Hotspur HQ

Tottenham Hotspur were linked to a number of Thomas Frank's former stars at Brentford, but they didn't manage to sign any of them. Spurs didn't go particularly hard after Manchester United signing Bryan Mbeumo, who seemed pretty adamant on joining the Red Devils. That was, of course, a foolish decision, based on the fact that Spurs beat United in the Europa League Final and are miles ahead of them in the current table.

Spurs also never tried to sign Yoane Wissa, though he badly wanted to join them. Given he's around 30 and may have been a one-year wonder, you can see why Tottenham decided to save their money and sign the more well-rounded and explosive Randal Kolo Muani on loan instead.

Tottenham haven't tried to sign center back Nathan Collins either, which makes sense since he wouldn't be good enough to see the daylight of the starting lineup ahead of either Cristian Romero or MIcky van de Ven. It's also debatable if he's as good as third man Kevin Danso, and he certainly shouldn't be holding up Luka Vuskovic's future with Spurs after the 2025/26 season ends.

But the fourth man Spurs could have signed, Christian Norgaard, seemed to have been the most beneficial. Christian Norgaard was a solid, underrated defensive midfielder for Brentford and Frank's coach on the field as captain. He chose to sign with Arsenal over Tottenham and has been a nifty veteran presence off the bench. Obviously, loan signing Joao Palhinha is a better player, but Norgaard could have been an alternative to Yves Bissouma.

Thomas Frank can scratch him off his list

If Thomas Frank or any Tottenham fans - the former scenario being more likely than the latter - are interested in a Norgaard and Frank reunion, then they had better think again. Because it sounds like Norgaard has no intention of leaving Arsenal, let alone joining rivals Tottenham after making his choice to snub his beloved manager this summer.

Norgaard stated during the October international break that he has no intention of joining any club after Arsenal in the Premier League or anywhere outside his home country of Denmark

“I can guarantee that Arsenal will be my last club abroad. I still want to return to Brøndby when my contract at Arsenal expires. My contract is two years with an option for a further year. And I would be happy to stay at Arsenal for the extra year if things develop in that direction. If it turns out that it wasn’t the right match, we’ll go home to Denmark after two years.”

Norgaard wants to go back to Brondby. That's his clear intention for his future after Arsenal, and when his contract runs out after three years with the Gunners, he's done with the top level of football as he will be 35 years old at that time. Thus, the ship has sailed for Frank and Norgaard at Tottenham.

Tottenham Hotspur legend Harry Kane remains at the peak of his powers, and he's been off to another sensational start in the Bundesliga this season with 11 goals in just 6 games. He's already up to four goals in the Champions League, too, two games into the campaign.

Kane is right there neck-and-neck with Real Madrid sensation Kylian Mbappe as one of the early 2026 Ballon d'Or favorites, and even though he is now 32 years old, when you watch the England international play, you can't help but feel that this is the best he's ever looked.

Of course, Kane was already the best all-around striker in the world for Tottenham, just taking the mantle away from Karim Benzema after the 2021/22 season, before joining Bayern to win titles. So far, it looks unlikely that Kane will join Tottenham since he's so happy at Bayern, but that hasn't stopped Spurs supporters from dreaming of a reunion, especially after Raphael Honigstein opened up that can of worms earlier this season by saying that people around the Bundesliga felt Kane could leave in 2026.

And the thing is, he very well could, logisitically speaking. That's because, per a report from BILD, there is actually a release clause in Kane's contract. He could leave to a club of his choosing in the summer 2026 transfer window for just 65 million euros. Now, that's a fair chunk of change for a 32-year-old player, but, given how amazing Kane has been, it would be money well-spent for a contender that is a striker away from winning titles.

Tottenham are just a striker away

You know, like Tottenham. With an elite defense, a vastly improved midfield now that Thomas Frank is in charge, and an attack with exciting playmakers like Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons, Tottenham are a 20-goal striker away from pushing Liverpool for that title.

This release clause gives Tottenham fans the room they need to keep on dreaming of that Harry Kane transfer back to Spurs. That clause is active only until January 31, though, as Bayern would need Kane to inform them ahead of time of his desire to leave in the summer 2026 window, likely so they could prepare for his replacement.

