TEAMtalk

A fresh report has revealed the date Dejan Kuluseski is finally set to be available for Tottenham Hotspur again after more than 500 days on the sidelines with ‘a knock’.

The Swedish winger has not played a game for the club since May 11 2025, after suffering what then Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou described as “just a knock” 19 minutes into a 2-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace.

It turned out that Kulusevski had suffered a serious injury to his right kneecap, and there were some rather speculative reports that he might have to retire at the age of just 26 years.

Two surgeries on, Kulusevski has been back in full training with his teammates for around a month, aside from a ‘small, small problem,’ reported by Roberto De Zerbi.

He has been shown on club video footage back running and involved in small-sided games, leading to growing optimism that a return to action was edging ever closer.

And now a report from Tom Barclay of The Sun claims that Kulusevski is making such good progress from the injury that has kept him off the pitch for more than 500 days, that he should be in contention to be back in the squad by the time Spurs return from the September/October international break.

DON’T MISS: Tottenham urged to splash out £50m to sign Sunderland star, who would be a ‘very good buy’ for De Zerbi

Kulusevski on target for Man Utd clash

That means the Swedish playmaker could be on the bench when Tottenham head to Manchester United on October 10 for what is a must-not-lose clash for Roberto De Zerbi, as the pressure continues to mount on the Italian.

Spurs currently sit bottom of the Premier League table with zero wins from their five outings to date and have rapidly become a laughing stock, having spent more than £300million trying to improve their squad over the summer.

Having Kulusveski back in the mix would certainly be a massive help, given his ability to operate either on the right flank or in the No.10 position.

Kulusevski has 55 goal involvements in 146 games in all competitions for Tottenham, having joined from Juventus back in the summer of 2023 after an initial loan stint in north London.

Spurs’ lack of creativity so far this season has been well-documented and stretches back to the end of last season, after the injury to Xavi Simons and James Maddison not being considered fit enough to start games after his ACL injury.

Maddison himself is now close to being selected in De Zerbi’s starting XI, having impressed in cameos off the bench, and having Kulusevski back too will give the club a massive lift as they look to pull away from the relegation places and start climbing the table.

Former Tottenham scout Bryan King has told the club that a hat-trick scoring Premier League striker would be a “very good buy” with a £50million price tag mooted.

Spurs spent over £300million in the summer and are bottom of the league after five games. They’ve scored just twice in those five games – both coming in a loss against Aston Villa.

None of their attackers have found the net yet, with the goals scored by Conor Gallagher and Jan Paul van Hecke.

King has told Tottenham they still need a striker and Brian Brobbey, who scored a hat-trick in a 5-3 loss against Manchester City at the weekend, would be a good option.

He told Football Insider: “He’s had a good school, really. He was at Ajax, then he went to Leipzig, then he went back to Ajax.

“Last season he was top scorer for Sunderland with seven goals, and certainly the way he finished against Man City, he did take his goals well. He’s a Dutch international. Sunderland picked him up, paid decent money for him. I think that could be a very good buy for [Tottenham].

“If you say to Sunderland that there’s a bigger club out there, then I think Sunderland would be quite upset by the term of bigger club than Sunderland. Sunderland have got great support, they’ve got a great history.

“He’s beginning to look a very good investment for £22m. When you think what Tottenham paid for their centre-forwards, and by the way, Tottenham still need a centre-forward.

“I think he’d be interesting for anybody. If you’re going to score goals like you did against Man City, but when you look back and think he was a top scorer last year with seven goals, maybe that’s why he’s still at Sunderland.

“Maybe if that had been 17, things would have changed. So this season, it’s going to be interesting to see how many goals he does get. That £22m investment could become a £50m sale.”

Brian Brobbey ‘going to a big club’

Football presenter James Allcott feels Brobbey is going to get a big move before long.

He said: “He’s going to a big club pretty soon. Once we get to the summer people will be clamouring for him and he’ll cost a certain amount.

“I think he’d do ok. Man United, if they’d had someone like him to bring on if [Benjamin] Sesko’s not fit or not right, that would be huge for them.”

Brobbey’s valuation has been said to be £50million by other outlets of late.

Though there should be caution, in the fact that he did only score seven goals in his debut Premier League season, and his three goals against City were the first three he’s scored this term.

Yes, it’s impressive that he bagged a hat-trick against the side who are top of the league, but he must now build on that to maintain the interest it appears he’s having.

