TEAMtalk

Stoke City have had another busy transfer window and TEAMtalk can exclusively reveal they are in talks to sign a Tottenham star before the deadline.

Potters’ boss Steven Schumacher has made signing a new centre-back his priority and sources have revealed their top target to our transfer correspondent Fraser (Fletcher) Gillan.

We can confirm that Stoke are in talks with Tottenham over defender Ashley Phillips, who will be allowed to leave the North London club on loan.

Sources say there have been ‘positive conversations held’ about the 19-year-old and the feeling is that Stoke are in a strong position to sign him before the deadline.

Spurs want Phillips to play consistent minutes this term and have been seeking a solution for him since the beginning of the summer window.

TEAMtalk understands that various clubs from England and around Europe have shown an interest in Phillips, who impressed on loan with Plymouth Argyle last term.

The England under-20 international is touted to have huge potential and Tottenham chief regard him as a player who can go to the highest levels in football.

Stoke City close in on Tottenham starlet

Ange Postecoglou is aiming to build a squad capable of lifting trophies and that means he’ll have to sacrifice some of his best talent to make way for new faces.

Tottenham have Radu Dragusin, Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero in Phillips’ position and that makes it difficult for him to break into the first team.

Spurs are also considering bringing in another centre-back, with Bayer Leverkusen star Piero Hincapie heavily linked in the German press.

It is currently unclear whether Stoke are trying to negotiate for an option or obligation to buy to be inserted into Phillips’ loan deal.

However, as mentioned, Phillips is very highly regarded at Spurs and therefore a straight loan is the most likely outcome for him.

TEAMtalk sources say that the remaining days of the window will be very busy for Stoke as they seek to complete a flurry of last minute deals.

Tottenham have brought in five new signings so far this summer but Ange Postecoglou is still keen to bolster his squad further before the transfer window slams shut.

Spurs’ recruitment team have been tasked with signing young players with high potential and as previously reported, Middlesbrough starlet Hayden Hackney is on their shortlist.

GiveMeSport claims that Tottenham have sent scouts to watch Hackney in Boro’s first two Championship fixtures this season as they consider a move for him.

The 22-year-old defensive midfielder is considered to be one of the best talents in the Championship and has made 71 appearances to date for the North East club.

Nottingham Forest, Wolves and West Ham are also interested in Hackney, however, and the feeling is that he could depart the Riverside Stadium in the coming days.

Tottenham have already brought in two new midfielders in Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall this summer but reports suggest that they could submit a bid for Hackney.

Spurs are said to be ‘keeping tabs’ on his situation ahead of the transfer deadline. However, Boro boss Michael Carrick is very reluctant to allow any of his star men to leave.

It could therefore take a sizeable fee to lure Hackney away from Boro as the club aim to push for promotion this term.

Fulham send offer for Tottenham target

Tottenham are also admirers of 21-year-old Lyon attacking midfielder Rayan Cherki and he looks set to be on the move soon.

Cherki’s contract with the French giants is set to expire at the end of the season and therefore they are willing to part ways with him.

He was considered one of the most promising youngsters in Europe when he first broke onto the scene and is keen to test himself in the Premier League.

Cherki, who can play as a number 10 or as a winger on either flank, has made 141 appearances in total for Lyon, notching 17 goals and 25 assists in the process.

Reports suggest that he has been on Tottenham’s radar for some time but as per the Athletic, Fulham have leapfrogged their London rivals in the race for his signature.

It’s claimed that Marco Silva’s side have submitted a bid of £12m for Cherki, with further add-ons also included in the deal.

Crystal Palace also ‘retain an interest’ in the Frenchman but are yet to put forward an offer.

The race for Cherki is likely to go down to the wire so it will be interesting to see if Tottenham do put forward a late bid for him.

Liverpool are reportedly aiming to beat Tottenham Hotspur and Atletico Madrid in the race for Bayer Leverkusen star Piero Hincapie, having identified two players who can bolster their defence for the five years or more.

Liverpool have mainly focused on departures so far this summer, with Thiago, Joel Matip and Adrian all leaving on free transfers and the likes of Fabio Carvalho and Billy Koumetio being sold, too. The Reds have also agreed to sell Bobby Clark to Red Bull Salzburg – who are now managed by Pep Lijnders – for an initial £10million, while Joe Gomez is picking up strong interest from Chelsea and Newcastle United.

Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes had hoped to make Martin Zubimendi the first new arrival of the Arne Slot era, but the Real Sociedad midfielder has instead opted to stay put.

