Football365

Arsenal will return to Premier League action this weekend buoyant after pipping Tottenham by a point to become International Break champions.

Mercifully, the second international break of the season is now over, allowing Premier League clubs to get their players back in time for matchday eight.

Some will be returning more chipper than others. The England lads can now focus on nailing down their places in Thomas Tuchel’s squad after sealing qualification for the World Cup finals. In contrast, the Sweden boys, including big summer signings for Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle, are seething.

No camp will be happier than Arsenal. Not only are they top of the Premier League, but Mikel Arteta’s players enjoyed more collective success over the last week and a half than any other club, even if Spurs ran the Gunners desperately close.

How do we know that? Maths, innit.

Every international call-up takes back to their club the points won on international duty, whether they were earned in World Cup qualifiers or friendlies. Three for a win; one for a draw. Only senior call-ups count.

On that basis, we can crown Arsenal the first (and possibly last) F365 International Break champions. The shirt patches are in the post…

England (Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze, Myles Lewis-Skelly) – 24

Spain (David Raya, Mikel Merino, and Martin Zubimendi) – 18

France (William Saliba) – 4

Netherlands (Jurrien Timber) – 6

Italy (Riccardo Calafiori) – 6

Belgium (Leandro Trossard) – 4

Sweden (Viktor Gyokeres) – 0

Denmark (Christian Norgaard) – 6

Brazil (Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes) – 6

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England (Djed Spence) – 6

Wales (Ben Davies, Brennan Johnson) – 0

Northern Ireland (Jamie Donley) – 3

Netherlands (Xavi Simons, Micky van de Ven) – 12

Austria (Kevin Danso) – 3

Sweden (Lucas Bergvall) – 0

Portugal (Joao Palhinha) – 4

Spain (Pedro Porro) – 6

Italy (Destiny Udogie, Guglielmo Vicario) – 12

Israel (Manor Solomon) – 0

Argentina (Cristian Romero) – 6

Brazil (Richarlison) – 3

Senegal (Pape Matar Sarr) – 6

Ghana (Mohammed Kudus) – 6

Mali (Yves Bissouma) – 6

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England (Nico O’Reilly, John Stones, James Trafford) – 18

Portugal (Ruben Dias, Matheus Nunes, Bernardo Silva) – 12

Norway (Oscar Bobb, Erling Haaland) – 8

Netherlands (Nathan Ake, Tijjani Reijnders) – 12

Croatia (Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic) – 8

Belgium (Jeremy Doku) – 4

Italy (Gianluigi Donnarumma) – 6

Scotland (Andy Robertson) – 6

Northern Ireland (Conor Bradley) – 3

Germany (Florian Wirtz) – 6

France (Hugo Ekitike, Ibrahima Konate) – 8

Netherlands (Jeremie Frimpong, Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch, Virgil van Dijk) – 24

Sweden (Alexander Isak) – 0

Hungary (Milos Kerkez, Dominik Szoboszlai) – 8

Georgia (Giorgi Mamardashvili) – 0

Egypt (Mo Salah) – 6

Argentina (Alexis Mac Allister) – 6

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England (Marc Guehi, Dean Henderson) – 12

Northern Ireland (Justin Devenny) – 3

France (Jean-Philippe Mateta) – 4

Spain (Yeremy Pino) – 6

USA (Chris Richards) – 4

Argentina (Walter Benitez) – 6

Colombia (Daniel Munoz, Jefferson Lerma) – 8

Trinidad (Rio Cardines) – 4

Senegal (Ismaila Sarr) – 6

Japan (Daichi Kamada) – 4

Nigeria (Christantus Uche) – 6

England (Ezri Konsa, Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins) – 18