There is another aspect of the deal that should interest Tottenham fans. Spurs, per Christian Falk, have a priority option to sign him. There is also reportedly a clause in his deal that gives Spurs the right to match any offer from a Premier League club to sign him.

Bayern want to keep Kane away from a Premier League return, and, so far, they have done a good job of that. But money talks, and if Spurs want Kane so badly that they are willing to offer him more money than Bayern as proof of this new era without Daniel Levy, then perhaps that, combined with the rosy picture of a return and a better sporting project under Thomas Frank, could convince the legend to let that release clause get snapped up in January.

There was once a time, during Antonio Conte's ill-fated second season, when Tottenham had as few as eight internationals representing their respective countries, such was the lack of quality within the Italian's squad.

And while the Lilywhites are only months removed from a season in which they finished 17th in the Premier League table, there's been a notable increase in the collective level of personnel at the manager's disposal.

An ambitious summer window saw multiple bona fide internationals arrive through the door at Hotspur Way, while improved runs of form from others in 2025 has seen them garner recognition from their national team coaches.

Spurs have so far navigated one international break without issue this season, and Thomas Frank will be desperate for his players to return to north London unscathed. A gauntlet run of fixtures is on the horizon for the Lilywhites.

Here's an overview of the Tottenham players representing their countries this month.

Spurs have had 16 players called up to senior squads, and another three appearing for their respective U21 sides.

Mathys Tel and Wilson Odobert will once again feature for a France U21 team laden with talent, while Archie Gray remains in the England U21 setup.

Off the back of his maiden call-up last month and subsequent cap, Djed Spence has kept his place in Thomas Tuchel's England squad. The versatile full-back is the sole Three Lions representative from N17.

Destiny Udogie is back with the Italy squad, joining Guglielmo Vicario, while Xavi Simons and Micky van de Ven (Netherlands), João Palhinha (Portugal), Pedro Porro (Spain), Lucas Bergvall (Sweden), as well as Kevin Danso (Austria) should all be involved in UEFA World Cup qualifiers over the break.

The Netherlands and England are well placed to qualify automatically for next summer's tournament in North America. The others either still have work to do or only started their qualifying campaign last month.

Richarlison's Brazil have already booked their place, although the five-time world champions endured a miserable qualifying campaign. They have two friendlies this month, as do Uruguay, who opted not to pick some of their core players, including Rodrigo Bentancur, for their upcoming games. Cristian Romero is with his beloved Argentina.

Through the first seven matches of both the 2025/26 Premier League season and the Thomas Frank managerial era at Tottenham Hotspur, the Lilywhites are third in the Premier League behind only Arsenal and Liverpool - last season's top two clubs. Their only loss thus far is to Bournemouth, who sit fourth in the table but are behind on goal differential (thank you, Burnley and West Ham).

As Tottenham head into the October international break, surely many a Spurs fan has taken a gander at the upcoming slate of fixtures when the Premier League resumes in a few weeks - as well as the Champions League - and has noticed that the future looks troubling.

In the next two months up until Dec. 3, Tottenham will have to face Monaco and PSG in the Champions League, and those will be their toughest opponents in the competition yet. But the Premier League schedule is even more daunting with tough battles against Aston Villa, a resurgent Everton, Newcastle, Chelsea, Manchester United, rivals Arsenal, Fulham, and then the Magpies yet again.

The fact that Villa and Man United are the easiest of the two opponents speaks volumes to how tough the schedule that lies ahead will be for Tottenham. But the remarkable thing is that even though Spurs are averaging two points per game right now after a light schedule, they could arguably get even more points with the tough matchups ahead.

Tottenham step up in the biggest games

Aside from the obvious point that eight games is more than seven, the number three is the most important one here. Tottenham could be getting three important attacking players back from injury in the coming weeks in Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke, and Randal Kolo Muani. And that's not even mentioning center backs Radu Dragusin and Kota Takai to add more depth to the squad.

Tottenham already have an elite defense - the only one to shut Erling Haaland out this season - and it's been the attack that has been the issue with a reliance on Mohammed Kudus to do it all. Spurs will have a more comfortable Xavi Simons, as well as two better strikers than Richarlison ready to bring everyone else into the game more.