Liverpool will continue to monitor the market in case another top No 6 becomes available for a reasonable price, though Hughes has now turned his attention to landing a new centre-back and wide player.

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Earlier on Tuesday, it emerged that Liverpool are keeping tabs on Atalanta’s former Everton winger Ademola Lookman, ahead of potentially launching an ‘audacious’ move for him.

Now, fresh reports in Spain claim that Liverpool have set their sights on Leverkusen’s Hincapie as their first-choice defensive signing.

Liverpool have kept tabs on Hincapie’s development for several months and were tipped to sign him if Xabi Alonso arrived at Anfield to succeed from Jurgen Klopp.

Alonso ultimately stayed in Germany, but Liverpool are plotting to swoop for Hincapie regardless.

Liverpool transfers: Piero Hincapie move reignites

Atletico Madrid are huge admirers of the 22-year-old, while Tottenham’s interest in him was revealed on Friday.

However, Liverpool are confident they can ‘steal’ Hincapie from under Tottenham and Atleti’s noses, in what would be a ‘top signing’ for the Anfield club.

Alonso is eager to keep the Ecuador star, viewing him as an important part of Leverkusen’s Bundesliga title defence, though the manager may not have the final say.

Liverpool feel that if they can start to put the pressure on, Leverkusen will eventually buckle and sell. Hughes believes the left-footed centre-half – who could become a long-term successor for Virgil van Dijk – will be enticed by the prospect of shining for Liverpool.

Leverkusen have previously given Hincapie a €60m (£51.1m) price tag amid interest from major clubs.

Hincapie is not the only left-sided centre-back Liverpool are monitoring, as they have re-entered the race for Sporting CP star Goncalo Inacio recently, too.

At this stage it seems Liverpool would prefer to capture Hincapie over the €45m (£38.3m)-rated Portuguese.

Hincapie and Inacio are two very highly rated young defenders though so either signing would be a great deal for Liverpool to complete.

Liverpool have once again been credited with interest in Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite, too, however there are conflicting reports over that controversial move.

Arsenal have reportedly rejected a £25m bid from a Premier League side for out-of-favour striker Eddie Nketiah, with the 25-year-old now their top target.

The writing has been on the wall for quite some time for Nketiah at Arsenal. While he has made 168 appearances for the north London outfit since making his debut as an 18-year-old in 2017, just 70 of those have been in the starting XI.

Moreover, his return of 38 goals over the past seven years does not make for great reading, and with Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus ahead of him in the attacking pecking order at the Gunners, now might be the time for a fresh start elsewhere.

Indeed, he was an unused sub in Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Wolves in their Premier League opener at the weekend, with the attacker likely to struggle for game time in the season ahead.

For a time it looked like the former Leeds United loanee could join Bournemouth, while Crystal Palace were also linked with the forward.

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The Cherries were on the lookout for a new top marksman after seeing the prolific Dominic Solanke join Tottenham earlier this month for £65m.

However, the Dorset outfit shocked many by securing a club-record transfer of FC Porto’s Evanilson for £40.2m – which smashed their previous most expensive purchase of £28m for Jefferson Lerma in 2018.

Palace are still interested in Nketiah but a move for the 25-year-old is only likely if strikers Odsonne Edouard and Jean Philippe Mateta leave the club.

The Eagles are desperate to keep hold of the latter, in particular, especially after seeing star winger Michael Olise join Bayern Munich for £50m earlier this summer.

Forest make their Nketiah move

But, they may not get the chance to bid for Nketiah as according to The Athletic, Nottingham Forest have made the striker their top target to strengthen their attack.

The Gunners academy product – who had agreed personal terms with Marseille last month but the deal collapsed as both teams could not agree on a fee – is valued at around £30-35m.

Now, The Athletic’s David Ornstein claims that Forest have seen an opening bid worth £25m, including add-ons, rejected for Nketiah; but negotiations over a possible deal are continuing.

The one-time England international – whose contract runs until 2027 at the Emirates – is not the only forward Forest have their eyes on, however.

TEAMtalk understands they are also keeping tabs on Feyenoord star Santiago Gimenez, but the aforementioned report claims Nketiah is seen as their top target for the time being.

The Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur-linked Gimenez scored 26 goals in 41 games across all competitions for the Dutch side last season. A first bid for the 23-year-old was unsuccessful but they may return with an improved offer soon.

Tottenham have received the go-ahead to seal a transfer with Barcelona, though while the move has been approved by Barca manager Hansi Flick, sporting director Deco wants a different deal, according to reports.

