Football365

Winless Wolves were on the brink of receiving the perfect prescription from Dr Tottenham, but Thomas Frank’s side were not feeling so generous after all.

After five defeats from five to start their Premier League campaign, Wolves had a timely appointment with Dr Tottenham, and just as they tend to do, Spurs were on the brink of dishing out the perfect prescription: a much-needed win.

The Doctor’s finest hour arguably came around 11 months ago when they got Crystal Palace’s season up and running on matchday nine. The Eagles had not won any of their opening eight matches, drawing three and losing five. They couldn’t even beat Manchester United, West Ham or Leicester before Spurs rolled into south London.

Palace, as we all know, went on to have a decent Premier League season, making relegation a mere afterthought and winning the FA Cup. We wouldn’t have backed Wolves to win a trophy had they held on, nor would we have backed them to have a comfortable league campaign, but there was at least a sliver of hope where there appeared to be very little after Leeds won 3-1 at Molineux last week.

Wolves do not have Dr Tottenham to thank for their first Premier League victory of the season, but they can at least thank them for giving them a point. Getting their first point at a Big Six club slightly softens the blow, even if dropping two feels like the biggest blow of all right now.

No result would really have been a surprise. Steamrolling them was what, on paper, should have happened. Losing and playing very ordinarily was what made the most logical sense. A draw? We’re not so sure. A draw that forced a re-write at 10pm? Definitely not!

We say a loss or a win wouldn’t have been a surprise because Spurs are just an odd club, innit? No matter the manager, they’ll always dish out medicine to clubs in need, yet somehow always manage to beat Manchester City. It’s so bizarre. Bizarre, but we’re used to it.

On the face of it, a comfortable 3-0 win against Burnley on matchday one, beating City away, losing at home to Bournemouth, getting the optimism going with a win at West Ham, drawing at Brighton, and then salvaging a late draw at home to the league’s worst team this season, is entirely on brand and extremely predictable for this fantastically amusing establishment.

Overall, it’s been a decent start to life at Spurs for new boss Thomas Frank, who started Destiny Udogie for the second week in a row but benched right-back Pedro Porro for Djed Spence. With hindsight, we’re not sure why. Udogie wasn’t at the races, and Spence is clearly better at left-back, despite being a right-footer. He’s a bit like Newcastle’s Tino Livramento in that respect.

Most managers would be criticised for a midfield two of Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur. There’s not much mobility and almost no creativity there. But Frank sort of gets a pass. At Brentford, his midfield was usually industrious, with those in front of them given licence to express themselves. He pretty much skipped them out when going from goalkeeper to forwards. It’s usually one player in particular with a risk-taker role in the attack, and in this Spurs side, it’s Xavi Simons.

It was not Simons’ night. Again, though, he was taking risks and attempting killer balls, which doesn’t exactly result in a high pass success rate. One bouncing back-post cross to Mohammed Kudus almost gave Spurs the lead, but an outstanding close-range Sam Johnstone save tipped the ball onto the crossbar. Kudus was involved in a lot of Spurs’ attempts to create chances, and he thought he’d opened the scoring after a tidy move between himself and Lucas Bergvall, but he was clearly offside.

In the second half, Kudus’ final ball was rubbish and his ability to take defenders on was non-existent. Spurs’ final ball was rubbish all night, in truth. Wolves’ was as well. They had Guglielmo Vicario to thank for their goal, as he palmed a shot into Joao Palhinha with a camera save instead of taking a more natural approach to thwarting the effort on goal. Santiago Bueno capitalised to tap it in and Wolves were in the ascendancy.

They were the better side for most of the second period but their final ball also continued to lack, and Frank’s players were resorting to shots from range, with Cristian Romero and Palhinha blazing over their respective efforts in the last 10 minutes.

Ironically, Spurs’ last-gasp equaliser came thanks to an awful cross that met Pape Matar Sarr instead of the desired target, and his deft touch laid up Joao Palhinha for a wonderful finish in injury time. Dr Tottenham didn’t feel so generous after all.

The Portuguese whipped his top off and in the end, no creativity or mobility was required to calmly score from the edge of his own box in the 94th minute.

We’re hardly going to brand Frank’s Spurs as a different beast or mentality monsters after salvaging a draw against the team bottom of the league, but it’s hardly a bad thing that they found an equaliser when Wolves were fighting for their lives to preserve all three points.

