Football Italia

Monza striker Gustavo Varela is named Serie A Rising Star of the Month for October, as Tottenham Hotspur join Arsenal, Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund in showing interest.

The 21-year-old has certainly made a big impact in his debut Italian season, scoring a massive nine goals in nine Serie A games, plus two in his only Coppa Italia appearance.

The month of October was particularly remarkable, with five goals in just four Serie A matches plus an assist.

It was enough to earn Varela the award for Serie A Rising Star of the Month, and is reported to have netted him his first senior call-up for Portugal too.

Varela impressed for Monza

Monza paid just €2.5m plus bonus to buy him from the Benfica B team over the summer, and it is very possible he will be on the move again soon.

There are many big clubs circling to secure Varela, and the latest to join in according to reports is Roberto De Zerbi’s Tottenham Hotspur.

Arsenal, Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund had already been linked with the player, while RB Leipzig and his old club Benfica are also keeping an eye on the situation.

Gustavo Varela is the Rising Star of the Month for October! 🌟 https://t.co/JWJUasN6cP

— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) November 4, 2026

Italy international Destiny Udogie didn’t feature in Tottenham’s 3-1 win over Coventry City because of a knee problem: ‘We didn’t take a risk alongside the medical staff,’ Roberto De Zerbi explained.

Italy international Udogie is dealing with a knee problem that kept him out of Tottenham’s 3-1 win over Coventry on Monday. The former Udinese defender was substituted off during a 1-1 draw against Manchester United the previous weekend.

“Udogie played 70 minutes (against Manchester United) and suffered a problem of (the) knee, and we didn’t take a risk alongside the medical staff,” De Zerbi said via the Tottenham official website.

Udogie, 23, has made six appearances across all competitions for Tottenham this season, collecting 283 minutes on the pitch.

The Italian left-back made his senior Azzurri debut in 2023 under Luciano Spalletti and has since featured 12 times for the national team.

It remains to be seen whether Udogie will return to action in time for the next international break in November and whether Roberto Mancini will give him a chance.

He last featured for the Azzurri in June 2025, when Italy lost 3-0 to Norway in a World Cup qualifier.

Mundo Deportivo reports that Tottenham coach Roberto De Zerbi wants to bring in Piero Ausilio as the club’s new sporting director and will rival Roma and Milan for Real Madrid striker Endrick.

Tottenham are expected to bring in more Italian personnel after De Zerbi and Sandro Tonali.

Mundo Deportivo reports that the Spurs boss is pushing for Ausilio to join the club as the new sporting director.

Ausilio left Inter in September after nearly 30 years at the club, and according to several sources in Italy, he’s close to reaching an agreement with the Premier League side.

Mundo Deportivo is confident Ausilio will move to North London in January to begin winter transfer activity.

According to the report, De Zerbi has also requested a new striker, with Endrick as the Italian tactician’s main target.

Endrick has already been linked with Roma and Milan, and he recently scored his first goal for Real Madrid this season in a 4-3 Champions League win over Roma.

Before the game against the Giallorossi, Endrick had played only four minutes across all competitions.

Tottenham loanee Pape Matar Sarr played a key role in Juventus’ 2-1 win over Celta Vigo on Thursday, prompting Gazzetta dello Sport to claim the Senegalese international could become a ‘crucial player’ in the Bianconeri’s midfield.

Juventus secured a 2-1 comeback win over Celta Vigo on Thursday in the second match of the league phase of the Europa League.

Gazzetta highlights that the 24-year-old made 88 touches in his latest outing, plus 65 successful passes, and three interceptions, more than any other player on the team.

Furthermore, he won six duels and had three total shots: one blocked, one on target and one off target.

‘Sarr has shown that he can become a crucial figure in the Bianconeri’s midfield,’ wrote Gazzetta.

‘He’s highly effective at breaking up play and in transition, although he still needs to improve in the final third.’

Sarr has made five appearances for Juventus in all competitions this season, starting three times. He played for 90 minutes in both Juventus’ Europa League matches against NEC and Celta Vigo, making the most of Khephren Thuram and Manuel Locatelli’s lengthy injuries.

Sarr is on loan from Tottenham, and Juventus hold an option to buy. The Bianconeri paid €2.5m for a one-season loan and can make his move permanent for a further €27.5m.

According to the latest updates from Transfermarkt, Tottenham Hotspur and Italy international midfielder Sandro Tonali is now the most valuable Italian footballer of all time with a new market valuation of €90m.

€90m Tonali valuation the highest of any Italian player in history

Tonali became the most expensive Italian footballer of all time when he joined Tottenham from Newcastle in a deal worth €115m including bonuses and add-ons.

That move means that he is currently the most expensive and the second-most expensive Italian footballer of all time once his €70m transfer from Milan to Newcastle is factored in.