Tottenham have slowly but surely overseen a fantastic summer transfer window that has addressed multiple different departments in their squad.

Archie Gray is one of English football’s brightest young stars and cam play in central midfield or at right-back.

Fresh off scoring 19 Premier League goals last season, Dominic Solanke joined Spurs in a club-record £65m switch from Bournemouth. That moves allows Ange Postecoglou to revert Son Heung-min to his favoured left wing role.

Tottenham have also boosted their options out wide through the capture of 19-year-old French winger, Wilson Odobert, from Burnley. Timo Werner has also returned for a second loan spell.

A series of long-awaited exits have also been sealed, with Emerson Royal (AC Milan), Joe Rodon (Leeds United) and Troy Parrott (AZ Alkmaar) leaving in permanent transfers.

Flop signing Tanguy Ndombele was released, while Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Marseille), Bryan Gil (Girona) and Alejo Veliz (Espanyol) left via the loan route.

Oliver Skipp will be next to depart upon completing a permanent switch to Leicester worth an initial £20m. According to several reports, forgotten left-back Sergio Reguilon could quickly follow.

Postecoglou has no use for Reguilon

Sky Sports reported 10 days ago that Barcelona had made initial enquiries into signing the 27-year-old.

Tottenham are willing to part ways with Reguilon who spent last season loaned to Manchester United and then Brentford. Reguilon is in the final year of his deal and as such, the pressure is on to find a buyer.

Sky reported: ‘Barcelona have been making enquiries about Tottenham left-back Sergio Reguilon.

‘They are understood to be exploring the conditions of a potential deal, with just a year left on his Spurs contract.

‘Spurs are open to selling Reguilon. He has not been part of Ange Postecoglou’s plans.’

That was followed by Spanish outlet Sport stating Barcelona manager Hansi Flick had given the green light to the signing.

Barca’s initial aim was to re-sign Man City’s Joao Cancelo. However, Pep Guardiola has since confirmed there is a way back for Cancelo at the Etihad.

According to Monday’s print edition of Sport, Barcelona are set to press ahead with a move for Reguilon. However, not everyone in Barca’s hierarchy are on board with the move.

Flick, Deco at odds over Tottenham swoop

It’s claimed that while Flick is convinced Reguilon would serve as a quality back-up to Alejandro Balde, sporting director Deco doesn’t see a need to make the move.

Instead, Deco believes Barcelona would be better served by signing a a left-sided winger as opposed to a left-back.

Barcelona had planned to buy Nico Williams, though he now appears destined to stay at Athletic Bilbao for one more season at least. Persistent links to Liverpool’s Luis Diaz have thus far come to nothing.

Given Sport’s claim Barcelona would have to sell multiple players before being able to finance a move for a suitable winger, the suggestion is Deco will relent and bow to Flick’s request to sign Reguilon.

The fact the left-back is in the final year of his Spurs deal means any bids that are lodged aren’t likely to be large ones.

But with the player not in Postecoglou’s plans and in the final year of his deal, Tottenham maye have to settle for accepting a nominal fee.

Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce have also shown interest in signing Reguilon to replace Ferdi Kadioglu. The Turkey international has agreed personal terms with Brighton.

Tottenham Hotspur are edging closer to signing Brazilian talent Vanderson, though their move for Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze has hit a problem, according to reports.

Tottenham need to sign a new right-back after finally getting Emerson Royal off their books, with the 25-year-old having joined AC Milan for an initial €15million (£12.7m) which could rise to €18m (£15.3m). Ange Postecoglou’s current first-choice right-back is Pedro Porro, but he wants Tottenham to land another player in the position who can battle Porro for his starting role.

Tottenham do also have Djed Spence in their squad, and Postecoglou hinted over the weekend that the Englishman could be reintegrated into his first-team plans.

However, Spence has had a troublesome spell at Tottenham since moving to North London in July 2022, and a permanent transfer to Genoa collapsed earlier this summer.

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Postecoglou has identified Monaco star Vanderson as the player who can provide Porro with solid competition.

Tottenham begun talks with Monaco for the two-cap Brazil international last week and have since drawn up a £27m offer for his services.

That bid has yet to be officially sent, but Spurs have been given encouragement that they can tie up the deal anyway.

According to the latest from the French media, Monaco ‘anticipate’ that Vanderson will leave this summer as Spurs advance towards his capture.

Tottenham transfers: Vanderson boost amid Eze update

Spurs have seemingly been given the green light to complete the deal too, as Monaco have already landed on a replacement for the 23-year-old.