Put it this way, they’re not showing signs of being the generous Dr Tottenham we’ve seen in years gone by. Not yet, anyway.

Former Tottenham scout Bryan King has told Spurs they have “got to” land a former Premier League star on £410,000 per week, as a separate report has revealed his desire to return to Europe.

In their first five games of the league season, Tottenham won three and drew one. They also made a winning start to their Champions League campaign, and progressed after their first League Cup fixture.

Things are looking up for Spurs, but new boss Thomas Frank will want to ensure his side remain competitive throughout the season, and has January signings in his sights.

They have been linked with former Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves, who’s been plying his trade with Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal since 2023, and former scout King feels that’s a signing Tottenham should definitely pursue.

He told Tottenham News: “He would certainly be a good addition to Spurs’ squad.

“He did very well in the Premier League when he played here before; he was always a name that was at the forefront for Wolves. He’s young enough to still have a future somewhere in Europe, be it in the Premier League or somewhere else.

“To get a player of that quality for that kind of price, Spurs would be foolish not to go for it. They’ve certainly got to make a move to bring him in.”

Indeed, at 28, Neves still has a lot to give, and according to a report from TBRFootball, he feels he’s in his prime, and therefore wants to come back to Europe.

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Spurs, Newcastle and Manchester United were all reportedly spoken to about Neves in the summer and remain informed on him.

Insider Graeme Bailey said: “I am told that Neves thinks there is ‘unfinished’ business in England – he had a wonderful time at Molineux and he is still highly respected.

“But it is not a given that he moves back to England. A return to Portugal would be considered whilst there is strong interest in Spain and Italy too – he is not going to be short of options.

“It is believed that Neves, given his substantial earnings during his stay in Saudi Arabia, won’t be looking for similar wages – he is in a good position that he will be able to choose the best club for him – this move will not be about the finances.”

Whether Spurs or any other English side gets Neves, then, remains to be seen, but he is out of contract with Al-Hilal at the end of the campaign, so a good proposal could see him land anywhere.

Wolves are a sorry sight at the moment. A squad denuded by the summer transfer window and which received nothing like the care and attention required to restore it to what it had previously been.

The result is that a team that less than six months ago was celebrating a run of six straight Premier League wins is now trapped in a miserable run of nine league games without a win, with five of those games being this season and all of them ending in defeat.

Even West Ham have managed to win one game, guys.

But worry no longer, for all is not lost. This weekend Wolves have shrewdly scheduled an appointment with Dr Tottenham, who might not be quite as silly this season as they were last but have a long and proud history of helping out clubs just like Wolves – and sometimes even in fact actual Wolves – in times of crisis such as this.

Everything is going to be okay. And if you don’t believe us, come with us on a long, long, long journey through the good doctor’s bulging casebook.

Dr Tottenham 1-2 Leicester (2024/25)

An immediate and relevant reminder that the doctor doesn’t just do house calls. Unlike actual doctors these days, you can sometimes get an appointment at their own surgery. You don’t have to deal with receptionists whose mission in life is to guard the appointments with ferocity matched only by the way bus drivers protect a five-pound note, but you do have to rely a bit on the quirks of the fixture computer. It’s still a better system than the one we have in the real world anyway.

There’s a second point here, though. Sometimes Dr Tottenham can be just so selfless, so determined to help, that they fail to recognise a lost cause.

So to the visit of Leicester to the Tottenham Hotspur Surgery in January this year. The Foxes came to Spurs having lost their last seven straight Premier League games to slump well below the survival line, scoring just twice in six weeks of woe.

They would match that total in six giddy minutes at the start of the second half to wipe out Richarlison’s first-half opener, before gamely holding on to take all three points back to Leicester. The equaliser was scored by Jamie Vardy, because of course the equaliser was scored by Jamie Vardy; the combination of Red Bull and facing Tottenham is simply unstoppable.

Alas, though, the doctor’s efforts on this occasion would prove entirely in vain, with Leicester going on to lose all of their next eight games in the league. The consolation is that it does make for a very funny list of results to look at. Some comfort there, at least, in these troubled times.

Dr Tottenham 1-2 Ipswich (2024/25)

In fairness to Ipswich, they had not appeared entirely without a chance on their long-overdue return to the Premier League. Opening defeats to Liverpool and Man City were cheerfully and correctly ignored, chalked up to the fact it was Liverpool and Man City, and when those losses were followed by four straight draws this looked like a team that could at least make a nuisance of themselves in the big league.

