eight different opponents - four at home and four away- in the league phase. The Europa League will follow the same model as the Champions League, where teams are seeded into four pots of nine teams by their five-year UEFA club coefficient.

Spurs are 34th in the coefficient rankings with 54,000 points and will be apart from the draw, which will see each team be drawn against two opponents from each of the four pots; they will play one of those teams at home or away. The pots are drawn with teams of similar strength to guarantee the opponents are equally balanced for all teams.

At the end of the league phase in the Europa League, teams placed one to eight in the ranking quality directly for the Round of 16. Teams finishing between ninth and 24th will compete in a two-legged playoff to reach the last-16, and those below 25th will be eliminated from the competition.

To strengthen the competition and provide more sporting incentives. The table for the knockout seeding will be formed based on the final ranking of the league position. Teams will be paired (1 and 2, 3 and 4 etc.) and split into opposite parts of the draw.

If a club enters the knockout playoffs, those between ninth and 16th will be seeded and play against teams between 17th and 24th, with the seeded clubs having a home advantage in the second-leg.

Teams that have automatically qualified for the Round of 16 (positions one to eight) will be seeded and play the winners of each playoff, playing the second-leg at home. The Europa League knockouts will be two-legged until the final, which will be held, like normal, at a neutral venue in a one-legged match.

The conversation is currently centred on player welfare and how much football is being played. In the Europa League, matches will begin in September and end in January, with one matchday in September and December and two in October, November and January before knockouts through to May.

£60m bid on the table, major Spurs advantage

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£60m bid on the table, major Spurs advantage - Ebere Eze to Tottenham transfer verdict - Football.London
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Tottenham are yet to make their first move in the summer transfer window. But that is not wholly unexpected, with Euro 2024 in full swing and players who are not involved probably on their holidays after a long season.

The transfer window has been open for a few days and will remain open until Friday, August 30, with Spurs expected to be busy in the market, as Ange Postecoglou looks to overhaul his squad.

It will not only be incomings, with the Australian boss looking to offload a number of fringe players from the books. one player who has been heavily linked with a move to N17 is Ebere Eze - currently with the England squad at Euro 2024.

Eze shone at Crystal Palace last season with 11 goals and six assists in 31 appearances. He particularly impressed under new boss Oliver Glasner, in a more attacking system, scoring six and setting up three in his last 11 appearances in the campaign - with one of those goals coming against Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Eze is likely to cost in the region of £60million this summer, with Crystal Palace putting a similar price tag on Michael Olise's head. Should Spurs make the move? football.london writers have their say...

Alasdair Gold - Tottenham correspondent

It's a deal that makes plenty of sense for Spurs, even if Eze might have to adapt to a slightly different role within Postecoglou's system as either more of a traditional winger or as a box-to-box number eight than as a number 10.

The soon to be 26-year-old England international would be a statement signing though for Tottenham and would provide a lot more creativity and threat to the Australian's side and real competition in the starting XI. He would cost big money with reports of a complicated release clause that would be worth around £60million initially and approaching £70million with add-ons.

There is the benefit of Eze being represented by CAA Base, the same agency that look after Postecoglou, Son Heung-min, James Maddison, Pedro Porro, Pape Matar Sarr and many more players and staff within Tottenham, which should aid any negotiations between the two clubs.

Palace do not have to bend as they will not be keen on losing two key players with Olise tipped to move, so it will be down to Spurs to splash the required cash and show their intentions for next season under Postecoglou. They spent similar on Richarlison two summers ago and Eze could make an even bigger impact under Postecoglou.

Lee Wilmot - Head of football

Put £60million on the table right now and get this deal done. Tottenham may well have more pressing needs - striker, holding midfield and full-back, but with a player like Eze you don't concern yourself with that and you get the transfer over the line.

Eze is a quality footballer and will add flair and greater competition for places in either attacking midfield or on the wings that the likes of Giovani Lo Celso or Bryan Gil can offer.

The 25-year-old was brilliant under Oliver Glasner at the end of the season, living up to his immense potential. Eze would be an exciting signing for Spurs and an exciting player in an Ange Postecoglou team.

Daniel Levy, go and get it done!

Joe Doyle - Content Editor

I'm a huge fan of Ebere Eze. He's one of the most aesthetically pleasing players in the Premier League when running with the ball.

I think it will be pretty difficult to get a deal done for him this summer though. Eze played a big part in Palace's good run under Oliver Glasner alongside Michael Olise, who is also being courted this summer by a number of clubs.

They won't want to sell either, but in reality probably will sell one. I don't see the club selling both, and Olise is more likely to leave.

I think for Spurs there are probably more pressing needs than an attacking midfielder, and at £60million he represents quite an outlay. That being said, it's not like the club are short of money at the moment, and he'd definitely improve the squad.

If it was me, I would buy him. He's an exceptionally entertaining footballer to watch, and who wouldn't want that in their team?

