Football.London

Roy Keane has questioned whether or not James Maddison is consistent enough to spearhead Tottenham up the Premier League table when he returns from injury as Ange Postecoglou's men languish in 14th spot.

Maddison is one of several absentees for the Spurs, having missed his side's last five games across all competitions after suffering a calf injury in January.

In addition to seven-cap England star Maddison, the Lilywhites are also without Radu Dragusin, Dominic Solanke, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Richarlison, Brennan Johnson, Timo Werner, Guglielmo Vicario and Wilson Odebert.

However, Keane has questioned whether or not Spurs - who have won just one of their last eight Premier League games - will experience a drastic upturn in results when the former Leicester City midfielder returns to selection in the coming weeks ahead.

Speaking on the latest episode of The Overlap, Keane said: "Which players [are we] talking about coming back that can help Spurs? I agree with [Micky van de Ven, Guglielmo Vicario] - that's two.

"[Destiny] Udogie is not bad. We saw James Maddison at Tamworth, he was taken off! Tamworth are non-league... People say; 'Maddison's the man', but when is he going to step up to the plate?

"He got relegated with Leicester [City] and [looks like] with Spurs. Maddison isn't bad, but if you think he's going to come back and get Spurs top six, you're in cuckoo land.

"He's a talented player, but if you're a player in the Spurs dressing room and he's back in the squad, you wouldn't be looking and going; 'James is back today - we're going to be fine'."

Despite a torrid run of form in the Premier League, and exiting both domestic cups in the space of four days last week, Postecoglou jumped to the defence of his injury-stricken side after Sunday's 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa.

"I don't care about me, people will judge me or whatever," he said. "But you can't judge this group of players on what's happened. They've given everything. Two 18-year-olds, a 17-year-old, a 19-year-old and a 21-year-old goalkeeper starting against one of the best teams in the country at home.

"They [Villa] had a week off, they didn't play on Thursday night against Liverpool. We did. Same group of players, not a change. You can't measure this group of players on that and their performance. It's too easy for people to be critical of them. I have huge admiration and respect for them."

Roy Keane and Ian Wright have appeared to back Ange Postecoglou to turn Tottenham's fortunes around. The Aussie has come under pressure for Spurs' dreadful form this season.

After helping Tottenham finish fifth in the Premier League last term, Postecoglou's side have struggled in 2024/25. In fact, Spurs sit 14th in the top flight having won just EIGHT of their 24 matches. They are out of the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, with the Europa League their only chance of silverware.

It does feel like Tottenham's destiny in Europe is going to determine Postecoglou's future, with the winner of that competition getting automatic qualification for the Champions League. Having finished fourth in the new format, there is no doubt that Spurs, alongside Manchester United, have a good chance of winning that.

However, injuries have decimated Tottenham's squad this season. Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Guglielmo Vicaro have failed to stay fit, while Destiny Udogie, James Maddison, Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke and Richarlison are among those that have struggled with injuries this season.

And former Arsenal forward Wright believes Postecoglou should be judged when players get back fit and he has the budget to strengthen his squad in the summer transfer window. Chairman Daniel Levy has also been blamed for Tottenham's form, despite having a net spend of £550million over the last six years.

Speaking on The Overlap's Stick to Football, Wright said: "He [Postecoglou] was at Celtic, who obviously in that league, are the guys. He's got an owner now who is not going to back him like how he was backed in Celtic. It was going to be easier for him. It will be interesting to see if he does get through this faze.

"I'd love for him to get to a place where he can get players who he wants, get more quality in his squad and then see if he continues to play how he is – and then you can judge him.

"He definitely needs a lot more quality in the squad. Surely, he would have believed he would have got more of what he may have wanted up to this point – he’s two years in."

Keane added: "When [a club] signs a big contract with the manager – imagine if the manager is sitting with whoever he’s negotiating with and goes, 'I want 20 million and I’ll be really good with no midweek games'.