But they took only one further point from their next four games – and that against fellow promoted side Leicester – to sit winless and unsure of themselves with five draws and five defeats from their first 10 games.

Then off they went to Spurs, away they came with all the points after two first-half goals. Worth noting here that this game also came just before an international break, meaning it really was a heady cocktail as far as Tottenham banter scenarios are concerned. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the last time Spurs didn’t lose the last game before an international break was in a scrappy and stressful 1-0 win at Luton two years ago, and Luton have been relegated twice since then.

Crystal Palace 1-0 Dr Tottenham (2024/25)

Might we humbly suggest this constitutes the Doctor’s finest hour? Crystal Palace had ended the 2023/24 season in stunning form, yet had contrived to emerge winless from their first eight games of the 2024/25 league season to leave some doubts and whispers around the long-term viability of Oliver Glasner’s project.

Yet to the rescue would ride Spurs to save the day. Palace would get that elusive first win, courtesy of a goal created by a moment of impish genius from Eberechi Eze which already had plenty of heft at the time after Spurs had pursued him that summer but is now positively creaking under the sheer weight of its foreshadowing.

A season that had started so badly for Palace was utterly transformed. They would go on to have their best ever league season despite pretty much sacking off very nearly the first quarter of it. Having taken just three points from their first eight games, the Spurs win would kickstart a run of 40 points from their next 21, before the season ended with the club winning its first ever piece of major silverware by beating Manchester City to lift the FA Cup at Wembley.

Wolves 1-0 Dr Tottenham (2022/23)

Spurs had won four of their last five – including wins over Manchester City and Chelsea – before visiting sickly Wolves. They were without a win in their previous four games but the remedy was at hand thanks to the rejuvenating effects of the good doctor.

Wolves had no shots in the first half and Spurs hit the post through Pedro Porro. Son Heung-min hit the bar after the break as Spurs continued to dominate.

But Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui sensed the Doctor making a visit and knew just how to help it along: bring on a couple of players previously linked with Spurs to change the game. On came Adama Traore and Joao Moutinho, with the former crashing home the winner late on.

In many ways the archetypal visit from the selfless Good Doctor. A player linked with Spurs scoring the winner in a result that can be described as ‘easing relegation fears’ for the grateful patient while ‘dealing a blow to Spurs’ hopes of a top-four finish’.

Leeds 3-1 Dr Tottenham (2020/21)

A slightly different game, this one, but a good example of how wide-ranging the Doctor’s effects can be. Spurs were in the middle of a run of four wins in six Premier League games having rid themselves of a disease thanks to successful Mourinhoectomy surgery but were still not above helping others. That’s just the kind of great guys they are.

Leeds had enjoyed a fine return to the Premier League but were starting to feel the effects of their endeavours. They were under the weather, their free-scoring touch having abandoned them in a run of three games without a win and only a single goal scored.

They managed double that in the first half alone on their way to a 3-1 win that had such a reinvigorating effect they would go on to win their three remaining games of the season 4-0, 2-0 and 3-1. Thanks, Doc!

Dr Tottenham 0-1 Newcastle (2019/20)

Steve Bruce’s Newcastle had started the 2019/20 season with a pair of defeats, the second of which – a 3-1 beating at Norwich – had prompted widespread concern. Spurs, meanwhile had beaten Aston Villa and snaffled one of those improbable draws against Man City at the Etihad of which they remain so rightly fond – before generously handing all three points to a side whose need was so clearly greater.

Sheffield United 3-1 Dr Tottenham (2019/20)

Similar case notes as the Leeds game here, with a visit from Spurs the ideal prescription for a side just starting to feel the pace after a successful but tiring return to the top flight. For the Blades it had been three games without a goal at all before a nice, comfy 3-1 win at Bramall Lane set them on a run of 10 points from four games that would include a 3-0 win over Chelsea.

As with Leeds, alas, the doctor could do only so much for a patient whose underlying conditions proved too much the following year.

West Brom 1-0 Dr Tottenham (2017/18)

Not even the Doctor could save West Brom in 2017/18, but nobody could have done more to try and save such a sickly patient. They allowed the Baggies at point at Wembley early in the season, but gave them all three at the Hawthorns in May.

Spurs were then on a run of two league defeats in 21 games, and both of those defeats had come against Man City. West Brom had won three Premier League games since August, when they had wildly started the season with a pair of wins.

