Football365

The January transfer window has taken an odd turn in recent days as certain Premier League clubs appear intent on targeting the weirdest deals possible.

On Friday, everyone’s favourite transfer reporter, David Ornstein, sent shockwaves around the footballing world when he revealed that Spurs were making a serious play to sign Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson.

This proposed deal – according to Ornstein it was ‘agreed’ but now looks unlikely to happen with Liverpool ‘not proceeding’ – managed the unique feat of confusing both fanbases; the transfer did not make a great deal of sense for either club, but especially Spurs, as they already have 364 left-backs.

We also have the prospect of Douglas Luiz, who has barely featured for Nottingham Forest this season, having his loan at the City Ground terminated so he can join Chelsea instead? Liam Rosenior’s midfield injury issues somewhat explain this one, but talk about falling on your feet…

These deals would be hard to top on the transfer bizarre-o-meter, but there have already been five pretty strange deals involving Premier League clubs this month…

Facundo Buonanotte – Brighton to Leeds United

Better late than never, I suppose…

A move to Leeds United was in the pipeline in the summer for Buonanotte, and this would have been ideal for both parties after he was one of Leicester City’s better players last season. But the attacker joined Chelsea instead in a deal which, even by their lofty standards, was particularly pointless.

Buonanotte is certainly a good Premier League player, but he was never likely to feature regularly for Chelsea at this stage of his development, and this proved the case in the first half of the season despite impressing in flashes.

It initially felt likely that the next steps for Buonanotte would be a permanent move to Chelsea en route to a profit sale for BlueCo. Instead, he has had his Stamford Bridge dream taken away by having his loan terminated before joining Leeds for the remainder of the season.

Buonanotte and the clubs involved have finally stumbled on the right outcome for everyone concerned, but it took some unnecessary faff to get there.

READ: Every Premier League club’s revelation of the season features Calafiori and The New Mbappe

Conor Gallagher – Atletico Madrid to Spurs

Robertson to Spurs is way more left-field than the Gallagher signing, but this one does not make perfect sense either.

Gallagher was always likely to be on the move in this window as he had dropped in the pecking order at Atletico Madrid and will have his eye on snatching a place in Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad, but he would not have expected to be involved in a permanent deal or a hijack.

Given Atletico’s lofty demands, a loan-to-buy deal seemed Gallagher’s most likely route back to the Premier League and this is what Aston Villa were offering until Spurs came bounding in with an irrefutable £34m permanent bid.

The finances on the table and the lure of a return to London gave Villa no chance, while Spurs ease their midfield issues with the signing of a former foe from down the road. On the face of it, this is a solid signing for the north London outfit, but the drastic manner in which they went about signing him reeks of desperation.

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Pascal Gross – Borussia Dortmund to Brighton

One of this window’s most wholesome transfers is also one of the most bizarre, with 34-year-old Gross unexpectedly returning to Brighton only 18 months after leaving for Dortmund.

The midfielder racked up 261 appearances for Brighton during his first spell at the AMEX Stadium, and his upward move to Dortmund was certainly well-deserved, but it did not quite pan out as he intended.

Limited game time in a World Cup year led to his second spell at Brighton, and there has already been evidence of this being a beneficial move for player and club. A really nice story that no one saw coming.

Donyell Malen – Aston Villa to AS Roma

Before Robertson and/or Luiz steal his thunder, Malen is currently at the heart of this window’s oddest Premier League transfer.

We, like many others, initially laughed off reports suggesting Malen could head to Roma because he’s been rather important for Aston Villa this season and they are not exactly spoiled for choice in attack.

But this transfer became serious rather quickly and was even finalised way before the Villans had a replacement lined up, which did leave Unai Emery’s side at risk of having egg on their face.

But, in the end, it’s all well that ends well as Malen gets a good move and Aston Villa are replacing him with a cheaper alternative who is a proven Premier League goalscorer.

Callum Wilson – West Ham to free agent (or not)

I’m sure you readers were as surprised as we were when Wilson was named on the bench against Spurs, even more surprised when he came on and in utter disbelief at his late winner because wasn’t he let go by West Ham a couple of days ago?