"If a manager was fresh going into the job every time, then it would be a fantastic job. However, it does take its toll with the fatigue, the travelling and the European games.

"When Ange [Postecoglou] was manager at Celtic and he was playing the likes of Dundee and Hibs every week – with the smallest squads – I don't think Ange was feeling sorry for them. It's now Ange’s time to suffer – like lots of other managers. Celtic had the biggest budget and the best players, and do you think he had sympathy at Dundee when he was winning 7,8,9-0? He won there one day, 9-0 – he didn't care less."

For all the talk of the huge number of missing Tottenham players this season, a small band of players have stepped up for Ange Postecoglou and he must not forget that.

The 59-year-old has been full of praise for the jaded group of 12 to 13 players who have been wheeled out every three days during an overstuffed fixture schedule. Now various Spurs players have finally begun returning to training at Hotspur Way and all eyes will be on how important those who have stepped in continue to be over the remainder of the season.

The two 18-year-olds, Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall, are good examples of that, both having been exposed to the Premier League as a crash course rather than being more gently brought in over the course of the season.

The biggest question though will be what happens with Djed Spence. The 24-year-old has gone from someone who looked to be heading out of Spurs in the summer, to impressing enough in pre-season to get a squad spot to now becoming one of Postecoglou's most in-form players.

In the absence of Destiny Udogie, the right-back has started 11 of the past 13 matches in the Premier League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup, missing one through suspension and one through injury. He would likely have played in the Europa League as well had he not been left out of the squad at the start of the season because there were too many to fit in due to the rules and regulations.

In domestic competition, Spence has shone on the opposite flank and those Europa League absences have at least allowed him to have more energy for the matches around them as he looks to contribute to Tottenham's driving attacks as well as chasing back to defend.

The Tottenham fans have grown attached to the full-back with many criticising the original decision to leave him out of the Europa League squad. Spence has always earned a certain degree of sympathy for the way he was brought in as what Antonio Conte described to football.london back in the summer of 2022 as "a signing the club wanted to make".

Spence may well admit himself that since then he's had his own part to play in why things haven't worked out with loans to Rennes and Leeds starting well before fizzling out and then a switch to Genoa, which marked the start of an improvement.

Then last summer he worked hard in pre-season and showed his growth on and off the pitch and while it took until December for his first start, he has not looked back since.

After a starring role for Spence in the win at Brentford this month, keeping Bryan Mbeumo quiet for much of the game, Postecoglou told football.london: "Yeah he's been outstanding since he's come into the team. He had to bide his time. It's fair to say we needed Djed to really be patient, and also just mature a little bit, and I think he has.

"And once he got into the team he's looked fantastic, and he was important for us today, I think we'd missed him the last couple of games. He's one of these defenders that loves the challenge of taking on the elite in the Premier League wingers, there's some outstanding ones. And Bryan Mbeumo's right up there, especially here. You can see he loves that challenge. Like I said, that's another reason we kept Micky on ice, knowing Djed was back in, was going to help us enormously. So pleased to get him back in the team. He'll be important for us until Destiny gets back. He'll be important for us in this period."

Other than the Van de Ven comment which has proved to be longer than being put on ice, Spurs fans also took umbrage at the use of "until" in those closing sentences.

For Spence has proved that he has the ability to be far more than a back-up for anybody and should, on current form, be starting regardless.

Postecoglou likes the balance of the left-footed Udogie on one side and the more creative Pedro Porro on the other. However, Porro, who will cross the 3,000 minute mark this season with his next game, while productive with seven assists and two goals in attack, has struggled defensively this season. A number of the goals scored against Tottenham have come from his area of the pitch, either through wingers exploiting space behind him or unmarked players scoring where he should be in the box.

For Postecoglou, who has lost some of the fanbase with the disappointing results during this tough season, he needs to make decisions that not only benefit the team but also keep the fans onside. Sometimes that can be a dangerous game to play but in Spence's case, he's the outstanding full-back right now at the club and deserves to remain in the starting XI on merit.