West Brom not only won the game, of course, but ticked another couple of solid Dr Tottenham boxes along the way. The winning goal came in the 92nd minute and was scored by former Spurs player Jake Livermore to keep the Baggies’ survival hopes alive into the final weekend. Alas, they couldn’t have another game against Spurs to finish their campaign. That wouldn’t work.

According to reports, Tottenham Hotspur are ‘open’ to a new takeover deal after club chiefs decided to turn down a ‘world record’ bid.

Talk over Spurs being sold has ramped up following the sudden exit of Daniel Levy, with a report on Thursday evening revealing they have received a ‘world record’ bid worth around £4.5bn from a US consortium.

This deal would exceed the £4.25bn paid by Todd Boehly’s consortium to buy Chelsea in 2022, but it has since been revealed that Spurs have decided to turn down this proposal.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, the club said: “The board of Tottenham Hotspur Limited is aware of recent media speculation and confirms that its majority shareholder, Enic Sports & Developments Holdings Ltd, has received, and unequivocally rejected, an informal expression of interest in relation to a proposal to acquire the entire issued, and to be issued, share capital of the club from a consortium led by Mr Brooklyn Earick (‘the Consortium’).

“The board of the club and Enic reconfirm that Tottenham Hotspur is not for sale and Enic is not looking to sell its stake in the Club.

“In accordance with the obligations under Rule 2.6 (a) of the City Code, the Consortium is required, by not later than 5.00pm on 24 October 2025, to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for the Company in accordance with Rule 2.7 of the City Code or announce that it does not intend to make an offer for the Company.”

READ: Spurs ‘could’ sign Palmer, Vinicius and De Jong with three players somehow surviving £1.2bn spree

Spurs head coach Thomas Frank, meanwhile, claims it is “very clear” that the club “is not for sale”.

“The Lewis family has been very transparent, very good in the way they have communicated and it’s very clear the club is not for sale,” Frank said.

“Vinai, on top of everything, is very clear and for me, personally, I feel in a very stable environment going into work every day.”

Despite this, a report from Football Insider claims Spurs would be ‘more open’ to an ‘NFL-style takeover deal’ after rejecting this initial offer, with one reason given for their stance.

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The report claims:

‘Sources say Spurs’ majority owners ENIC would be more open to a deal with an NFL franchise owner that would see the club become part of a bigger combination of sporting assets rather than an outright sale.

‘Spurs’ existing contract with the NFL is understood to be an important element for potential investors, with a minimum of two games played at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium each year.’

Spurs are definitely about to sign stars from Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona while keeping Djed Spence and his penitentiary at left-back.

Thomas Frank will enjoy spending that £1.2bn so much he forgets to sign a new goalkeeper and left-back.

There are also updates on Kobbie Mainoo, but also not really.

Spurred on

Mediawatch does not wish to go too far into the weeds on the reported world-record takeover bid of Spurs splashed on the back page of The Sun.

Of course it is fronted by a ‘US TECH BRO’. Of course it would provide a £1.2billion ‘player budget’ from the start of the January transfer window. Of course it’s actually all about Harry Kane.

And Martin Lipton is a renowned journalist with authority so it cannot be immediately dismissed out of hand, although the well-connected Alasdair Gold of football.london says ‘no bid’ has been made and the owners have reiterated that Spurs is ‘still not for sale’, a line echoed by Matt Verri in the London Evening Standard.

It is certainly newsworthy and not immediately obvious nonsense – at least not provably so.

The same cannot be said for this follow-up effort from The Sun website:

‘How Tottenham team could look after £4.5bn takeover and huge transfer spree with Cole Palmer and Harry Kane’

Spurs are undeniably ‘in a healthy position with PSR’ even before a takeover. But it will need explaining quite how they will be able to afford Palmer, Kane, Reece James, Marc Guehi, Frenkie de bloody Jong and Vinicius sodding Jr.

That £1.2bn “player budget” which Lipton says will be ‘set aside’ from January onwards has to go towards ‘wages, fees and agent payments’. That math ain’t mathing.

And look, sure, Spurs ‘could decide to take advantage of’ Guehi’s situation. That is entirely feasible. But in what world are Chelsea selling them both James and Palmer? Why are Barcelona offloading regular starter De Jong? How is Vinicius ‘out of favour’ at Real when he has started five games this season and trails only Kylian Mbappe for goals and assists?

The word ‘could’ is used 17 times in the story, summed up by a line about how Vinicius ‘could fancy trying his luck in England while also retaining his massive pay package’ without any real explanation as to why he would leave the biggest club in world football.