Spurs are also notorious for playing better against the big teams, and their 2-0 romping of Manchester City - as compared to a putrid draw to Wolves - can help attest to that. There are so many reasons to believe Spurs are only getting better and better, and with their track record of being oppositely great against the best teams, Tottenham could paradoxically be even better in October and November.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank showed faith in Richarlison and held onto the former Everton forward despite transfer rumors linking him with a move away from the club last summer. Now, a large part of the reason why Spurs kept Richarlison was the fact that they didn't really have any real offers for Richy, so selling him for pennies on the dollar would have been worse than rolling the dice on a talented Premier League striker at a rather questionable position for Spurs.

But by all accounts, Frank was very high on Richarlison and believed he could bring the best version of the Brazilian international back. It looked like he did, too, as Richarlison was a standout in the first few matches of the season, scoring goals and running like a madman.

Lately, though, Richarlison has fallen back to the depths of being a major transfer bust, and against Leeds United this past weekend, Frank made the bold call to play Mathys Tel at striker despite 1) left wing behind the young Frenchman's best fit and 2) Tel receiving arguably harsher criticism from the Tottenham fanbase for his performances.

Well, Tel answered the call successfully for Spurs on Saturday, scoring once and nearly twice in a strong all-around game at striker, carving out his own chances. Meanwhile, Wilson Odobert did just enough to potentially earn more looks on the left wing, though, of course, not at the expense of Tel if the two are in direct competition.

Mathys Tel and Wilson Odobert won't be competing

But coming out of the October international break when familiar foes Aston Villa await them, Tel and Odobert likely won't be in direct competition for the Tottenham left wing job. Instead, Frank could very well go back to the well that yielded copious water on Saturday, starting Odobert on the left and Tel up the middle again, leaving Richarlison the bench.

Tel could be preferred over Richarlison at striker now by Frank, and although Tel's stay as the main No. 9 will be short-lived with Dominic Solanke and Randal Kolo Muani getting closer to returns from injury, it's more than reasonable for Frank to make the swap from Richarlison to Tel against Villa on Sunday, Oct. 19 in about two weeks.

Whereas Richarlison is nearing his last legs with Tottenham if he can't prove he's a more consistent striker option for the club, Tel is here to stay. He works hard for the team - even harder than Richy - and he ha so much future potential, especially when you look at his mentally of always bouncing back in the face of criticism. He's earned another start at striker if Richarlison is his only barrier.

When Tottenham Hotspur signed winger Mohammed Kudus from rivals West Ham United this past summer transfer window for a cool 55 million pounds, I doubt even they envisioned him being both this good and this important to the club through the first seven matchdays of the 2025/26 Premier League season.

Kudus already means everything to Tottenham's attack, and that honestly isn't an exaggeration. Without Kudus's dribbling ability, fearless attacking instincts, and quality with his chance creation, Spurs would not be one of the Premier League title contenders just after Arsenal and Liverpool heading into the October international break.

The numbers Kudus is producing with the ball at his feet are staggering. In addition to four assists - and his first goal as a Tottenham player this weekend against Leeds - he is literally outproducing everyone in European football as a dribbler.

According to Squawka, the 25-year-old Ghanian superstar is the only player in Europe's top five leagues with 30 take-ons completed. Nobody is even within 10 take-ons of him in the Premier League itself. Kudus also leads the Premier League in assists and duels won, highlighting his dual ability to destroy defenders off the dribble and create goal-scoring opportunities for his teammates.

Mohammed Kudus just might be the best

There is literally nobody on this planet offering a higher-level of take-ons and one-on-one ability on the ball than Kudus. He is opening up the entire attack for Tottenham, and, in many ways, he IS the attack with how often he beats his man and gets into situations that change the game for Spurs.

No player can say they are beating their man as often as Kudus, nor are they trying to force the issue in games quite like him. That kind of player is priceless, and, honestly, if West Ham knew Kudus would be this good, they would have asked Tottenham to pay double for his services this past summer transfer window.

Kudus is only in the early stages of his Tottenham career, Thomas Frank is still trying to figure out the rest of the attack, and strikers Randal Kolo Muani and Dominic Solanke haven't even taken the field this season. So that means Kudus is only going to become even more effective for Tottenham going forward, and that's a fact that should scare the living daylights out of every single other team in the Premier League - both Arsenal and Liverpool very much included in that equation.