Scotland (John McGinn) – 6

France (Lucas Digne) – 4

Netherlands (Donyell Malen) – 6

Belgium (Amadou Onana) – 4

Poland (Matty Cash) – 6

Sweden (Victor Lindelof) – 0

Argentina (Emi Martinez) – 6

Ivory Coast (Evann Guessand) – 6

England (Jordan Henderson) – 6

Scotland (Aaron Hickey) – 6

Republic of Ireland (Nathan Collins, Caoimhin Kelleher) – 6

Germany (Kevin Schade) – 6

Denmark (Mikkel Damsgaard) – 6

Ukraine (Yehor Yarmoliuk) – 6

Iceland (Hakon Valdimarsson) – 1

Norway (Kristoffer Ajer) – 4

Burkina Faso (Dango Ouattara) – 6

Nigeria (Frank Onyeka) – 6

Jamaica (Ethan Pinnock) – 3

Norway (Jorgen Strand Larsen, David Moller Wolfe) – 8

Czechia (Ladislav Krejci) – 1

Portugal (Jose Sa) – 4

Brazil (Andre, Joao Gomes) – 6

Uruguay (Santiago Bueno) – 6

Colombia (Yerson Mosquera) – 4

Haiti (Jean-Ricner Bellegarde) – 3

South Korea (Hee Chan Hwang) – 3

Cameroon (Jackson Tchatchoua) – 4

Nigeria (Tolu Arokodare) – 6

Zimbabwe (Marshall Munetsi, Tawanda Chirewa) – 2

Ivory Coast (Emmanuel Agbadou) – 6

Portugal (Diogo Dalot, Bruno Fernandes) – 8

Belgium (Senne Lammens) – 4

Denmark (Patrick Dorgu) – 6

Slovenia (Benjamin Sesko) – 2

Turkey (Altay Bayindir) – 6

Brazil (Casemiro, Matheus Cunha) – 6

Paraguay (Diego Leon) – 1

Ivory Coast (Amad) – 6

Cameroon (Bryan Mbeumo) – 4

Morocco (Noussair Mazraoui) – 6

England (Elliot Anderson, Morgan Gibbs-White) – 12

Wales (Neco Williams) – 0

Scotland (Angus Gunn) – 6

Belgium (Matz Sells) – 4

Serbia (Nikola Milenkovic) – 3

Switzerland (Dan Ndoye) – 4

Brazil (Igor Jesus, John Victor) – 6

New Zealand (Chris Wood) – 1

Ivory Coast (Ibrahim Sangare, Willy Boly) – 12

Northern Ireland (Dan Ballard, Trai Hume) – 6

Netherlands (Robin Roefs) – 6

Switzerland (Granit Xhaka) – 4

Morocco (Chemsdine Talbi) – 6

Mozambique (Reinildo Mandava) – 3

DR Congo (Noah Sadiki, Arthur Masuaku) – 6

Ivory Coast (Simon Adingra) – 6

Paraguay (Omar Alderete) – 1

Burkina Faso (Bertrand Traore) – 6

Wales (David Brooks) – 0

Scotland (Ryan Christie and Ben Gannon-Doak) – 12

Netherlands (Justin Kluivert) – 6

Serbia (Veljko Milosavljevic, Đorđe Petrovic) – 6

Argentina (Marcos Senesi) – 6

Ghana (Antoine Semenyo) – 6

Morocco (Amine Adli) – 6

Wales (Harry Wilson) – 0

Denmark (Joachim Andersen) – 6

Norway (Sander Berge) – 4

Belgium (Timothy Castagne) – 4

Nigeria (Calvin Bassey, Samuel Chukwueze, Alex Iwobi) – 18

USA (Antonee Robinson) – 4

England (Jordan Pickford) – 6

Wales (Tom King) – 0

Republic of Ireland (Seamus Coleman, Jake O’Brien, Mark Travers) – 9

Ukraine (Vitalii Mykolenko) – 6

Guinea-Bissau (Beto) – 0

Senegal (Idrissa Gana Gueye, Iliman Ndiaye) – 12

Republic of Ireland (Josh Cullen) – 3

Netherlands (Quilindschy Hartman) – 6

Sweden (Hjalmar Ekdal) – 0

Slovakia (Martin Dubravka) – 3

Albania (Armando Broja) – 6

Tunisia (Hannibal) – 6

South Africa (Lyle Taylor) – 4

DR Congo (Axel Tuanzebe) – 3

England (Anthony Gordon, Dan Burn) – 12

Germany (Nick Woltemade) – 6

Italy (Sandro Tonali) – 6

Sweden (Anthony Elanga) – 0

Brazil (Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton) – 6

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France (Malo Gusto) – 4

Portugal (Pedro Neto) – 4

Spain (Marc Cucurella) – 6

Denmark (Filip Jorgensen) – 6

Argentina (Enzo Fernandez) – 6

Brazil (Estevao) – 3

England (Jarrod Bowen) – 6

Northern Ireland (Callum Marshall) – 3

Denmark (Mads Hermansen) – 6

Greece (Dinos Mavropanos) – 0

Czechia (Tomas Soucek) – 1

Brazil (Lucas Paqueta) – 3