Sam Truelove - Content Editor

For me, this is an easy decision. Tottenham should do whatever it takes to sign Ebere Eze this summer.

The 25-year-old just oozes class. He contributed to 17 goals in 31 appearances for Crystal Palace last season and would add proven Premier League quality to Ange Postecoglou's squad if he were to join the Lilywhites.

Capable of playing as a left winger or as an attacking midfielder, the Englishman would provide Postecoglou more creativity which was needed at times during the 2023/24 campaign. Daniel Levy may have two issues, however. It will likely cost more than £60million to sign Eze, while Palace may be reluctant to lose both Eze and Michael Olise in the same window, with Olise strongly linked with a move to Chelsea. If Levy acts fast, Eze may just be a Spurs player in time for pre-season.

Tottenham set to sign lucrative BetMGM deal to help plug £18m hole after two sponsors cut ties

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Tottenham Hotspur are looking to replace and improve before the start of the new Premier League season on the £18million-a-year in sponsorship income they have lost in recent months.

Spurs announced in April within their most recently-filed accounts that in the year up until June 2023 the club had made £227.7million from commercial revenues, which include sponsorship, merchandising and other income such as third-party events, visitor attractions, conference and events, along with the money made from their pre-season tour to South Korea the previous year. That was an increase from £183.5million in 2022.

Now from that pool of money, the north London club have two deals coming to a close this summer and they are the third and fourth most lucrative sponsorship contracts at the club behind their AIA and Nike agreements.

The first is the three-year training wear sponsorship deal agreed with Getir, which was signed in 2021. The delivery firm's troubles have been widely reported in recent months and Tottenham were prepared for the fact that the deal, reportedly worth £8million a year at the time, would naturally come to a close at the end of last season. However, Sky News reported last month that Turkish-based Getir was left with a debt of close to £5million to the Premier League side.

Tottenham appear to have at least found a replacement training wear partner with BetMGM expected to take over from next season in a multi-year deal. Shirt sponsorship values have risen in recent years, including training wear ones, so the break may have come at a good time in that respect and reports have placed this new deal with the online betting company as being worth around £10million a season.

While last year Premier League clubs agreed to remove gambling logos from matchday shirts from the 2026/27 season onwards, they will be allowed to use them on training wear, sleeve sponsorship and advertising around their stadium and training grounds.

BetMGM, which entered the UK market last year, has also got a number of smaller sponsorship deals with Manchester City, Newcastle United and Wolves, but will become more prominent with their expected training wear deal with Tottenham.

Tottenham will also be looking to upgrade their matchday shirt sleeve sponsorship deal as their partnership with Cinch comes to an end. The online car-selling platform agreed a five-year deal with the north London club in 2021 but is believed to have exercised an early exit option as it pulls back on its sponsorship commitments, having done the same with its Scottish Premiership Football League deal.

That Cinch deal was reported at the time as being Spurs' third most lucrative sponsorship deal at £10million-a-year. With that early exit anticipated, the club were involved in some preliminary negotiations with the SA Tourism arm of the South African government about sponsorship, including their shirt sleeves, which ended up not making it through the rounds of approval within the country.

Reports in South Africa in February last year claimed it was a three-year deal worth just under 911million rand, which would have been £42.5million with the exchange rate at that time (it would be worth £3million less with today's rate). That would have placed the new deal back then as being worth more than £14million-a-year.

That failed deal does at least show that Tottenham will look to take advantage of the increased value in shirt sleeve sponsorship since the Cinch contract was agreed in 2021 and the plan is for the club to have a new sponsor in place by the time the new Premier League season starts in August.

Spurs' newly-released Nike home kit came out this month and within the launch, the statement read: "For the 2024/25 season, all of our kits will be sold without the sleeve partner logo, and our training range will be sold without the training wear partner logo. These are excluded from retail inventory for the coming season."

Tottenham's long-running AIA and Nike deals remain by far their most lucrative sponsorship contracts. In 2019, Spurs agreed an extension to their shirt sponsorship deal with life insurance company AIA worth £320million until the end of the 2026/27 season, meaning a £40million-a-year contract.

Spurs signed their other big-money deal with Nike back in 2017 and then extended it the following year to a 15-year agreement which will last until at least 2033, making it is one of the longest football club deals in the sportswear giant's history. Reports at the time suggested the agreement was worth around £30million a season for the north London outfit.

Another big sponsorship deal yet to be struck is the one for the naming rights to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which opened in 2019. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has spoken in the past year about the unexpected income and benefits that have come from leaving the club's name on the stadium, which has given Tottenham more time to find the best possible long-term deal for their home in N17.

First up though, they need to finalise those new training wear and sleeve sponsorship deals before next season and every little helps as they look to back Ange Postecoglou with transfers this summer to help him realise his expectations of challenging those at the top of the Premier League.

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