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly ready to sell multiple players in the January transfer window to fund a move for a proven centre-forward, as the club continues to back Roberto De Zerbi to turn things around.

For the first time in 18 years, Spurs find themselves bottom of the table after five games of the new season, fuelling talk that another change is needed.

TEAMtalk understands, however, that there are currently no considerations at Tottenham to sack De Zerbi despite the club’s dismal start.

Instead, the club are preparing to back De Zerbi further in the January transfer window, following a summer in which Spurs spent a whopping £300million-plus on new additions.

According to Football Insider, Tottenham are set to ‘facilitate exits’ in order to ‘add a proven top-level striker’ in January.

De Zerbi’s current main options up front are Dominic Solanke and new signing Omar Marmoush, following De Zerbi’s decision to oust Richarlison from the squad.

Solanke and Marmoush, however, have so far failed to score a single Premier League goal between them.

Now, Spurs are said to be willing to make ‘sacrifices’ in terms of selling players in order to fund a move for a new forward.

READ NEXT – Andy Robertson pinpoints exact reason for Tottenham struggles as De Zerbi given full backing

Tottenham to ‘search’ for January fire sale candidates

While the report does not name specific players who could be sold by Tottenham, Richarlison is an obvious candidate.

As mentioned, he has been left out of Spurs’ Premier League squad following a tumultuous summer in which he came close to joining former club Everton and Turkish side Fenerbahce.

Richarlison made clear that he wanted out of Tottenham, but ultimately he failed to agree personal terms with Everton before that transfer was shelved, and Trabzonspor couldn’t finalise a fee with Tottenham.

Football Insider’s report adds that Spurs are now set to ‘search’ for more candidates to be sold in January.

For now, though, De Zerbi will have to focus on transforming his team’s fortunes with the players he currently has.

Tottenham have picked up just one point so far from a draw with Everton, suffering defeats to Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle and Brentford.

Scoring goals has clearly been a major issue.

The two Tottenham notched in their recent 3-2 defeat to Villa are the only ones they’ve scored in the league.

The addition of an experienced forward therefore makes perfect sense, but who that will be, and whether De Zerbi will still be in charge when he arrives, still remains to be seen.

Tottenham Hotspur have decided whether they will sign free agent striker Mauro Icardi to bolster Roberto De Zerbi’s attacking options, as per a report.

Tottenham completely transformed their squad for De Zerbi over the summer, spending more than £300million to sign the likes of Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Savio, Omar Marmoush, Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi, Andy Robertson, Mykhailo Mudryk and Tosin Adarabioyo. Spurs broke their transfer record twice, first with the £85m capture of Fernandes, then again with a £100m deal for Tonali.

Despite that massive outlay, Spurs sit bottom of the Premier League after failing to win any of their first five matches.

Spurs scored their first two league goals of the campaign against fellow strugglers Aston Villa at the weekend but still lost 3-2 at home, deepening their crisis.

On Thursday, reports in the Italian press claimed Spurs are weighing up a potential move for Icardi to give De Zerbi an extra centre-forward option.

Icardi is available on a free transfer, having left Galatasaray in July. He has scored 250 goals in 478 matches across spells at Inter, Galatasaray, Paris Saint-Germain and Sampdoria, and the Argentine would therefore be something of a big-name signing for Spurs, despite his free agent status.

However, according to Football Insider, Spurs ‘are adamant that they will not pursue a move’ for Icardi.

He is ‘not viewed as a viable option’ for Spurs, as they would not be able to register him as part of their 25-man Premier League squad until January.

Instead, Icardi’s ‘most likely’ destination is Serie A. Lazio are understood to be one of several Italian clubs interested in landing the 33-year-old.

Icardi was deadly during his spell at Inter, netting 124 goals in 219 appearances.

Tottenham opt against Mauro Icardi signing

Spurs, though, are wary of his big wage demands and the fact he does not have Premier League experience.

We confirmed on September 10 that Everton are considering whether to act on their interest in Icardi amid their need for a new striker.

At Spurs, De Zerbi has Dominic Solanke and Marmoush as his main No 9 options after leaving Richarlison out of his Premier League squad.

Richarlison is expected to leave north London in January, having failed to join a new club in the latter stages of the summer window.

Solanke and Marmoush are both good strikers when on top form, but Spurs’ dire form in front of goal has understandably resulted in them being linked with other centre-forwards.

De Zerbi wanted Spurs to sign Eli Junior Kroupi from Bournemouth in the summer, and they could return for him next year.