But the best bit is probably Spurs signing crucial players from Chelsea, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in a £1.2bn transfer spree, but still ending up with Guglielmo Vicario, Djed Spence and Pape Matar Sarr in the starting line-up.

If you’re going to go all out and completely suspend disbelief then you might as well do it properly.

Mind you, fair play for resisting the usual ‘How [x team] could look…’ trap of just chucking a load of Thomas Frank’s old Brentford players in there, supplying long throw-ins for Cole Palmer to flick on to Vinicius Junior.

That’s gotta be Kane

The accompanying story from Lipton focuses on Kane specifically, namely how ‘Bayern chiefs admit they are powerless to stop’ the striker returning to Spurs ‘- if he wants to’.

That last part is fairly important. Kane has scored 98 goals in 103 games for Bayern, breaking his personal trophy duck, playing regularly in the Champions League and furthering his career with England.

Spurs might have to replace Vicario to convince Kane it is worth coming back and that is something they are clearly unwilling to do even in a ludicrous alternate universe.

And that does sound weirdly desperate from Bayern. They’ve said they’re ‘powerless to stop’ a player leaving, have they? This is the same club which refuses to accept any instance of a German player moving elsewhere and spends months publicly ejecting toys from prams if it ever happens?

The quotes come from Max Eberl saying Kane is “old enough to make his own decisions”, Vincent Kompany saying “the last thing I want to do is open the door to another discussion,” and both underlining how brilliant and important he is.

There is indeed a break clause in his Bayern deal but also, as Lipton writes, Kane ‘has done nothing to suggest he wants to leave’ while he is thriving.

The rain in Spain

It is a bit weird they didn’t chuck a Manchester United name in there. Kobbie Mainoo is a prime example of someone Spurs could actually theoretically sign with all the money.

But another update on The Sun website suggests his future lies elsewhere.

‘Man Utd files: Mainoo learning Spanish following Amorim transfer veto as Mbeumo braces himself for Brentford backlash’

It is lovely to see Samuel Luckhurst land on his feet after leaving the Manchester Evening News, but it seems a bit harsh to stitch him up with headlines already.

‘Mainoo learning Spanish following Amorim transfer veto’ is complete bumwash, you see. As Luckhurst himself writes, ‘Mainoo started learning Spanish while he was out two years ago,’ long before Amorim even came into the equation.

The player himself said he “started Spanish lessons on Zoom just to pass the time a bit” back in May 2024. It’s not exactly a por favor ven por mí to Real Madrid.

Main man

The hopeful implication in that headline is clearly that Mainoo is preparing to move to Spain. Yet elsewhere on The Sun website we are given a ‘major hint Kobbie Mainoo still has Man Utd future ahead of Brentford clash’.

The ‘major hint’ that Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, who has played in four of a possible six Manchester United games so far this season, still has a Manchester United future?

He is ‘being put through intense training sessions’ and Amorim is working on the defensive side of his game.

It’s a ‘major hint’ that Casemiro is suspended, Manuel Ugarte isn’t very good and Mainoo does indeed play for Manchester United.

Weird clickbait of the day

‘Man Utd icon lifts lid on alcohol addiction – ‘I’d be dead if not for Coleen” – Daily Mirror website.

Who could the ‘Man Utd icon’ be? It’s a real mystery.

According to reports, Harry Kane has already reached an ‘agreement’ for his next move amid interest from Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

The England international left the Premier League during the 2023 summer transfer window as he left boyhood club Spurs to join Bayern Munich in a deal worth around £86m.

Tottenham sanctioned his exit as he was in the final year of his contract and had no intention of signing an extension.

Kane attracted serious interest from Man Utd, though a potential move to Old Trafford did not accelerate as the Red Devils were unwilling to negotiate with former Spurs supremo Daniel Levy.

Instead, Man Utd settled for Rasmus Hojlund as a pricey alternative who proved a major flop, while Kane has been a revelation at Bayern Munich.

READ: Harry Kane is £56.7m no-brainer; he has always been only one rung below Messi

Kane’s long wait for a team trophy ended last season as he helped Bayern Munich win the Bundesliga and he has 98 goals in 103 appearances for the German giants.

Despite this, 32-year-old Kane is heavily linked with a possible return to the Premier League as it’s emerged that a clause in the contract opens the door to his exit from Bayern Munich in 2026 for less than £60m.