Senegal (El Hadji Malick Diouf) – 6

DR Congo (Aaron Wan-Bissaka) – 3

Netherlands (Bart Verbruggen, Jan Paul van Hecke) – 12

Sweden (Yasin Ayari) – 0

Belgium (Maxim De Cuyper) – 4

Italy (Diego Coppola) – 6

Cameroon (Carlos Baleba) – 4

Paraguay (Diego Gomez) – 1

According to reports, Tottenham Hotspur have ‘burst into the race’ as they look to fend off competition from several sides to sign a Rangers star.

Under Thomas Frank, Spurs have made a strong start to this season as they have emerged as a potential contender for Champions League qualification.

New signings Mohammed Kudus, Joao Pahlinha and Xavi Simons have made a positive impact as Tottenham have won four of their opening seven Premier League games to sit third in the table.

Frank has steadied the ship following Ange Postecoglou’s spell in charge and further investment via a possible takeover could provide a further boost in the coming months.

According to reports, Spurs already have one eye on the transfer market ahead of the winter window, with journalist Fraser Fletcher for our pals at TEAMtalk claiming they are among the ‘interested’ clubs plotting a move for Rangers star Nico Raskin.

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Rangers’ start to this campaign has been dire but Raskin has arguably been their standout performer, with the versatile centre-midfielder contributing five goal involvements in 14 appearances.

The talented 24-year-old has also broken into the senior Belgium squad and played the full 90 minutes in each of their games during this international break.

Wolves, Crystal Palace, West Ham United and Burnley are also said to be monitoring Raskin, but Tottenham’s interest complicates matters for these clubs as Rangers are keen on a ‘record-shattering deal’.

A deal for Raskin next year is reportedly expected to be worth ‘£20-25m’, and this would surpass the fee for Rangers’ current record sale after they sold Calvin Bassey to Ajax for £19.6m in 2022.

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Regarding Raskin’s stance on an exit, the report claims:

‘We understand Raskin was open to leaving Ibrox in the summer to test himself out at a new club. He was well aware of the interest in his signature, particularly from Palace.

‘But Raskin ended up staying at Rangers due to a lack of concrete offers. Things could be different in 2026, however.’

Spurs are also said to be considering a move for River Plate defender Lautaro Rivero, who is attracting interest from La Liga outfit Atletico Madrid.

Tottenham’s interest is said to be a ‘bombshell” for River Plate, with journalist Hernan Castillo claiming that the club is aware that they could receive “an offer that they cannot refuse at any moment”.

Spanish reporter Pascual Ruiz Arnal added: “Atlético de Madrid is one of the European teams keeping an eye on Lautaro Rivero. Tottenham are also interested.”

It has been claimed that Tottenham Hotspur ‘will accept a January offer’ for a current starter as he has decided to ‘open the door’ to a transfer.

Under Thomas Frank, Spurs have made a strong start to this campaign as they sit seventh in the Premier League after seven matches.

Richarlison has been an unexpected shining light for Tottenham at the start of this season after he was heavily linked with a potential exit in the summer.

The Brazil international has benefitted from Dominic Solanke’s injury as he has broken into Frank’s starting XI and has four goal involvements in his seven Premier League appearances.