For all the top signings Tottenham Hotspur have made during the Premier League era, there have also been a plethora of flops, and TEAMtalk has ranked the top 10.

Forget the current £300m-plus crop that came through the door and have started poorly in north London, it’s way too early to judge them.

There are, however, plenty to choose from in the 30-plus years of the Premier League. So, to that end, here are the 10 worst signings that Tottenham have made since the 1992/93 season…

Signed for £3million from Derby County in 2005, the Poland international offered next to nothing during his short period in north London.

Indeed, Rasiak ended up being loaned out to Southampton and joined them in a permanent deal in the summer of 2006, with Levy suffering a £1m loss on that deal.

He ended up making just nine appearances for the club without scoring.

Signed from Brighton for £30m, Bissouma arrived in north London as arguably one of the best defensive midfield talents in the country.

However, aside from a couple of spells where he flirted with the level he had with the Seagulls, the Mali international ended up being a major letdown.

Bissouma was allowed to leave on a free transfer over the summer and is now at Dutch giants Ajax.

Signed on a season-long loan with an option to buy in the summer of 2025, the France international never really looked like he wanted to be in north London from day one.

Ironically, his best performance by a country mile was a two-goal/assist display against his parent club PSG in the Champions League, but other than that he was utterly useless for a player with a strong pedigree when he signed.

Kolo Muani ended up with four goals and five assists in 41 games in all competitions and joined Juventus on a permanent deal over the summer.

The former Ukraine international arrived with a big reputation after forming a deadly partnership at Dynamo Kyiv alongside Andriy Shevchenko.

However, having been signed for £11m in 2000, Rebrov scored just 15 goals in 75 games for the club in all competitions and was eventually frozen out of the team by then boss Glenn Hoddle.

Most recently, he was the manager of the Ukraine national team before stepping down in April.

Arriving in 2017, Sanchez was lauded as a huge talent and his £42m signing was viewed as a bit of a coup for Daniel Levy at the time.

In truth, he looked like he would be a great addition in his early days, playing in the middle of a back three with Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld flanking him.

However, as soon as he was utilised in a back four there were mistakes galore, and he was often a nervous wreck in possession.

Sanchez was eventually sold to Galatasaray for a near-£35m loss, but has rebuilt his career with the Turkish giants.

Signed for £17m from AZ Alkmaar to provide backup to Harry Kane at a time when the club-record goalscorer regularly missed game time with ankle issues, Janssen really struggled to adapt to English football.

The Dutch forward ended up scoring six goals in 42 appearances for the club before moving to Mexican club Monterrey for just £6m. He is currently playing in the MLS for Portland Timbers.

Another Brazilian talent who arrived in north London with big expectations but ended up being a major flop.

Paulinho, who cost £17m from Corinthians, was one of the seven signings made after the £85m sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid. However, after just two seasons in north London, he was carted off to the Chinese Super League.

In fairness, he did have an eye for goal, with 10 in 67 games, but everything else was just rubbish.

It’s never actually emerged how much Daniel Levy paid to sign Lo Celso back in 2020 after an initial loan stint, with reports varying from as little as £27m up to over £55m!

Either way, the Argentina international was a massive disappointment, failing to convince the likes of Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and Ange Postecoglou that he was worthy of keeping around amid multiple loan stints.

He eventually returned to Betis for just £8.4m in 2024, having scored 11 goals and added eight assists in 108 games for Spurs in all competitions.

Another of the ‘not so magnificent seven’ signed from the Bale money at a cost of £26m from Valencia.

Soldado was Tottenham’s record signing at that time but ended up being a major flop during his two seasons in north London, scoring 16 goals in 76 games.

Prior to the breakthrough of Harry Kane, Soldado was tasked with leading the line for Spurs, but just wasn’t much of a threat, so was shipped back to Spain instead.

If his attitude and temperament matched his ability, Ndombele would probably still be pulling the strings in Tottenham’s midfield right now, or more likely at Real Madrid or Barcelona.

Spurs spent a new record fee of £60m to sign the French playmaker in 2019, off the back of their Champions League final failure months earlier.

Mauricio Pochettino played a bit part in convincing Ndombele that he could improve his game in north London, but ended up being sacked not long after, and the attacking midfielder never really got his Spurs career going after that.

There was a spell under Jose Mourinho where he started to flourish, but rumours of attitude problems were rife and the club ended up terminating his contract in 2024 – not getting a penny back for his services as a result.