According to the latest update on Transfermarkt, Tonali’s most recent market valuation stands at €90m, as of October 2026, which is the highest an Italian footballer has ever been valued on the trusted transfer analysis website.

His previous valuation of €80m had previously been matched by Inter duo Nicolo Barella and Alessandro Bastoni at various stages, but no Italian player aside from Tonali has even gone beyond the €80m mark.

According to the latest information, Tonali ranks as the most valuable Italian footballer at €90m, Inter and Arsenal centre-backs Bastoni and Riccardo Calafiori come in joint-second at €65m, whilst Barella, Federico Dimarco and Pio Esposito are all valued at €50m.

Completing the top 10 are Gianluigi Donnarumma (€45m), Marco Palestra (€45m), Michael Kayode (€40m) and Honest Ahanor (€40m).

Italy international Sandro Tonali is satisfied with Tottenham’s 1-1 draw against Manchester United in the Premier League: ‘Fight for it. Till the end,’ the Azzurri midfielder wrote on social media.

Tonali’s Tottenham remain winless in six Premier League matches, having grabbed three draws and three losses so far. Spurs, however, avoided defeat in their most recent match on Saturday, earning a 1-1 away draw at Manchester United.

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Roberto De Zerbi’s side scored a late equaliser in the 92nd minute with Dominic Solanke, cancelling out Bryan Mbeumo’s opener in the 73rd minute.

Tonali provided the assist for Solanke’s goal and reacted to Tottenham’s draw with an Instagram post: “Fight for it. Till the end,” the Italian wrote.

As Sofascore reported, the former Milan star made 79 touches and had an 85% passing accuracy, including two accurate crosses from three, one of which was the decisive pass for Tottenham’s late goal.

Tonali had played 262 minutes in four appearances for the Italy national team during the latest international break, starting three times.

Saturday’s Premier League action saw another Italian player, Riccardo Calafiori, grab headlines with his first Arsenal goal at the Emirates Stadium, which helped the Gunners stage a 2-1 comeback win over Leeds United.

Tonali’s social media reaction to Tottenham draw vs. Man United

Roberto De Zerbi insists Tottenham “played very well” after Dominic Solanke’s stoppage-time header rescued a 1-1 draw at Manchester United.

With quotes via football.london, the Italian coach was speaking after his 10-man side came from behind at Old Trafford. Sandro Tonali, who joined from Newcastle in a mega-money move in the summer, provided the cross for the equaliser.

“I think we played very well against a great team,” De Zerbi told Sky Sports. “We had many chances to score in the first half. Three or four. The second half is normal to suffer against this quality. I am very happy because I have seen the right spirit and character.”

Bryan Mbeumo put United ahead in the 73rd minute after Matheus Cunha found him in the box. Five minutes later Spurs were down to 10, when substitute Rodrigo Bentancur was sent off for thrusting his head into Luke Shaw’s. De Zerbi was surprisingly forgiving.

“I kissed Rodrigo, and I said thanks, because it’s clear it’s a mistake from Rodrigo, because it’s not the right reaction in football, but now Tottenham needs to react. Sometimes the reactions are not nice, not positive for the team, but I think in that moment, in 10 players, maybe we played with more courage, we played with more energy, and we changed the game. For a long time Tottenham played without this blood, this character, and I want it. Now I am the coach, and I want to see this character every game.”

De Zerbi explains Solanke captaincy

Solanke wore the armband on Saturday, a decision De Zerbi made to show his faith in a striker who has faced heavy criticism.

“He deserves to be a captain today, because he suffered maybe too much, because ‘Tottenham didn’t win, Tottenham didn’t score, who is the striker of Tottenham? Solanke is not good enough’, it’s not true. Solanke is good enough to play, maybe he is the best striker for us, because of his qualities. He is a complete player, he is a good guy, he has personality. After the last game, the criticism, I wanted to put him as captain, to show my confidence and the confidence of the team, because all the other players were happy when I said that Domi Solanke is captain.”

De Zerbi felt it was the first time this season that Spurs had looked like a team.

“For sure, we didn’t deserve to lose the game, we deserved to be one, two goals up in the first half. Today has been the game where, for the first time this season, we showed we are a team. We played for our team-mates, we played together, we believed until the end of the game.”

Spurs now head to Marbella for a training camp, which he sees as a chance to build on that unity.

“Now the target is to build the team, not the group of players. We have a great group of players but we are not a team yet. Work together, stay together, have dinner together and get to know each other better.”

Former Cagliari and Tottenham Hotspur defender Ramon Vega announced he intends to run as a candidate for FIFA President against Gianni Infantino.

The 55-year-old played his international football for Switzerland with two goals in 23 senior caps.