Despite this, Richarlison remains linked with an exit and a report from Football Insider claims Spurs ‘will accept a January offer’ for the forward, who has ‘opened the door’ to a move to the MLS.

Former Premier League chief scout Mick Brown, who remains ‘very well connected within the game’, claims “the time has come for Richarlison to move on”.

“I think the time has come for Richarlison to move on,” Brown told Football Insider.

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“He’s never been a player who the club are completely prepared to put their faith in, they know what he can do at his best, but too often he won’t be at that level.

“With Solanke out injured, he’s had a good start to the season, but they don’t see him as the long-term answer to their issues leading the line. So if a good offer comes in for him in January, then I expect Tottenham will be ready to let him go.

“Given everybody’s fit, I’m not sure he would have a regular place in Thomas Frank’s team. Based on that, he’ll be interested in a move to the MLS as well, and I’m told there have already been talks about whether it could be done.

“If Tottenham get the right offer and feel they can cope without him, I’m sure it’s something that could happen when the window opens with all parties interested.”

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Harry Kane could potentially replace Richarlison in 2026, though former Premier League star Gus Poyet has claimed that he should “definitely go to Barcelona”.

“If he wants something different for his family, I would definitely go to Barcelona – if Lewandowski leaves. It will be completely different to everything that he had before,” Poyet told GOAL.

“Also the style of play at Barcelona right now, a player like him up front, he will score – wow, will he score!

“There has been a bit of criticism from Michael Owen, saying he can’t believe he left. I don’t know if he read it and maybe thought about the Premier League and coming back. It is very particular to him. Family is going to be very important to his decision next year.”

A Tottenham insider has stated it’s “madness” two players have been snubbed by Thomas Frank, after he made an important squad decision recently.

Frank has turned Spurs’ fortunes around immediately. Last season, former boss Ange Postecoglou led them to a 17th-placed Premier League finish and was axed.

After seven games, Frank has his side third, with four wins under their belt and 13 goals scored – only Arsenal and Manchester City have scored more.

His Tottenham squad has seen existing players and new signings gel together well.

It is important for the players already in the squad to have bought into what he’s doing, and that clearly is the case, though that’s where Frank has also been questioned.

Indeed, his leadership group was announced of late, with five players on it: Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Guglielmo Vicario, Ben Davies and James Maddison.

The two centre-backs and goalkeeper being included makes sense, while Davies has been at the club for 11 years, and Maddison was named vice captain last season, and has worn the armband previously.

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Right-back Pedro Porro has worn the armband this season, though, and his absence from the list has been noted by Spurs insider John Wenham, alongside that of another experienced Tottenham man.

Wenham told Tottenham News: “I was slightly surprised that Porro was omitted from the leadership team.

“He had captained Tottenham, I think it was against Doncaster, and then the announcement was literally a week later, when he wasn’t in a group of five.

“Joao Palhinha naturally is a leader, and he’s only on loan, so it’d be a bit of a disappointment, maybe to the other players that are permanently here, if he came in and was instantly part of that. But I think he knows that he’s a leader already.

“The other one is probably quite disappointed, is Rodrigo Bentancur. Looking at his age and where he is in his career, but he can’t have, otherwise we’d just say we’ve got a leadership team and it consists of nine players or something. It’s madness.”

Indeed, Porro captained Spurs in the 3-0 League Cup victory over League One Doncaster Rovers, playing the full 90 minutes.

While it’s not the most stern of tests, his side won the game easily and kept a clean sheet, so he can’t have done a bad job.

However, perhaps a longer leadership group would have been too much, and some had to miss out.

A Tottenham insider has told the club it would be “madness” if they were to try to bring a thriving midfielder player back to the club amid his good form.

Spurs have started the season in great form. After seven games in the Premier League, they’re third, while also having had good starts in the Champions League and League Cup.

Thomas Frank has taken what was already a good squad, who won the Europa League last season, and added some quality players such as Mohammed Kudus and Joao Palhinha to it.