Aston Villa are reportedly ready to rival the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Juventus and AC Milan in the race to sign a Bayern Munich defensive star when the January transfer window opens.

Villa jumped above Spurs in the Premier League table after a 3-2 win in north London on Saturday, although both clubs have concerns over the number of goals they have been conceding to start the campaign.

Unai Emery’s men have let in nine in their five games to date, with Roberto De Zerbi’s men conceding eight, in what has been a worrying start to the season for both teams – although Villa did at least manage to chalk up their first league win of the campaign over the weekend.

Both teams lost influential central defenders over the summer, with Villa reluctantly selling Ezri Konsa to Arsenal, while Tottenham opted to cash in on wantaway skipper Cristian Romero.

Villa did add Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Modou Keba Cisse to bolster Emery’s backline, with experienced duo Tyrone Mings and Victor Lindelof the current starters as Pau Torres continues his recovery from a hamstring issue.

However, a report from Germany claims that Villa are primed to make a move for powerhouse Bayern centre-back Kim Min-jae in the winter window in what would be considered an upgrade to Emery’s current options.

DON’T MISS: Tottenham line up record-breaking £125m January signing to ensure relegation is avoided

Kim Min-jae on Aston Villa, Tottenham radars

Despite not being a regular starter for the reigning Bundesliga champions, Kim Min-jae somewhat surprisingly stayed at Bayern beyond the summer.

However, the 29-year-old’s future could once again become a topic in the coming months, with a number of clubs understood to be monitoring him.

Indeed, according to German outlet fussball-news.de, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Juventus and AC Milan are all keeping an eye on Min-jae’s situation in Munich.

The report adds that Bayern’s management team are planning a meeting with the player to discuss his role and long-term prospects in Bavaria in December, ahead of the winter transfer window opening.

Should a decision be made for Min-jae to move on, negotiations would likely start at the €25-30million (£21.4-25.7m) mark.

The South Korea international, who has won 82 caps for his country, has played 399 minutes across five games for Bayern so far this season and most recently came off the bench at half-time of the 7-0 rout of Union Berlin.

He has made 121 appearances for Bayern in just over three seasons in Germany, winning the Bundesliga title twice in that time, as well as the German Cup.

One to keep an eye on then ahead of January, especially if Villa are still conceding goals and lingering down at the wrong end of the Premier League table.

Tottenham plan to spend their way to safety by equalling the record for the Premier League’s most expensive signing in January, according to two sources.

Heading into the extended international break, Spurs sit rock bottom of the Premier League table. The north Londoners spent colossal sums over the summer, signing players in every department of their squad.

But while there was an internal acceptance throwing huge sums into the transfer market might not produce an instant uptick in results, few could have predicted just how badly the opening stages of the season would fare.

And according to the latest from Football Insider, Spurs’ grand plan to avoid relegation is to smash their transfer record in January when signing Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest.

Spurs came close to signing the playmaker two summers ago, only to see Forest owner, Evangelos Marinakis, threaten legal action.

Gibbs-White – who has just been called up to the England squad as Cole Palmer’s replacement – would ultimately remain in situ and after his £60m switch fell through, he penned a new contract at the City Ground.

However, Tottenham are refusing to be denied, per the report, and have now set their sights on signing the 26-year-old in January.

DON’T MISS: Tottenham reach instant decision on sacking Roberto De Zerbi as club hit painful 18-year low

Tottenham want Morgan Gibbs-White in January

After making that claim, FI’s transfer insider, Pete O’Rourke, added: “They tried hard two summers ago to sign Gibbs-White and it got a bit ugly in the end with the Forest owner, Evangelos Marinakis, threatening legal action before he ended up tying down Gibbs-White to a new contract which made him the highest-paid player at the club.

“That showed how much faith Forest had in him and how important he is to their plans going forward as well. I’m sure that Tottenham’s interest still remains in Gibbs-White.”

One figure in the media who is a huge fan of Gibbs-White is Sky Sports pundit, Jamie Carragher.

He recently said: “I watched Morgan Gibbs-White for Nottingham Forest last week at Aston Villa, and in the second half he put in a performance in 45 minutes that Florian Wirtz has never done before for Liverpool.”

O’Rourke’s claims about renewed Tottenham Hotspur interest in Gibbs-White comes six days after our transfer correspondent Graeme Bailey exclusively revealed that Spurs remain very much on the player’s trail and were giving serious thought to a blockbuster move in 2027.

Regarding cost, numerous outlets including the BBC are citing a gigantic £125m price point for Gibbs-White.