Heading into the October international break, Tottenham Hotspur sit third in the 2025/26 Premier League table, just one point behind defending champions Liverpool and two behind eternal rivals Arsenal. Exactly how Spurs stand as a true title contender will depend on how they do in head-to-head competition with the two title favorites, but they are, as of right now, absolutely in contention.

And Spurs did prove their legitimacy as contenders on Matchday 2 this season, beating another one of the main title contenders quite handily. Tottenham destroyed Manchester City 2-0 in Thomas Frank's third overall game in charge, and the most impressive part of that game is the "0" in the scoreline - and it's only getting more impressive with time.

That's because Tottenham are still the only team to hold Manchester City superstar striker Erling Haaland goalless for a game. That's right, in Haaland's six other appearances, he has scored. The Norwegian sensation has found the back of the net nine times in those six games, including two goals against rivals Manchester United and a goal against Arsenal.

So not even Arsenal, widely regarded as having the best defense in the Premier League, were able to hold Manchester City and Haaland to a clean sheet. But Spurs were. That's massive, and it goes to show you that Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, and Co. still don't get nearly enough credit for being one of the elite defenses in the Premier League.

Tottenham owned the Premier League's Golden Boot favorite

Haaland is on an outrageous run right now, and with Mohamed Salah a bit slow to start the 2025/26 Premier League season, the Man City man has 100 percent been the best player in the league this season. He is the only player with double-digit goal contributions thus far and has three more goals than anyone else, as well as WhoScored's highest overall rating in the Premier League.

Statistically speaking, Haaland is the Premier League's best player right now, and he is indeed entering the peak of his career at 25. And yet for as insanely consistent as he has been at finding the back of the net this season, Tottenham were able to blank him and are the only team, to date, to stifle the world-class striker.

Again, that's a huge feather in the caps of each of the defenders for Tottenham, and even though most people view Romero as a world-class player, it still feels like people don't get how great he and especially Van de Ven are.

When Tottenham Hotspur signed Wilson Odobert from Burnley in the summer 2024 transfer market, they did so believing that the young Frenchman could potentially develop into one of the top attacking players in the Premier League and boost the team with real goal contributions in terms of goals and assists, in addition to skillful dribbling.

Odobert didn't get much of a shake in his first season at the club, as expected, but he's already been getting significantly more runs of game time under new manager Thomas Frank, who has been more open to giving youth chances while experimenting with his lineups.

So far in the 2025/26 Premier League season, the 20-year-old has drawn two starts and seven total appearances, including a start this past weekend against Leeds United. Odobert had his momens against Leeds, but he was largely quiet, though he did show signs of improvement from the 2-2 draw with Brighton a couple of weeks prior.

Odobert's talent is easy to see, even when he's not really impacting the bottom line of the game very much. He makes neat touches, and he can occasionally blow by his defender. There are elements of positive positioning and ball progression, and his best moments come when he's linking up with teammates.

This isn't Wilson Odobert's best role

But the thing is, Odobert isn't really being put in the best position to succeed. He's a left winger, yes, but he's more of an attacking midfielder, and when he plays on the left side for Tottenham, it seems like Frank hasn't quite figured out how to best maximize Odobert's skill set.

See, as it currently stands with how Tottenham are playing, Odobert is isolated on the wings, and that's exactly why he's been so quiet. He gets blanked for stretches of the game because he's treading water out wide, unable to collect and interchange with players, instead waiting for the ball to come to him.

Odobert is more of a quick player than a fast player. He doesn't eat up large swathes of grass, but, rather, he kills you defensively with quick shifts across, tight dribbles, and little one-twos. The Frenchman is a neat and technical player, and he would actually work best as an inverted wide playmaker who tucks in, takes long shots, and passes and moves into the box.

If Frank can find a way to harness Odobert's best strengths in terms of his short passing game, dribbling ability, and quickness in tight spaces, then Spurs will have quite the player on their hands. Mathys Tel is a better true goal-scoring winger, but Odobert can certainly have a role to play, especially if he is used to play off a big, well-rounded striker like Dominic Solanke or Randal Kolo Muani when those two returns from injuries.

Tottenham Hotspur are building a team to dominate for the next decade, as their main focus on the transfer market these past few windows has been signing a nucleus of young superstars who can eventually become world-class players.