The Ligue 1 outfit will swoop for PSV right-back Jordan Teze, should Vanderson’s move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium be confirmed. It is even claimed that Teze has played his last game for PSV ahead of a potential switch to Monaco.

While Spurs have been given good news in their pursuit of Vanderson, Eze appears less likely to join Postecoglou’s project.

Both Spurs and Manchester City have been tipped to swoop for the playmaker amid his electric performances for Palace.

Whenever they have received approaches for Eze, Palace have stood firm and told interested clubs that his £68m release clause must be met in full before the transfer can be agreed.

As per the latest reports, Eze’s exit clause has now expired. Unfortunately for Spurs and City, this now puts Palace in an even stronger position as they are likely to demand upwards of £70m before selling him.

The Eagles have already lost Michael Olise to Bayern Munich this summer, and they do not want to sell another top performer in Eze.

The England star could try to push for a big move, but it will very difficult for him to get his way. As such, Spurs must start to pursue different attacking targets, as they look to follow up on the shock capture of Burnley winger Wilson Odobert.

Tottenham can expect to boost their transfer kitty by a further £20m in the next 24 hours after agreeing an initial deal with Leicester for Oliver Skipp, while Ange Postecoglou and Co are considering a hijack of the Conor Gallagher deal following his on/off move to Atletico Madrid.

The north London side get their season underway on Monday night when they take on Leicester at the King Power Stadium in what Tottenham hope will be another season of progress under Postecoglou. After starting last season with an impressive eight wins from 10 games before fading away as injuries and suspensions took hold, Spurs fans will be hoping for a similar bright opening this time around.

An intriguing sidenote to Monday night’s opener is the impending move between the clubs of homegrown Spurs midfielder Skipp. The 23-year-old has been on Tottenham’s books since the age of 2008 when he was just eight years old and has gone on to make 106 appearances for the club since his debut back in the 2018/19 season.

However, he has now been deemed surplus to requirements under Postecoglou and speculation over a move away for Skipp has been rife all summer.

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Initially linked with Leeds, TEAMtalk revealed the news that the 23-year-old did not want to drop out of the Premier League, thus ruling out a move to West Yorkshire.

Now one of the sides that beat them to promotion last season, Leicester City, are on the cusp of finalising the signing, with the deal potentially going through later today, though perhaps unlikely to be confirmed until after the conclusion of Monday’s game between the sides.

TEAMtalk can confirm that Skipp has already passed a medical and is set to agree a four-year deal at the King Power Stadium.

Tottenham transfers: Postecoglou keen to hijack Conor Gallagher deal

Spurs will receive an initial £20m for the midfielder, with the deal potentially hitting £23m with add-ons.

And with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg having already been sacrificed, Spurs suddenly look a little light in their central midfield area with summer signing Archie Gray the only man currently able to cover first-choice duo Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr.

However, that could be set to change in the closing days of the window as Postecoglou looks to add more options in the middle of the park.

Juventus midfielder Manuel Locatelli has recently been linked, amid claims he could be allowed to leave the Serie A giants for a fee in the region of €25m (£21.3m).

Despite that, there are also growing suggestions that Tottenham are keeping a close eye on the situation around Gallagher and his on/off move to Atletico Madrid.

The England midfielder, who captained the Blues on multiple occasions last season, has been made available for transfer this summer after being told he will only be a squad man under new bos Enzo Maresca.

As a result, the 24-year-old spent the first half of last week in Madrid as talks over his sale to Atletico Madrid got underway.

However, despite showing a willingess to make the move, the two clubs were unable to strike a total agreement over the structure of a £33.7m deal.

Postecoglou ‘would love’ to sign Chelsea man

Atletico still hope to resolve the situation around Gallagher, but there was major disappointment last week when Chelsea ordered Gallagher back to Cobham following the failure to strike a deal.

As a result, Football Insider now claims Postecoglou is watching the situation with interest and has made it clear to club chiefs he “would love” to hijack the deal and bring Gallagher to north London.

Gallagher has been a top target of Postecoglou ever since the Aussie took charge of Tottenham and came close to launching a move for his services in January.

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However, a deal has previously been seen as difficult, owing to Gallagher’s affection for Chelses and unwillingness to sign for one of their bitter rivals.

But after being made clear he is no longer seen as important, it remains to be seen if Spurs could yet convince Gallagher to change his mind.

But with the transfer deadline now just 11 days away, Postecoglou has made it clear that he is desperate to add a new midfielder to his mix before the window slams shut.