Postecoglou has brought him into the Europa League squad for the knockout stages, leaving out Fraser Forster, which is the first sign of the full-back's growing importance.

Udogie is expected to return to action soon and although Sunday's game against Manchester United could come too soon, it's worth pointing out that Spence's first hint at what he could bring this season came at Old Trafford in the 3-0 win after he replaced the Italian at half-time.

One solution could be playing both Spence and Porro on the right, pushing one of them into a more attacking role as seen briefly at Anfield last week.

Spence has worked hard to get himself into this position in the team and he has not let Postecoglou down. The Australian needs to ensure he rewards that in the weeks ahead and continues to give the full-back the game time he deserves.

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

Former Bayern Munich and Germany defender Markus Babbel has stated that if he was in charge at Tottenham Hotspur he would try to do everything to bring Harry Kane back to the club.

Spurs reportedly agreed a first option agreement for Kane when they sold him to Bayern in the summer of 2023 with a £67million release clause and chairman Daniel Levy said 'of course' when asked if there was a buy-back clause at a fans' forum a couple of months after the transfer had gone through.

With Spurs struggling in the Premier League this season during a prolonged injury crisis, Babbel believes they should pull out all the stops to bring Kane back to N17.

"If I’m Tottenham, I’d be trying to do everything to bring him back to the club. Since Harry left Tottenham, they’ve been struggling. They want to fight for the Champions League places, but now they need to make sure that they are not relegated instead!" the German told Wette.de.

"Harry is a player that makes other players better. If you see Son Heung-min with Harry Kane, and you see Son now without him, he’s a different player. He was so much better when Harry was at Tottenham."

The former Liverpool centre-back wants Kane to remain in Germany though due to his impact on Bayern and the Bundesliga.

"I really hope Harry Kane will stay with Bayern Munich, but with this release clause in his contract then you never know, so it is a worry," he said. "If Bayern didn’t insert this release clause in Harry’s contract, then they wouldn’t have been able to sign him in the first place, so it’s understandable.

"Harry is one of the best strikers in the world, one of the best number nines in the world, because he is not only a great finisher but he’s smart, he can play football, he’s top class. If Bayern wanted to sign him in the first place, then they will have had to accept what Harry Kane wants.

"If this is part of the deal then OK, give it to him. He performed last season; he’s performing this season. If he wants to go back to England at some point because his family is not feeling 100% settled in Munich, then he’ll find a team that’s willing to spend the money on him and take him back to England. A couple of big clubs in England are struggling – Manchester United and Tottenham could certainly do with him.

"He’s always a player that teams will want to sign. You need a striker that scores goals. It’s like at Manchester City, if Erling Haaland is not scoring goals, they have a problem. It’s the same with any club. Harry is still performing, he’s scoring so many goals for Bayern, his performances this season have been unbelievable – so hopefully he stays in Munich."

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

Daniel Levy could be given the opportunity to stay on at Tottenham Hotspur by a consortium interested in buying the club, according to the latest reports. The Guardian claims a group of Qatari investors are keen to buy the club and would offer the current Spurs owner a long-term contract to continue running the club as executive chairman.

Though the club have not hidden their desire to land outside investment, the report claims Spurs are not currently involved in negotiations regarding a takeover. The club has been the subject of interest from investors in America and the Middle East, but as of yet, no one has met the £3.75billion asking price.

The identity of the Qatari bidders is unclear, though the report claims they are private individuals rather than the Paris Saint-Germain owners Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) or Sheikh Jassim, who was in talks to buy Manchester United prior to Sir Jim Ratcliffe's takeover and who have both been linked with a move for Spurs.

The report adds that the consortium of investors want control of the club but a takeover could take the form of a phased buyout.

One reported avenue they're said to be exploring, would be to offer Levy a management contract to run the club with the interested party valuing his expertise.

That would remain in place even if ENIC, who currently own 86.91 per cent of Tottenham becomes a minority shareholder.