A return to Spurs or a move to long-term suitors Man Utd are viable options for Kane, though a new report in Spain claims Kane has ‘agreed to replace Robert Lewandowski at Barcelona’.

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The report claims Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez are also options for Barcelona, but Kane is ‘equally interesting and considerably cheaper’ than their other two targets.

And Kane has given the green light to Barcelona and ‘would be delighted to accept’ this move as the ‘idea of joining’ them is ‘very appealing’, while he is also an admirer of head coach Hansi Flick.

‘Kane is happy at the Allianz Arena, but he doesn’t hide the fact that he’s tempted to try his luck elsewhere, having been promised a Champions League title, but that hasn’t happened . And the idea of ​​joining Barça and working under Flick seems very appealing to him.

‘He would accept being Lewandowski’s replacement, and it’s an option that Laporta and Deco will have to seriously consider.’

Despite this, former Tottenham and Man Utd striker Teddy Sheringham has explained why a retun to Spurs “would be the obvious choice” for Kane.

“It’ll be interesting if Harry Kane returns to England,” Sheringham said.

“Football can change very quickly, so to say where he could go next at the season is anyone’s guess.

Despite his age, he’d still be one of the most sought-after players in world football if he was to become available.

“The way it’s looking for Manchester United, they still could do with a player like him, but I think it’s unlikely that they would get him.

“For me, Tottenham would be the obvious choice. I couldn’t see why the club wouldn’t want him back if that became a possibility and I’m sure the Spurs supporters would welcome him back with open arms.”

“In my opinion yeah [best in the world]. I think he’s just very complete all round, he’s very calm on the ball, has a good pass, can surprise, good aerial, quick – there are a lot of points for me that are really good to have as a centre-half.”

No prizes for guessing which Premier League centre-back this wannabe models their game upon, but gold stars and medals abound for those of you who have worked out which ‘New Virgil van Dijk’ Tottenham are ‘lining up’ to provide cover for Sergio Romero and Micky van de Ven. The headline is admittedly a bit of a giveaway.

Leeds’ last season in the Premier League – the Jesse Marsch, Javi Gracia, Sam Allardyce mess which saw them finish 19th – made it difficult to sort the squad wheat from the chaff, and many of us will have failed to avoid the temptation to lump all of those players together as relegation fodder.

But Pascal Struijk had already emerged as significant source of pride at Elland Road having emerged from the club’s academy in 2020, before earning the nickname ‘Virg’ in the 2020/2021 season.

When asked in that breakout season about reaching the heights of Van Dijk, he said: “I’ve seen some things but I’m not there yet and if I want to be there I have a lot of improvements to do.

“They did sometimes call me ‘Virg’ but I prefer my own name.

“I think for me yes [calmness on the ball is important] it’s very important because it shows confidence when someone is on the ball and as well having a good pass on you that can help the team, surprise the opponent.”

The 26-year-old hasn’t made the “improvements” required to match Van Dijk’s level – he wouldn’t still be playing for Leeds if he had. But there’s not a great deal of shame in not being the best centre-back in the world.

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And as journalist Graeme Bailey told Leeds United News, with Struijk’s contract expiring in 2027, there are at least three Premier League clubs keeping tabs on the Dutchman, including Tottenham, with left-sided centre-backs “worth their weight in gold”.

Bailey said: “I never got a feeling he was going to leave. Farke made him feel wanted. I don’t think that’ll [new contract] be far off. He’s a fabulous player. He does attract interest. You know, Leeds have to be careful.

“We know the likes of Brighton have looked at him in the past and you know, if they lose a Jan Paul van Hecke, would they look at Struijk? We know that Tottenham looked at him as well.

“Left-sided centre-backs are worth their weight in gold. If Brentford lose Nathan Collins they could come in. Leeds will be looking to extend him because there’s an awful lot of clubs who would take him.”

Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank admits that he “would like to see” Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane return to Spurs as soon as possible.

Kane, who scored 280 goals in 435 appearances for Spurs, left Tottenham in 2023 for Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich without winning a trophy in north London.

After going trophyless in his first campaign with the Bavarians, Kane finally got his hands on his first major trophy last season as they won the Bundesliga.

Kane will no doubt stay at Bayern Munich for this season, where he is likely to win at least one more trophy, but there is the potential he could leave next summer.

German newspaper Bild reported on Monday that Kane has a £56.7m release clause which could be activated from next summer despite previous claims it will be active in January 2026.