A Tottenham transfer is expected to go through today once a medical is completed after they reached an agreement with another Premier League side for the permanent sale of Oliver Skipp.

After more than 100 appearances for Tottenham, Skipp seems to be coming to the end of his journey with the club. The academy graduate has at times looked unsuited to Ange Postecoglou’s preferred tactics and has fallen down the pecking order in recent months.

Despite being under contract until 2027, Skipp is now on the verge of leaving Tottenham – and his exit will be on a permanent basis.

Sources confirmed to TEAMtalk’s Fraser Gillan on Sunday morning that Tottenham were in talks with Leicester City about a deal for Skipp – and there have been swift developments.

David Ornstein of The Athletic has now confirmed that Leicester have reached an agreement to sign Skipp from Spurs for a fee in excess of £20million.

Indeed, Skipp’s medical has been scheduled for today after Leicester boss Steve Cooper gave his approval to the deal.

New Foxes head coach Cooper previously gave Skipp his England debuts at under-17 and under-18 level, at the ages of 15 and 16 respectively, and Leicester have been leading the race for the midfielder in recent days, now set to see their efforts come to fruition.

Coincidentally, Tottenham are visiting Leicester for their first fixture of the Premier League season on Monday as well.

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Tottenham transfer deja-vu

As a midfielder who came through the Tottenham academy and is now being sold to Leicester, Skipp will be following in the footsteps of Harry Winks, who helped the Foxes win promotion as Championship winners in his debut season at the King Power Stadium.

Winks is expected to play against Tottenham for the first time since his exit on Monday, but Skipp’s proposed transfer will not go through in time for his debut to be against the club he will have just left.

Skipp is on course to be Leicester’s sixth new signing since they returned to the Premier League. They have already brought in forward Bobby Decordova-Reid from Fulham, young midfielder Michael Golding from Chelsea, defender Caleb Okoli from Atalanta and attacking midfielder Facundo Buonanotte on loan from Brighton, as well as converting winger Abdul Fatawu’s loan from Sporting CP into a permanent move.

They have, though, lost the services of midfielders Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who followed head coach Enzo Maresca to Chelsea, and Dennis Praet, who was released at the end of his contract.

In Skipp, they could seal a trustworthy reinforcement in the middle of the park.

Tottenham are reportedly in talks to complete the signing of a new right-back in the wake of Emerson Royal’s exit for AC Milan, with the structure of their offer potentially key to getting a deal done – but comments from Ange Postecoglou have suggested a different solution.

Of the options that were available to Postecoglou at right-back last season, Pedro Porro is the only one that remains at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Emerson was recently sold to Milan, which potentially opens up a vacancy for a new signing to replace him.

On that front, Tottenham were recently tipped to replace a Brazilian with a Brazilian by moving for Monaco’s Vanderson – and more recent updates imply they are preparing an offer for the 23-year-old.

According to Bruno Andrade, Tottenham are preparing an opening offer of €32m (£27.3m) for Vanderson after opening talks with his current employers, who have him under contract until 2028 thanks to an extension they agreed back in February.

While Spurs are willing to pay more to sign Vanderson than what they received for Emerson, it still might not be enough to tempt Monaco, whose asking price is €40m (£34.1m).

Nevertheless, Andrade claims Tottenham’s offer will contain performance-based add-ons. That said, it hasn’t been clarified if those add-ons would take the bid up to the €40m mark or not.

Besides, sources closer to the Premier League club suggested the original news of Tottenham’s interest in Vanderson – also broken by Andrade – was being driven by agents, so it’s interesting to see rumours of developments in the saga.

Furthermore, Tottenham could already have other solutions at their disposal that Postecoglou couldn’t rely on last season.

Postecoglou opens door for existing Tottenham man

For example, new signing Archie Gray is naturally a central midfielder but often operated at right-back for Leeds United in 2023-24.

It is another former Leeds full-back, though, that Postecoglou has offered a somewhat-unexpected second chance to, with the Tottenham boss recently opening the door for Djed Spence to make a comeback.

Spence signed for Tottenham in 2022, but has struggled to convince his managers and has spent time on loan at Rennes, Leeds and, most recently, Genoa.

Talks for a permanent move to Genoa collapsed and Postecoglou has now presented Spence with the opportunity of making amends in north London.

Postecoglou said: “It’s one of those things that when you start pre-season, we had quite a few guys who were out on loan last year. Part of me is saying, OK, we need to keep evolving this squad. The guys go out on loan for a reason.