Since becoming owner of the club in 2007, Levy who is Managing Director at the ENIC group of companies, has transformed Spurs into one of the richest clubs in Europe with an annual income of more that £500m and their financial position continues to strengthen.

Financial services group Rothschild has been appointed to advise on investment talks, after Levy admitted the club needed "a significant increase in its equity base."

There has also been interest in a takeover at the club, and the owner has held talks with several Qatari entities in recent years, albeit hasn't agreed a deal.

Back in 2016, QSI reportedly talks with Tottenham regarding naming rights of the new stadium and only two years ago, they were said to have approached the club regarding a minority investment.

Former Newcastle United minority shareholder Amanda Staveley, who helped broker the Saudi Arabian PIF led takeover at St. James' Park, reportedly held talks with a Middle Eastern group about making an offer for Spurs last year.

Daniel Levy might be handed the opportunity to stay at Tottenham by a group of Qatari investors that are looking to buy the club according to reports. Levy, 63, has been under pressure to sell from the Spurs supporters due to another disappointing season on the pitch.

Ange Postecoglou's side sit 14th in the Premier League, having won just eight of their 24 matches so far and some have blamed their lack of spending power for the dismal form shown.

It has led to a protest and campaigning against Levy, who has been the most influential figure at Tottenham since 2001, when Enic boought 29.9 per cent of the club from Alan Sugar.

Under Levy's leadership Tottenham's financial position has transformed, with a new stadium built and Spurs among the richest clubs in the world with an annual income of more than £500million.

That hasn't translated on to much success from a football point of view, however, with Spurs not winning a single trophy in 17 years. But now, there is talk that Spurs are getting in some investors.

The Guardian report that a Qatar-based group are looking to buy Tottenham. It's added that, instead of removing Levy from his position, the Essex-born businessman could be given the chance to stay at Spurs. The Qatari investors are said to be willing to give Levy a long-term contract to run the club as executive chairman.

The investors are keen to retain Levy's expertise. Under one model being considered by the Qatari group, Levy would be offered a management contract to run the club, which would remain in place even if Enic, that owns 86.91% of Tottenham, becomes a minority shareholder in the future.

Tottenham fans sung "Levy out" at Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa in the FA Cup. It's clear how some Spurs supporters feel about Levy, even if the club have a £550m net spend since the new stadium opened six years ago.

This is despite the £86m sale of Harry Kane, with Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson, James Maddison, Tanguy Ndombele and Richarlison among their most expensive transfers.

Offering an update on Spurs' search for investment, Levy said last year: "To capitalise on our long-term potential, to continue to invest in the teams and undertake future capital projects, the club requires a significant increase in its equity base.

"The board and its advisors, Rothschild & Co, are in discussions with prospective investors. Any recommended investment proposal would require the support of the club’s shareholders."

New reports have emerged amid Tottenham Hotspur’s search for investment in the club, with talks over interested parties continuing.

Back in April last year, chairman Daniel Levy confirmed that the club were in discussions with potential investors. In a statement accompanying Spurs’ annual financial results he said: ”To capitalise on our long-term potential, to continue to invest in the teams and undertake future capital projects, the club requires a significant increase in its equity base.

“The board and its advisors, Rothschild & Co, are in discussions with prospective investors. Any recommended investment proposal would require the support of the club’s shareholders.”

Since then, there has been a lot of speculation of where that investment could come from. It comes amid the team’s poor form on the pitch and fan unrest off it.

Here is the latest on a potential investment or takeover of the club...

Qatari interest

The Guardian report that a group of Qatari investors are seeking to buy the club in a deal that could take the form of a ‘phased buyout’.

It is added that the identity of the investors is unknown, but they are not government-backed Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) or Sheikh Jassim, the latter of whom made an attempt to buy Manchester United before the takeover by Sir Jim Ratcliffe. They are instead private individuals.