This obviously is not the case, but all the recent noise surrounding Wilson is that he and Nuno Espirito Santo had agreed to terminate his contract so he could move elsewhere, with this made more likely by West Ham’s Hail Mary in the form of their new £57m strikers.

Now, though, Wilson could foreseeably end up remaining at West Ham and make more cameos off the bench en route to them getting relegated. The Hammers really are a ludicrous football club.

Tottenham have made an audacious attempt to bring Real Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni to north London, according to reports.

The north London club are having a difficult time in the Premier League this season with Thomas Frank’s side currently 14th in the table.

Tottenham have only won seven of their 23 Premier League matches this season with just two wins in their last ten matches in all competitions under Frank.

The Spurs boss is coming under increasing pressure to get it right on the pitch and he will be hoping Tottenham can do some January business to help him out.

There have been rumours that Spurs are ready to add another midfielder to their squad after they already moved to bring in Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid earlier this month.

Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones has been linked in recent days and now Spanish publication Fichajes insists that Tottenham have made an ‘offer’ of €100m (£87m) for Real Madrid star Tchouameni.

READ: It’s time for Slot and Frank to go, Liverpool ‘have no identity’ and Spurs are meant to be ‘happy with 15th’

It is understood that there main competition will come from Liverpool, who have launched a similar bid for the France international, with the report adding that Real Madrid have ‘received two offers of €100m each’.

The report adds: ‘Tottenham, for their part, have also made a move. The London club want to take a competitive leap and believe Tchouaméni would be an immediate fit for their project.’

Real Madrid head coach Alvaro Arbeloa has ‘complete faith in the player’ with Tottenham and Liverpool conducting ‘prolonged monitoring and very positive reports on the player’s performance at Real Madrid’.

The report continues: ‘As the days go by, everything indicates that Real Madrid is in no hurry to make a move. The club values ​​the player as a fundamental piece of its present and immediate future.’

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* ‘Low’ price for Liverpool, Spurs transfer revealed as five reasons for Robertson deal surface

Tottenham could also see a big sale in the next couple of transfer windows with Football Insider reporter Pete O’Rourke reckons Micky van de Ven could seek a move away from north London if Spurs fail to qualify for the Champions League.

O’Rourke told Football Insider: “If Tottenham aren’t playing Champions League football next season maybe van de Ven could eye a move away to play at the highest level.

“A player like him will want to playing in the Champions League on a regular basis and be competing for silverware as well.

“It’s not going to be an easy deal to do. I’m sure there’ll be a lot of clubs, not just Liverpool, who would be interested in Van de Ven if there’s any indication that he wants to leave Tottenham anytime soon as well.

“He’s under a long-term contract until 2029 and we know Spurs are tough negotiators, so they’ll be looking at a big, big fee for Van de Ven as well.

“But as I said, if Tottenham aren’t showing improvements on the field, maybe that might see the player himself try and push for a move away.”

Tottenham are looking at signing Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones as well as Andy Robertson this month, according to reports.

The Reds spent over £400m on new signings in the summer transfer window as FSG backed Arne Slot, who won the Premier League title in his first season in charge.

However, things have not gone to plan for Liverpool this season with many of their new signings underperforming as the Reds have slumped 14 points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal.

One of the positions that the Reds improved was left-back with Milos Kerkez signed from Bournemouth, pushing Liverpool legend Robertson down the pecking order.

And David Ornstein of The Athletic revealed on Friday that Tottenham are ‘working on a deal to sign’ Robertson from Liverpool this month.

It is understood that Robertson had been earmarked as a target for the summer transfer window but that pursuit has been ‘’brought forward’ in an attempt to strengthen Thomas Frank’s squad this month, which could see Liverpool recall Kostas Tsimikas from his loan spell at Roma.

READ: It’s time for Slot and Frank to go, Liverpool ‘have no identity’ and Spurs are meant to be ‘happy with 15th’

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano brought an update on Saturday with ‘an official bid’ already submitted by Tottenham to Liverpool.

Romano said on his YouTube channel: “Tottenham are working this week and in the next days to close a deal for Andy Robertson.

“An official bid has already been presented to Liverpool and discussions are ongoing between the two clubs.

“The player is open to the move and ready to make the switch. The fact that Robertson featured on the pitch does not change anything.