At that amount, Gibbs-White would become Tottenham’s record buy, surpassing the £100m Sandro Tonali arrived for over the summer.

At £125m, Gibbs-White would also equal Alexander Isak and Enzo Fernandez as the joint-most expensive signing in Premier League history.

Under-pressure Tottenham Hotspur boss Roberto De Zerbi has made a strange claim about the club having ‘maybe the best’ players in one position in the Premier League side, despite his side sitting bottom of the table heading into the international break.

Saturday’s 3-2 home defeat to Aston Villa made it no wins from five league outings so far this season, with only two points on the board, in what has been a joint record-worst start to a Premier League campaign.

As a result, the pressure is starting to grow on De Zerbi, who saved the club from the drop when he was appointed on a five-year contract with seven games of last season remaining.

More than £300million was spent on revamping an under-performing squad, but you would not think it, given the level of performances early in the campaign.

The Tottenham boss has been warned by pundits that Spurs will expect a return on their heavy investment, but the Italian refuses to doubt the quality he has at his disposal.

Indeed, De Zerbi insists that his opinion on the squad he has at his disposal has not changed, despite Tottenham scoring only twice and conceding eight goals in their five outings to date.

De Zerbi even thinks that one position group is ‘maybe the best in the Premier League’, commenting after the Villa defeat: “Even though we are not scoring, I cannot change my opinion of the players.

“Marmoush is a fantastic player. Savio is a fantastic player. Solanke when Solanke is fit is a very good player.

“Maddison, Kudus, Gallagher and Mateus [Fernandes] with different characteristics, all four of these players are very good.

“We have maybe the best full-backs in the Premier League. Robertson, Udogie and Pedro Porro. Five centre-backs, the qualities of the players, I cannot say anything different.”

Despite the woeful start to the season, De Zerbi refuses to rip up his plans and start again, adding: “Sometimes you have to change everything and sometimes you have to improve what you already are doing, and sometimes you have to stay calm.

“We are working to improve what we are doing to be better, but also we have to stay calm because I know we have two points, but for our performances we could have had more than two points.”

DON’T MISS: Tottenham reach instant decision on sacking Roberto De Zerbi as club hit painful 18-year low

De Zerbi blamed for Tottenham ‘fragility and weakness’

Meanwhile, BBC Sport pundit Alan Shearer has detailed the “fragility and weakness” of the Tottenham side, explaining why De Zerbi is to blame for their shortfalls.

Speaking on Match of the Day after the Villa defeat, the legendary England striker said: “He’s signed six of those players who started today.

“There’s definitely a fragility and weakness about them. In the last 48 games, when they’ve gone behind, they’ve failed to win any of them.

“That tells you what and who they are at this moment in time and it’s his job to change that. That looks very difficult. It’s incredible.

“He’s signed six of the ones who started today, so it’s up to him to change it.”

MORE TOTTENHAM NEWS ON TEAMTALK

Insider speculates on Lucas Bergvall release clause after he wanted to ditch Tottenham

Jamie O’Hara tells Tottenham to ‘get rid of’ £52m defender as De Zerbi slams midfielder – ‘I didn’t like his performance today’

Despite some murmurings that De Zerbi is now under significant pressure to keep his job, our sources indicate that is not currently the case and that he will be given time to get things right in north London.

Spurs head to Manchester United following the international break, with both De Zerbi and Red Devils boss Michael Carrick in need of wins to get their respective seasons back on track.

Tottenham Hotspur have no plans to move away from Roberto De Zerbi, with the club’s hierarchy firmly convinced he is the right man to turn around their disastrous start to the season, sources with knowledge of the situation have confirmed to TEAMtalk.

We understand that there is no consideration being given to replacing De Zerbi, despite the pressure mounting on the Italian after Tottenham’s latest defeat at home to Aston Villa, which left them bottom of the Premier League following other results this weekend.

It is the first time in 18 years – and the 2008/09 season – that Spurs find themselves bottom of the pile after five games of the new season, fuelling talk that another change is needed.

However, the north London club remains fully behind the 47-year-old, despite winning just four of his 14 matches in charge and with his win percentage rate at the club now sitting at an alarming 28.57%.

One source explained to TEAMtalk: “There is nobody better than Roberto to turn this around; this was never an easy fix, despite the summer outlay. He is very much still the man for Tottenham.”