Daniel Levy update

The same report from The Guardian claims that any takeover by Qatari investors could see chairman Daniel Levy stay at the club, with the investors willing to offer him a long-term contract to continue running the club as executive chairman.

That decision may not go down too well with some Spurs fans, who have made their feelings clear by chanting that they want ‘Levy out’ at recent games.

It is said that the investor are keen to retain Levy’s ‘expertise’ should a takeover happen.

Amanda Staveley links

Former Newcastle United co-owner Amanda Stavely and her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi continue to be linked with Spurs, having attended Tottenham matches and NFL games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

She has previously said that she would be open to investing in another Premier League club after leaving Newcastle. Speaking at Bloomberg’s Women, Money & Power event back in December, she said: "It's so hard to move on from a club that's amazing.

"We could never move on from Newcastle, and we never will. But yes, we're looking at a number of investment operations.

"We can't say too much at the moment because of rules around it. But we will be able to talk about it, hopefully in the not too distant future."

That came after reports back in August that the two were in advanced talks over acquiring a sizable stake in Spurs, with them attending matches against Brentford and Arsenal as club guests.

King Charles III visited the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday morning to highlight the charity work achieved by both the club and the NFL.

The monarch met Spurs' men's and women's captains Son Heung-min and Bethany England in the tunnel at the ground as well as the Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy during the trip to the stadium which doubles up as both the Premier League club's home and a UK base for NFL London Games each season.

The King was shown around the stadium and went on to the pitch to meet the longest serving British NFL star and current Washington Commanders defensive end Efe Obada and former Buffalo Bills coach and now NFL analyst Phoebe Schecter. The 76-year-old had emerged to a crowd of people inside the stadium and threw an American football among other activities on the pitch.

King Charles spoke with various community groups and businesses that have benefited from the opportunities generated by the stadium, including students from the London Academy of Excellence Tottenham (LAET), a high-performing, co-sponsored state-funded sixth form prioritising local students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

He also spoke to young people from The King’s Trust, a youth charity he founded in 1976 as Prince of Wales. Some of those young people participated in The Trust's Get into Security programme with Spurs and are now employed at the stadium.

The King also watched a demonstration by young people from The Huddle Project, a dual-sport programme launched in 2023 by Tottenham, the NFL, and Nike, before taking part in a workshop with them within the stadium.

King Charles received a replica of Spurs' original golden cockerel statue on the pitch from Son and England as well as an American football from Sunday night's Super Bowl in New Orleans, won by the Philadelphia Eagles, from the NFL.

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

There will be an unusual sight for Ange Postecoglou as he walks out on to the training pitches at Hotspur Way on Wednesday - a larger contingent of Tottenham players.

Spurs' injury crisis has been long and damaging with 10 or more unavailable players for most matches and the Australian has had to turn to the same group of 11 or 12 outfield squad members pulling on their boots to play every three days or so for what has been nearly three months.

On Sunday, Postecoglou could not call upon 11 of his first team players for the FA Cup defeat at Aston Villa, with Richarlison and Radu Dragusin having become the most recent additions with a calf injury and anterior cruciate ligament damage respectively. The latter underwent successful surgery on Tuesday.

After the game, the Tottenham head coach gave the rest of his overworked players Monday and Tuesday off to try to regain some energy ahead of a rare midweek without a match. Some players headed off abroad, such as Dejan Kulusevski who travelled to Rome, while others would have recuperated at home.

When they returned to the training pitches of Hotspur Way on Wednesday, they would have no doubt been lifted by the return of some of their team-mates.

The likes of Destiny Udogie, James Maddison, Wilson Odobert and Brennan Johnson are all tipped to be back on the grass with varying degrees of training intensity this week ahead of Sunday's match against Manchester United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, while goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario is stepping up his efforts at Hotspur Way.

The returnees will be monitored closely this week to see which ones are ready to be included in the squad, particularly with the cases of Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero proving so problematic with the centre-backs both returning twice, the second time Romero to training and Van de Ven to action, only to vanish back into the ether with further issues.