“Have they come back [and now] are they a better fit, are they part of what we’re doing?

“With Djed, I had an open mind. I certainly think the kind of characteristics he has would fit into our football. It’s then more about, OK, well he obviously didn’t fit last year, will he fit this year?

“He’s had a good pre-season. He’s trained really well. He seems to have fit into the group really well.”

Spence has previously been questioned for alleged attitude issues, which Postecoglou himself has not yet seen evidence of being accurate.

The manager rebutted: “You would know about it if it was. He wouldn’t be part of it if it was. But that’s probably something that, whether that was right or wrong, as a person and as a player, Djed has taken responsibility for that and not allowed that to be part of the conversation this pre-season.

“For me and all the coaches, we’ve had absolutely zero issues with his attitude. He’s trained really well, he’s fit into the group really well. That’s on him. He’s the one who hasn’t allowed it to become an issue.”

How Spence might play for Spurs this season

And with Tottenham back in Europe this season, starting out in the league phase of the Europa League, Postecoglou has hinted Spence could become a useful rotation option on either flank of the defence – but primarily his natural right-hand side.

The Australian tactician explained: “I don’t think left-back is his obvious position, I think he’s more of a right full-back, but the fact that he can play out on the left, again gives us some good options into the season where with European football we’re going to have more challenges.

“It was quite obvious last year that whenever we had disruptions in terms of injuries or suspensions, our performance dropped a fair bit. We’re trying to narrow that gap.

“Hopefully having Djed as part of our squad allows us to do that. He’s training well, he’s available for Monday and I’ll make those decisions at the weekend.”

Monday’s season opener for Tottenham, which Postecoglou was speaking in view of, will be against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.

Two pundits have named the signing who could make all the difference for Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham this season amid suggestions that Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea all made a mistake not pursuing a deal themselves.

Affable Aussie coach Postecoglou will be hoping this season is one to remember for Spurs, who started like a train under his management last season before injuries and suspensions caught up with them over a difficult autumn and winter and ultimately led to Tottenham claiming a fifth-placed finish.

Hopes will burn bright that Spurs can at least go one better this time around and seal a return to the Champions League. Postecoglou, though, has made clear his ambitions to go even better, refusing to rule his side out of the title race at one stage last season and also making clear his aims at ending the club’s long wait to win a trophy.

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To set them on the right path, Spurs have invested shrewdly this summer, bringing in teenager Archie Gray from Leeds in a £40m deal, Timo Werner back to the club on another season’s loan and having already done a deal for Swedish talent Lucas Bergvall prior to the summer’s window opening.

However, their biggest and most prominent signing came last weekend when they moved to secure the signing of striker Dominic Solanke, who has moved to north London in a club-record deal from Bournemouth worth £65m.

That transfer came about after Spurs moved to trigger the 26-year-old’s exit clause and off the back of a brilliant season with the Cherries, where he scored 19 goals in 38 appearances.

That ensured he was the second highest goalscoring Englishman in the Premier League behind only Cole Palmer.

Solanke can prove difference maker for Tottenham

And with Spurs finally settling on a new striker to replace Harry Kane, many believe Solanke can prove the missing ingredient for Tottenham this season.

To that end, Owen Hargreaves, speaking to Premier League Productions, is surprised Tottenham were able to sign the once-capped England striker unchallenged, suggesting the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd could all have benefited from the 85-goal former Chelsea and Liverpool striker in their ranks.

“I love Solanke. I’m amazed that nobody else came in for him,” Hargreaves said when asked about other top Premier League sides and their needs for a new striker.

“I think he’s the perfect centre-forward player. We mention size, speed, he has skill, he knows the Premier League, I think he will only get better and I think he will score more than he did against Bournemouth.

“If he starts well I think he could even compete for the Golden Boot.”

Former Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov also believes Solanke will score a hatful of goals in north London, and asked if he will be the difference maker for Postecoglou this season.

“We will find out, but he scored 19 goals last season in 38 games. It’s a great thing to do. Hopefully he will bring that form into Spurs to help them score goals because they need to be scoring goals, not leaking goals,” Berbatov said.

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“Hopefully they start on the right foot and keep going upwards. Dominic can help them because he is 26, he’s tall, he’s athletic, he scores goals.

“He can shoot the ball, he scores some really good goals for a striker and he can bring that quality up front that Spurs need.”

Tottenham open their season with a trip to face Leicester City on Monday evening (20.00 BST), with Postecoglou confident his new striker will be fit enough to make his debut at the King Power Stadium.