Spurs were one of Europe’s biggest spenders during the summer after only just surviving last season, but their investment has yet to produce the expected results. They have taken just two points from their opening five Premier League games and now head into a three-week international break at the foot of the table.

However, there is also an important factor behind Tottenham’s continued faith in De Zerbi: he has actually only been in charge of the club for 14 games, and the belief inside the club is that the project was always going to need time…

READ NEXT: Under-pressure Roberto De Zerbi told why Tottenham ‘fragility and weakness’ is his fault

Tottenham Hotspur have no plans to sack De Zerbi

The Italian took over late last season with Spurs in serious danger of relegation and helped rescue them from the drop before being backed heavily in the summer as the club looked to build for the long term.

The club’s hierarchy are therefore understood to believe it would be premature to consider a managerial change after such a short period in charge, particularly given the scale of the squad changes made during the summer.

TEAMtalk understands De Zerbi is hugely frustrated with the performances of his players and feels they are not currently operating anywhere near the level expected of them.

However, Tottenham’s hierarchy are understood to share that frustration and recognise that the issue is not necessarily with the manager, but with the performances being produced by the squad.

There remains a strong belief inside the club that De Zerbi is the best man to get the results required to change the situation and that he needs time to work with the players following the significant changes made to the squad during the summer.

Tottenham’s latest setback came against Aston Villa at the weekend, with the defeat leaving them bottom of the Premier League after five matches.

The result has increased the scrutiny on De Zerbi, but TEAMtalk understands the club are not looking at alternatives and have no plans to make a change during the international break.

Instead, the expectation is that De Zerbi will use the three-week period to work with his squad and address the weaknesses that have contributed to their poor start.

The Italian has himself admitted that he is struggling to understand the inconsistency being shown by his team, delivering a remarkably frank assessment after the defeat to Villa.

“In my career, 14 years as a coach, I’ve never seen one team like us. So fragile, so inconsistent,” De Zerbi said.

Those comments reflect the frustration within the Spurs camp, but they have not altered the club’s stance on his future.

Tottenham invested heavily during the summer after a difficult campaign last season, and the hierarchy remain convinced that De Zerbi needs the opportunity to get more from the squad they assembled.

The feeling is that the players have simply not performed at the required level and that De Zerbi remains the coach most capable of correcting that.

There is also an acknowledgement that the situation was never expected to be an instant fix, despite the scale of the summer spending.

For now, therefore, there is no managerial search taking place at Tottenham and no move to look beyond De Zerbi.

Meanwhile, one of the Premier League’s hottest young bosses has made a decision on replacing De Zerbi at the Tottenham Hotspur helm.

Elsewhere, a former Spurs star has exclusively revealed to TEAMtalk why the Italian can count himself lucky that Daniel Levy is no longer running the club after he addressed the manager’s public shaming of his players.

Former Premier League clubs’ CEO Keith Wyness feels Tottenham star Lucas Bergvall likely has a release clause in the new deal he signed at the club recently.

Spurs made some decisions in the summer transfer window that aren’t working out at present. Roberto De Zerbi signed 10 players, and with his spend of over £300million, he has 19th place to show for it.

Perhaps one of the best decisions the club made in the summer was not one of their signings, but the decision not to let Bergvall go.

The club’s 2025 player of the season wanted to leave in the summer, but Tottenham rejected offers as they wanted him to stay – he’s since penned a new contract in north London.

But Wyness, who was previously the CEO of a few Premier League clubs, feels that likely comes with the caveat of a release clause.

He told Football Insider: “I don’t think it’s necessarily solved all the issues, but certainly it gives them a much stronger position in terms of negotiation over the price that they would ultimately let him go at.

“Now there may have been a new release clause put in that contract, so it may well be a price in there that they’ve decided, which he would have agreed to.

“So that should make everything a little bit clearer and cleaner as well, should it come to it.”

Lucas Bergvall worth more now either way

Whether or not there is a release clause, a new contract boosts the value of the Swedish midfielder.

There were reports earlier in the summer that, were Tottenham to sell Bergvall, they’d accept around £45million.

But Wyness suggested of late, before he detailed how there might be a release clause in the contract, that his value has likely doubled following his new deal.

He said: “It’s good from Spurs’ point of view, because look, he’s still a very young guy, and they’re going to have him now for years.

“So the difference will be, if there is going to be a move, it’ll mean that Spurs will be getting somewhere up to £80m as opposed to £40m with a shorter-term contract.

“I think it just makes sense to tie him down, and they’ve obviously been able to reach an agreement.