Postecoglou will hope at the least to have a few more options on his bench for Sunday's big match against Ruben Amorim's men.

"I'm just going to keep on working like I have. The ones who have been playing we've got to give them some time off. We've got the early part of the week and we'll give them some time off," Postecoglou explained on Sunday.

"The boys who are coming back, we'll get the opportunity to give them a whole week of training which is great. So come Tuesday we should have three or four who have been missing, we can give them a full week of training instead of a couple of sessions and then throwing them in.

"By the time we get to the back end of the week we should have something resembling a squad of players to prepare for a big game. That then folds into the following week when again we've got seven days and no midweek game to prepare for the next game.

"So that gives us a real good opportunity to get some work into the guys who have been out for quite a while and give some rest to the guys who have been going at it. So by the time we get back to being in Europe and having midweek games we'll be in a much better shape."

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

Randal Kolo Muani was on the lips of all Tottenham fans in January as the club looked to bolster their attacking options. Requiring someone to help ease the load on Dominic Solanke's shoulders amid Richarlison's struggles to nail down a sustained run of games because of various injuries, Spurs needed to bring in a new frontman for Ange Postecoglou.

Kolo Muani appeared to be the perfect option for Spurs due to his availability, his quality in front of goal and his ability to play across the frontline. In a straight shootout with Juventus for his signature, it was the Italian club who prevailed in the end after striking a loan deal with PSG until the end of the campaign.

Following the news that Kolo Muani would instead be heading to Turin rather than Tottenham, Postecoglou had his say on the player when speaking ahead of Spurs' away game at Everton. Asked if missing out on the French international was a setback, the 59-year-old replied: "For me? No."

"We were in... Well, it depends what you mean for in," he added. "We've been interested and were looking at a number of players. But did we get to the point where we thought he was coming to us? No."

Two days on from Postecoglou's comments, Spurs were dealt a hammer blow on the injury front with Solanke absent for the Everton match after tweaking his knee in training when attempting a shot. Amid their hunt for a new attacker, Tottenham completed a loan deal for Bayern Munich ace Mathys Tel on transfer deadline day.

Spurs do have the option to make the Frenchman's move permanent for £45.8million in the summer, with Postecoglou already indicating that the youngster will be a Tottenham player for the long-term future. Tel is already off the mark in a Spurs shirt after netting a consolation goal in last Sunday's FA Cup fourth round defeat against Aston Villa.

The Sarcelles-born star is not the only player to be amongst the goals as Kolo Muani has also enjoyed a rather impressive start to life at his new club. In his first three Serie A matches for Juventus, the 26-year-old has five goals to his name.

Kolo Muani marked his debut for the Bianconeri by giving them the lead with a well-taken volley in their 2-1 loss at Napoli. Although his bow may have ended in defeat, the striker went on to net a double the following weekend as they recorded a 4-1 home triumph over Empoli.

Kolo Muani again showed his prowess in the penalty box with a cool near-post finish after getting the better of his marker, with his second goal certainly a lot more fortuitous after Timothy Weah's long-range effort struck him and crept in past Devis Vasquez. He was then to add another brace to his name last Friday evening as Juventus won 2-1 away at Cesc Fabregas' Como side.

His first goal of the evening showed what he's all about as he raced into the penalty box and breezed past his opponent before finishing high into the roof of the net. Kolo Muani's second goal would then come on the cusp of full-time as he netted from the penalty spot to secure all three points for Juventus after Como had looked set to register a draw.

Going on his start to life at Juventus, the Italian giants will no doubt want to make his move permanent if he continues to score at his current rate. Very much showing what he could have done for Tottenham had the north London club concluded a deal for him, Spurs now have their own man who can score the goals needed to fire the team up the Premier League table and hopefully to Europa League glory.

Whereas all the talk from Tottenham fans was about Kolo Muani last month, Tel is now the one dominating the headlines. His goal at Aston Villa last time out is hopefully just the start of things to come for him in N17.

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