He’s also allowed some good players to head out on loan. Young Tottenham talents such as Min-hyeok Yang, Mikey Moore and Tyrese Hall are all currently away from the club on loan.

Hall, after six goals and four assists in academy football last season as a midfielder, has transitioned into men’s football well, scoring three goals and assisting one in League Two for Notts County, while also scoring in the EFL Trophy against League One Barnsley in a 2-1 victory.

Amid suggestions that the 20-year-old could slot back into the Tottenham side, insider John Wenham has decried that idea.

He told Tottenham News: “He’s probably played six senior games his entire life, men’s football games.

“So no, he can’t come in for Joao Palhinha or Rodrigo Bentancur, who’s played 175 times and has scored winning penalties away to Brazil and things like that. No, he can’t.

“You won’t find a bigger advocate of youth players than me, but I’m just telling you as a fact, he needs games. He must go out this year.

“The idea that we can just drop people in front of midfielders who have played 500 senior games, it’s just madness. So no, he can’t come in now and play first-team Premier League football.”

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Tottenham currently have some great options in the midfield, and those will increase once James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski get back to fitness.

Along with Palhinha and Bentancur, Thomas Frank has the option of Pape Matar Sarr, Archie Gray, Xavi Simons and Lucas Bergvall.

Gray, a 19-year-old who was signed for £40million a year ago, has played just 188 minutes this season, and if he can’t break into the midfield at the moment, it seems unlikely Hall would be able to.

It seems best for him to continue to impress in League Two, and Spurs can then make a decision over whether he’ll come back into the squad or play at a level between his current one and Tottenham.

A Tottenham summer signing is closing in on a return to action after featuring in a behind-closed-doors friendly, having only featured for 13 minutes for the club since signing.

Spurs signed eight players in the summer and have seem the majority of them in action. While Luka Vuskovic was sent out on loan and Kota Takai looks likely to follow, each of Mohammed Kudus, Xavi Simons, Kevin Danso, Mathys Tel and Joao Palhinha have played some part.

Kudus and Palhinha have played big roles, but one other summer signing, Randal Kolo Muani, is still waiting to have his first proper impact.

There was hope that he could be a top signing for Tottenham, having scored 10 goals and assisted three more in 22 games on loan at Juventus last term, but he’s had no chance of showing his skill in north London.

Indeed, Kolo Muani played just 13 minutes off the bench on debut and sustained a knee injury. His road to recovery was scuppered when he reportedly collided with Pape Matar Sarr in training and was given a dead leg.

But there is now positive news on Kolo Muani’s potential return to Tottenham action.

He played 45 minutes in a behind-closed-doors match against Watford on Friday, and as he steps up his recovery, he could be available to play in a competitive game soon.

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Thomas Frank has used eight different attackers in his squad so far this season, with Kolo Muani’s cameo appearance adding to: Richarlison, Kudus, Tel, Simons, Wilson Odobert, Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson.

Richarlison, having largely played centrally, has three goals to his game, while Tel has one and Solanke is yet to get off the mark, though he has only played 49 minutes.

As such, the option of Kolo Muani could provide competition and potentially inject goals into the side, either if he starts banging them in, or his presence rouses the other attackers, who don’t want to lose their place.

Tottenham next play on Sunday October 19, when they welcome Aston Villa to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

They then face Monaco in the Champions League three days later, so if Kolo Muani is to return to action soon, it’s doubtful that he’ll play every minute in both of those games, instead being eased in so that his injury is not aggrataved.

Insider Florian Plettenberg has confirmed that Tottenham are among the teams ‘closely monitoring’ a Brentford forward who scored 14 goals when being managed by now-Spurs boss Thomas Frank.

Frank signed eight new players upon arrival at Tottenham. Some were already on their way through the door, but the boss did his bit to secure star names such as Mohammed Kudus, Xavi Simons and Joao Palhinha.

The new manager has his team in a great position – third in the Premier League after seven games, and just two points off rivals Arsenal in top spot.