There are rumours flying around that he could return to the Premier League with Tottenham – who Sky Sports claim have a ‘first option’ on Kane – and Manchester United interested and now Frank has confirmed that he wants the England international to return.

READ: Harry Kane is £56.7m no-brainer; he has always been only one rung below Messi

Ahead of their League Cup tie against Doncaster Rovers, Spurs boss Frank said of Kane: “There’s a lot of Tottenham fans including myself who would like to see Kane back.

“He’s a top player. Personally, I don’t think he will do it right now, if I’m honest, he’ll probably stay in Bayern and continue performing well. He was top-scorer last year and won the championship, he’s doing fantastic now.

“Top player. I don’t know what he’s thinking. Myself, I’m a traveller, I like to travel, I like to explore things as well. He’s been here for many years so why not enjoy the time at Bayern a little bit more.

“But he’s welcome. If he wants to join us, he’s more than welcome.”

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On leaving Tottenham, Kane wrote on social media: “It’s not a goodbye because you never know how things pan out in the future, but it’s a thank you and I’ll see you soon.”

When asked how much it would mean to win a trophy with Tottenham this season, Frank added: “Of course I’d like to win, no doubt about that. For me, I think we probably need to take one game at a time, make sure we get past Doncaster tomorrow and then if we continue progressing then ask me that question when we get to the final.

“Before that, it’s about winning the next one because if we don’t win the next one, there’s no reason to speak about what’s happening maybe in the future.”

Harry Kane’s German adventure has gone pretty much perfectly to script.

It was always likely that a player who scored Premier League goals for fun in a non-dominant team would find Bundesliga goals in a very dominant team fairly straightforward to accumulate.

And it did always feel like three years would be the right amount of time for Kane to go and trophy-pad his CV. Indeed, just about the only shock from his time in Germany is that if, as seems increasingly plausible, he does return to England next summer, he’ll only bring two rather than three Bundesliga medals back with him to go with the amusingly cannon-shaped goalscorer awards.

Go to Germany, spend three years winning pots and pans while scoring a f*ckton of goals, before returning to England for a few years to complete the formalities of Alan Shearer’s record, and then off to semi-retirement in MLS, possibly while trying to become an NFL kicker on the side. That always felt like the plan.

There’s talk of a pretty reasonable £56.7m release clause Kane can trigger next summer, with Spurs supposedly having first dibs from the deal struck with Bayern, with reports saying the Germans are ‘nervous’ the striker might seek a return to England.

Thomas Frank, who is not an idiot, has said “Yes please, if he’s up for it” while also making clear there is nothing imminent planned.

“I think there’s a lot of Tottenham fans including myself who would like to see Kane back.

“He’s a top player. Personally, I don’t think he will do it right now, if I’m honest, he’ll probably stay in Bayern and continue performing well. But he’s welcome. If he wants to join us, he’s more than welcome.”

So… you’re telling us there’s a chance? The departure of Daniel Levy and increased prevalence of the Lewis family – with whom Kane is reportedly close – is another intriguing little detail here, offering a potential removal of one large obstacle that always stood between Kane and a return to his former club: the fact Bayern pay him £400,000 a week and Levy’s Spurs would never do that.

We do get the distinct impression he’s enjoying superclub life more than he maybe realised he would, but our gut still tells us that Shearer’s record sits prominently on that personal to-do list now he’s finally managed to end the Kane Curse, which did prove more potent than any of us imagined.

He might even get to return to the Premier League as a World Cup winner, at which point he would also, one imagines, be doing so as a pretty hot favourite for the 2026 Ballon d’Or. Which brings us to the one thing that has been slightly curious about Kane’s time in Germany.

We knew he’d do well, we knew he’d score goals, and above all we knew he’d do a lot more than just score goals. Because that’s always who he’s been. What we weren’t quite prepared for was the extent to which people would start behaving like this was some kind of new development.

The realities of the Ballon d’Or is that while it is an individual award, you do still have to play for one of the massive clubs to win it. He was never going to win it at Spurs, and that’s fine. But must we actually pretend he’s improved or developed as a player at Bayern?

Don’t get us wrong, he certainly hasn’t got worse. And there is no sense of age catching up to a player who has never relied on express pace.

But it seems to us he’s just doing all the same brilliant things he did for year after year at Tottenham. He’s always defended like that. He’s always picked the ball up from his own defenders. He’s always had that passing range and technique.