Lucas Bergvall has already arrived as a top player despite being a prospect, and there's plenty of hope that the likes of Wilson Odobert, Mathys Tel, Antonin Kinsky, Mikey Moore, and Archie Gray can soon join him in the future. Not to mention summer 2025 signings Xavi Simons and Mohammed Kudus, who are already two of the most important players on the team.

But the best prospect of them all isn't even playing for the senior Tottenham team because of the sheer volume of talent at the center back position. Luka Vuskovic, signed for 12 million pounds from Hadjuk Split in 2023, was sent on loan to Hamburg before the 2025/26 season started in order to give the obvious preseason standout a chance to start regularly each week.

Well, Vuskovic has taken full advantage of that opportunity in the Bundesliga, and even those who were comparing the 18-year-old to Sergio Ramos have to be absolutely blown away by what he is doing in the Bundesliga already.

Only Bayern Munich players are outshining him

It's not a stretch to say that Vuskovic, through four games, has been one of the best players in the entire league. In fact, when you look at his WhoScored rating, he is literally the fourth-best player in the Bundesliga behind only Bayern Munich's attacking trio, who benefit from, you know, not having to face Bayern themselves. If you take out Vuskovic's first game in the Bundesliga against Bayern for newly promoted Hamburg, then he is pretty close to Harry Kane in terms of rating.

The numbers are staggering. After registering three interceptions, three blocked shots, and 17 clearances in a defensive monsterclass as part of Hamburg's upset 4-0 blowout win over Mainz, Vuskovic is now averaging 12.3 clearances and an interception to just 0.3 dribbles allowed per game in the Bundesliga. He also has 1.5 blocks per game. Plus, Vuskovic has scored a goal in four appearances with 1.8 fouls drawn per game and nearly 60 passes per match as an asset on the attacking end, too. And he's even earned the moniker "Air Vuskovic" with 7.3 aerial duels won per game.

Vuskovic is a legitimate Bundesliga Player of the Season candidate through this early point in the season. He has Hamburg believing again and has completely overhauled this team's defense just as one addition to the starting lineup. At the age of 18, that is insane, and Vuskovic just might be the Bundesliga's biggest sensation this season. Tottenham fans need to bang the drum hard, because everyone needs to be paying attention to the story Vuskovic is writing in the Bundesliga right now.

After losing his debut with Nottingham Forest by a margin of 3-0 to Arsenal, Ange Postecoglou has done nothing to show that he is turning fortunes around. He literally remains winless as Forest manager, with fans decrying him to such a degree that they are already calling for his sacking in less than a month at the helm. And as much as that would otherwise pain Tottenham Hotspur fans after they grew fond of Postecoglou for winning them the Europa League, the result is neither surprising nor truly disheartening since it is a misfortune happening to the club that unprofessionally blocked the Morgan Gibbs-White transfer.

Nottingham Forest have now lost three straight games, and they have lost a total of five of their seven matches witih Big Ange leading the way. Those two results that were not losses were draws to Burnley and then Real Betis in the Europa League.

Postecoglou's side has all the marks of a poorly-coached team, and it is remarkable that Forest made the mistake of firing Nuno Espirito Santos - another Spurs reject - for him. Big Ange is playing relegation level football for Forest right now as their coach, but, to be blunt, even the Tottenham fans who loved Postecoglou have to admit that this is just par for the course.

Tottenham were terrible under Ange Postecoglou last season

Remember, Tottenham finished the Premier League in 17th, which is their worst ever finish as a franchise. And as much as some Spurs fans want to write that off as the team not caring about the league as a certain point in the season, that doesn't change history, nor does it change the obvious fact that Spurs were atrocious.

The three teams that got relegated were essentially guaranteed to be relegated since they were newly promoted Championship sides that were immediate bounce-backs from the Premier League because they were so ill-equipped and so talent-poor that they couldn't come close to competing in the top flight. Spurs were well above them, but they were also below all the other somewhat competent Premier League clubs.

Postecoglou is simply taking exactly what didn't work at Spurs and bringing it to Forest with the same results. Last season, Forest were contending for the Champions League and were a late collapse from achieving that unthinkable feat. Just a few months later, they are literally 17th in the Premier League table themselves heading into the October international break, exactly where Postecoglou was with Spurs at the end of the 2024/25 league season. And that should tell you all you need to know about Big Ange's level as a coach.