Frank has turned things around from a 17th-placed finish last term under Ange Postecoglou, but wants to keep pushing Tottenham on.

He could do that by luring one of his former players to the club. According to transfer insider Plettenberg, Tottenham are one of the clubs who are ‘closely monitoring’ the development of Kevin Schade – who played 74 games under Frank.

The forward also scored 14 goals in those games and assisted another five.

Spurs are reportedly showing interest for a move in the summer of 2026. Plettenberg refers to the potential switch across London as ‘one to watch.’

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It is not the first time there has been a link between Spurs and one of Frank’s former disciples since the manager switched Brentford for the north London club.

He pushed for the signing of Bryan Mbeumo initially, and there was a suggestion that he wanted to make the move, before he instead headed to Manchester United.

Spurs were also linked with Yoane Wissa, but he then made the move to Newcastle.

The aforementioned pair are two of the highest-scoring players to ever feature under Frank, with only Ivan Toney above them.

Schade is 13th on the list, but could conceivably climb much higher if he joins Spurs.

It is not clear how much Brentford would ask for if they were to sell the German international, but he has a contract which runs until 2028 and he cost £22million when he initially signed, so it’s fair to assume he’ll be a bit above that figure.

When there has been interest in him previously, a figure between £43.5-52.2million has been mooted.

As such, Spurs might have to fork out a good sum to land the German, after spending over £200million in the summer.

Transfer insider Jorge Nicola has revealed Tottenham are ready to pay £26.1million in order to land Vasco da Gama winger Rayan, who is also on the radar of Chelsea.

Spurs have a much improved attack this season. Indeed, after seven games, their forwards have fired them to third in the Premier League, with 13 goals – only two sides have scored more – having been ninth at the same point last term.

New winger Mohammed Kudus is one of the main drivers in Tottenham‘s form, with one goal and five assist already.

Fellow new signing Xavi Simons has frequented the left flank, despite the fact he has shown himself to be more comfortable as a No.10 to this point in his career.

Kudus is capable of playing on both wings, though, and Thomas Frank could drop Simons into midfield and switch Kudus to the left if he signs a new right-winger, which is now on the cards.

Transfer insider Nicola has revealed that Spurs are ready to pay £26.1million in order to land Vasco da Gama wide man Rayan.

The Brazilian has scored 14 goals and assisted one more in 2025. A recent report suggested that while Rayan has a £34.3million release clause, Tottenham would likely only have to pay in the region of £17.4-26.1million.

That they’re looking to pay towards the top of that range is due to interest from rivals Chelsea and Aston Villa, per Nicola.

Spurs certainly seem to be the most advanced in the pursuit of the 19-year-old. Indeed, a previous report suggested representatives have already spoken to Rayan’s agents about a January move.

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What’s more, they have done groundwork on securing a work permit for the winger so that he would be able to make the move.

A call-up to the Brazilian senior team will make obtaining a work permit easier, and it’s believed Rayan is close to being selected to Carlo Ancelotti’s squad.

That is a sign that he’s progressing very quickly, as the likes of Neymar and Endrick both found their way into senior squads at young ages, and found themselves making moves to big European clubs.

Indeed, Rayan could be the next Brazilian starlet both to find international recognition and get an early move to Europe to prove his talent overseas.

Tottenham are weighing up whether to attempt to sign Porto striker Samu Aghehowa amid Dominic Solanke’s injury struggles, according to reports.

Spurs have made a great start to the new Premier League season with Thomas Frank’s side currently sitting third in the table after seven matches.

Solanke, who has had several injuries since joining Tottenham from Bournemouth in 2024, with the England international coming off the bench just twice this season.

After last featuring on August 23 against Manchester City, Solanke has now had surgery on an ankle issue and will miss months rather than weeks.

Richarlison and Randal Kolo Muani have both had their injury struggles too and now Tottenham could look to bring in a new striker over the next two transfer windows.

They have been linked, along with other Premier League clubs, to Porto striker Aghehowa – who has scored five goals in seven Portuguese top-flight appearances this season – and Football Insider journalist Pete O’Rourke claims Tottenham are “looking at” the Spain international as a potential buy.