He was never ‘just a striker’ at Spurs any more than he was a one-season wonder. People were dimly aware of this, but when it was just silly Spurs there was always a reluctance to truly accept and acknowledge what was very obvious: that here, in these unlikely surroundings, is one of the very best players in the world.

When Kane, while still at Spurs, spoke of Messi and Ronaldo as the players he was inspired by and to whose levels he aspired, there was mockery. But why? Step back and who else was there in the game for Kane to seek to emulate? He wasn’t as good as those two, perhaps the best two players in the history of the game, but who else in the world was demonstrably better than Kane to the extent he could look up to them?

It’s truly bizarre that it has taken Kane doing exactly the same things he used to do on the regular at Spurs – and still does for England, where far from being appreciated, they often draw actual criticism – while surrounded by better team-mates and weaker opponents for people to finally fully acknowledge what had been so obviously the case for years.

England still don’t. The man has 74 England goals including a World Cup Golden Boot and there is still a reluctance to place him among the true greats of English football, perhaps because none of those goals count. Future generations will watch footage of the celebrations in pubs and beer gardens around the land when Kane was replaced by Ollie Watkins in the Euro 2024 final with genuine bafflement and confusion.

When he returns to the Premier League as he surely will for the couple of years he’ll need to penalty-pad his way past Shearer, whether that’s at Tottenham or elsewhere, he will return as a player perhaps more accurately regarded and rated everywhere else apart from his own country.

And as he’s a player who once scored 30 Premier League goals in a season where Spurs floundered to eighth under Antonio Conte and won the Golden Boot and playmaker awards in a season despite being shackled by Jose Mourinho at his most miserabilist, it’s unlikely that anything he might do upon his return changes the slightly odd perception of a player widely regarded as one of the best centre-forwards of his era yet somehow still weirdly and consistently under-rated and under-estimated.

Harry Kane reportedly has an exit clause in his Bayern Munich contract that could attract the attention of Premier League clubs Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

Kane left Tottenham for Bayern ahead of the 2023/24 season and claimed the first trophy of his career in May, lifting the Bundesliga title.

He has scored an extraordinary 98 goals in 103 matches for the German giants and has started this season in terrific form, registering 13 goals and three assists in seven appearances, including a brace against Chelsea in the Champions League last week.

The 32-year-old will hit a century of goals for Bayern in only 104 games with a brace on Friday against Werder Bremen, which would make him the fastest player in Europe’s top-five leagues to reach that milestone. Cristiano Ronaldo and Erling Haaland both reached 100 goals in 105 games for Real Madrid and Manchester City, respectively.

READ: Six left-field predictions of players who could win the 2026 Ballon d’Or

Kane has been Bayern’s best and most consistent player since joining for around £100million, and they are reportedly in danger of losing him in the 2026 summer transfer window.

According to German outlet Bild, there is an ‘exit clause in his contract’ worth €65million (£56.8m), though he would have to ‘announce his move in the winter’.

That fee for a 33-year-old represents ‘a lot of money’ but also ‘could be dangerous for Bayern’, the report states.

However, that ‘doesn’t even buy half the price of Alexander Isak’ and even if Kane stays in Germany until he’s 36, ‘a model professional like him would still be tearing the Bundesliga to pieces’.

The report adds:

Kane is said to still be keen to break the Premier League goalscoring record. It’s currently held by Alan Shearer with 260 goals. He himself has 213, all of which he’s scored for Tottenham. Should he return to his homeland in the summer after the 2026 World Cup, at the age of 33, he would have a prime chance of breaking the record.

Former Liverpool midfielder Didi Hamann recently said Kane has a clause in his contract allowing him to leave next summer and backed Manchester United to sign him.

He Adventure Gamers: “I think Harry Kane has a clause that allows him to leave for a certain amount next summer. I believe the reason Bayern Munich wanted to bring Nick Woltemade in this summer was because many within the club think Kane wants to go back to England after the World Cup.

“I can see Harry Kane at Manchester United next season, and I think he’d do well for them,” Hamann added.

“Having said that, I always felt that as a London boy, sometimes they don’t really like to go to the north. Having played for Spurs, obviously Chelsea and Arsenal might be tricky, but then again, you never know, if they give him a chance to win the Premier League.

“I always felt or thought that a London club would be more favourable than a northern club, but obviously United is probably still the biggest club in England, and if they were to ask for his services, I think it would be fantastic to see him as their number nine.”