He wore the Cagliari jersey in Serie A for the 1996-97 campaign, then was sold to Tottenham Hotspur, going on to play for Celtic, Watford and Creteil before retirement in 2023.

Infantino, who is also Swiss, has faced multiple calls for him to step down after a series of scandals, the biggest of which was his failed attempt to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors.

One of the main problems for critics of Infantino has been finding a suitable candidate to run against him, and Vega feels this can be his opportunity.

“I am standing to reunite the global football family, deliver genuine and lasting reform, modernise Fifa for the 21st Century, restore stability and credibility, and rebuild the trust that our game urgently needs,” Vega announced in a statement.

Vega not new to FIFA ambitions

This isn’t the first time, nor the second, that Vega has tried to run for the role of FIFA President.

He considered it in 2015 after Sepp Blatter’s suspension, then four later said he would run against Infantino, but couldn’t even get the backing of five out of the 211 member federations.

“Football does not belong to presidents, confederations or administrators. Football is greater than any position, any individual or any institution,” declared Vega in his statement.

“It is the people’s game and belongs to everyone: the players, coaches, referees, supporters, volunteers, clubs, leagues, associations and communities that give football its life.

“It belongs to every child discovering the game, every professional carrying the hopes of a nation, and the billions of supporters whose passion makes football the world’s game.

“Football must always come first. Yet for too long, division has fractured our football family. The current leadership has demoralised the game. Weak governance has damaged FIFA’s credibility and eroded trust across the global football family. We must stop this conflict from escalating.

“Ego-driven battles within football administration must never be allowed to damage those who matter most: the players, coaches, referees and supporters around the world. They are not responsible for these conflicts. They deserve better.”

Vega made 15 competitive appearances in the Cagliari jersey between Serie A and the Coppa Italia.

Bryan King, a former senior scout at Tottenham, has questioned the decision to let Djed Spence join Inter, arguing the fee was too low and the player too important to lose.

Speaking to Football Insider, King was blunt about the deal that took the England international to San Siro in the summer.

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“I’m still trying to work out why they got rid of Spence. Full England international. £25m. There could have been other players moved on from Tottenham before him,” he said. “Spence had a good World Cup. He became an established international and to move him on for that kind of money, I don’t know.”

Spence’s Inter move leaves Spurs thin at right-back

Tottenham spent more than £400m over the summer but did not sign a senior replacement, and a late approach for Nottingham Forest’s Neco Williams was rebuffed.

That has left Archie Gray, a natural midfielder, filling in at right-back, including when he replaced the injured Pedro Porro after 19 minutes of Saturday’s 3-2 home defeat to Aston Villa.

Roberto De Zerbi insists he is comfortable with the situation. “We have Archie Gray, he prefers playing in the midfield position but he can play very well also as a right-back. I think we are good.”

For Inter, an England international at that price looks increasingly like good business.

The three-week break for international duty is practically unheard of, so after Inter and Tottenham Hotspur gave players an entire week off, former Italy fitness coach Vincenzo Pincolini explains the benefits and dangers.

The new UEFA calendar was introduced this season after international managers complained they didn’t have enough time to work with their players before big games.

It combines two sets of Nations League fixtures, so they get to play four matches, but it means the domestic leagues are off until October 9.

This inevitably affects the club sides who have some players left, but probably not enough to do any effective tactical work in training.

International duty a minefield for clubs

Some, like Inter’s Cristian Chivu and Roberto De Zerbi at Premier League side Tottenham, have given the remaining players a whole week off to do as they wish.

Gennaro Gattuso gave Lazio five days for their vacation, with most teams varying between these two approaches.

La Gazzetta dello Sport contacted former Italy and Milan fitness coach Pincolini, who is now working with coach Paolo Nicolato’s Latvia, to ask about the risks.

“Those players who aren’t on international duty have an important advantage, because they will have time to do what is no longer possible even in the summer, seeing as there are now such long pre-season retreats,” said Pincolini.

“Inter did very well to give their players such a long time off, because it’s not just rest, but giving them responsibility for looking after themselves. It shows the coach trusts them.

“There are gyms everywhere now, so they’ll have a schedule to stick to. I can work with you on the pitch, but if you don’t do the rest at home, eat the right things, get good rest, then it all gets wiped out.”

Some teams will benefit more than others from this time off, and we could see the effects once the league resumes on October 9.

“If you don’t have many players on international duty, you can train for three weeks without pressure, have a couple of relaxed friendly matches, and be ready against a side that had seven or eight players in four international matches,” added Pincolini.

“It’s longer than a winter break, it’s a sort of mini pre-season. Training can only do so much, but having a full 90-minute match is the most important training that a player can have. It’s never going to be the same.”