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O’Rourke told Football Insider: “I’m sure he’s [Aghehowa] somebody who’s maybe on the list of Tottenham and other clubs in the Premier League.

“Chelsea [came] very close to signing him a couple of transfer windows ago before the player decided to stay.

“Then Newcastle had him on their list in the summer window as they looked at potential replacements for Alexander Isak before signing Nick Woltemade.

“So I think he’s a top young player, 21 years old, Spain international. It’s no surprise that Tottenham and all these other big clubs in the Premier League are looking at him.

“He’s a player with huge potential and could really develop into one of the best strikers in Europe, if he continues his rise. I think that’s why these Premier League clubs are looking at him.

“He has got a release clause in his contract at Porto of around £86million, which is a big price tag on his head.

“But, I think if he continues what he’s doing right now and develops as a player and fulfils his potential, that could be a decent fee for somebody who wants to take him.

“[For] Tottenham, again, the number nine is coming a bit of an issue for them in some respects. Solanke’s had his injury problems so far this season.

“Then Richarlison has obviously slotted in and done quite well there, but there’s been ongoing speculation in regards to his future.

“Porto will be doing well to hang on to him [Aghehowa] in the next couple of transfer windows because I’m sure that interest will remain.”

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Former Tottenham defender Sol Campbell has been impressed by the start Frank has made at Spurs since leaving Brentford in the summer.

Campbell said on talkSPORT: “I think he’s made a really good, positive [start], a fresh approach to the game. Came close against PSG [in the Super Cup final], just lost on penalties against them.

“Really top football, he’s playing with fresh eyes upon it, and maybe he’s doing something simple in the sense that [he’s] allowing players just to be a bit more free.

“Maybe he’s taking a bit more pressure on him and less pressure on the players. I think it’s been a great start for them. It’s early, who knows what’s going to happen, but the main thing is, it’s positive.”

ENIC have been backed to sell Tottenham Hotspur on one condition as club chiefs are currently “very open to investment” from another party.

Talk over a potential Spurs takeover has ramped up over the past few weeks following Daniel Levy’s shock exit from the Premier League giants.

The ENIC Group, headed by Joe Lewis’ family, currently own an 86% stake in Tottenham and has been a controlling shareholder since 2001.

There has been speculation over the club opening the door to fresh investment in recent years, but they have recently shut down a potential takeover.

Despite this, the takeover conversation remains ongoing, with Head of Football Finance and Governance Content for GRV Media, Adam Williams, commenting on the “mood music” at Spurs.

“Ultimately, only the Lewis family and their financial advisors know for sure whether they are interested in selling Spurs. However, the mood music is that they are still very much open to investment, if not a full sale,” Williams told The Boot Room.

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“They have parted company with Rothschild & Co – who have helped them look for investors over the last two years. They say that is proof they aren’t for sale now, but equally, it could also be a tactic to help drive up the price.

“Also, there are some suggestions that, if an investment does come, it could be at ENIC level rather than directly in Tottenham themselves. Because ENIC are registered in the Bahamas, where financial reporting requirements are virtually non-existent, we don’t know if ENIC themselves could have retained Rothschild.

“We basically don’t know anything about the company, and they are not subject to the UK Takeover Code, so the Lewis family aren’t required to document any bids for equity at that level.

“As an aside, if they haven’t been looking for investment for some time, it would have made sense to dump Rothschild ages ago given that some of these firms charge £50,000 to £100,000 per month as a retainer.”

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Williams’ “instinct” is also that the north London club are “still for sale” and he reckons a deal will be struck on one condition.

“My instinct is that Spurs are still for sale but the Lewis family have extended their timeline ahead of an eventual exit,” Williams added.

“Whatever Levy was doing to drum up interest in an investment wasn’t working, so they’re reorganising the club and going for something different.

“They have always been for sale at the right price; it’s a matter of how you get that price. If someone came and offered them £5bn tomorrow, I’ve no doubt that they would take it.”