“Now it is up to Tottenham and Liverpool to find a financial agreement.

READ: Slot sack coming as Van Dijk, Kerkez terrible for toothless, turgid and fragile Liverpool

“If Robertson leaves, my understanding is that Liverpool are not planning to sign a new left-back immediately because they invested in Jorrel Hato last summer.

“The idea would be to bring back Kostas Tsimikas from Roma. There is no recall clause, but club-to-club contacts between Roma and Liverpool are already taking place and Roma are prepared to give the green light.”

Tottenham are looking to provide Thomas Frank with all the tools he needs to turn around Spurs’ fortunes and they are willing to make an offer for Robertson’s Liverpool team-mate Jones.

DaveOCKOP has revealed that Tottenham would be ‘willing to offer an opening offer of £30m’ for Jones as they look for another midfielder after the signing of Conor Gallagher earlier this month.

The account wrote on X: ‘EXCL: Tottenham are believed to still have a keen interest in Curtis Jones despite signing Conor Gallagher. Jones has featured regularly this season for Liverpool but may be interested in a new challenge. At the moment, it is believed that Spurs would be willing to offer an opening offer of £30m. Liverpool would likely seek more. One to watch, especially if Wharton to Liverpool interest picks up. John Heitinga is a fan of both Jones and Robertson.’

Tottenham will reportedly give Thomas Frank more time to turn things around despite their latest poor result against Burnley on Saturday.

Spurs beat Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday night with the win buying Frank some time after rumours he could soon face the sack in north London.

But Frank could not do himself any favours on Saturday as Tottenham drew 2-2 against Burnley in the Premier League with Cristian Romero scoring a last-minute equaliser to salvage a point for Spurs.

Tottenham have now won just two of their last ten matches in all competitions with Frank’s side currently 14th in the Premier League table.

And now Football Insider claim that Spurs are ‘prepared to allow Thomas Frank more time to turn their form around amid talk of Xavi being in line to succeed him as manager’.

Journalist Pete O’Rourke adds: “For Tottenham, let’s wait and see what they decide to do with Thomas Frank.

READ: It’s time for Slot and Frank to go, Liverpool ‘have no identity’ and Spurs are meant to be ‘happy with 15th’

“Maybe he could turn things around there and keep his job, if not, I’m sure there’ll be a number of managers that they will look at, obviously Premier League based and elsewhere as well.

“Xavi being a free agent makes him an interesting option for both (Man United and Spurs), but I don’t think he’s probably top of the list for either club if they do look to bring in new managers.”

Football finance expert Dr Dan Plumley has revealed that sacking Frank, who only joined from Brentford in the summer, would likely cost Tottenham in the region of £8m.

Plumley told Football Insider: “You’ve seen figures reported that his salary is around £8million a year, something like that.

“There are a couple of years on it left to run. Also what you don’t often see is that the manager would get paid off the full amount of that contract. There’s likely a clause in the contract that says it can terminate at any point in time depending on performance, and that’ll be a set fee that they’ll agree on.

“Now, again, with a little bit of professional judgment, you know, that might be something at around a year’s salary or something like that, but it’ll already be agreed. So, you know, if those figures are reported that he is on around £8m, and we have to take that with a pinch of salt, then you might suggest that, you know, a sacking would cost in the region of £8m, something like that.

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“I think he’s obviously still under pressure. Of course, they had a good result in the Champions League in midweek. But, yeah, I think it’s not often that you would get paid the full length of the contract. There’s going to be some predetermined deals in there, and that’s standard for a lot of these contracts nowadays.”

After rumours that former Barcelona head coach Xavi could take over from Frank or be appointed the Manchester United manager, O’Rourke revealed earlier this week: “Yeah, look, he would be an interesting option for both Manchester United and Tottenham, obviously he has got a glittering CV from his time at Barcelona.

“He obviously had a spell in charge at Barcelona where he did win the league, but he’s been out of work since the summer of 2024.

“I’m sure Xavi himself would be interested in the chance to maybe move to the Premier League and either join Manchester United or Tottenham.

“I’m not sure he’s probably so high up the list of both clubs. Obviously we know United are looking for a permanent manager in the summer with Michael Carrick in interim charge at the minute.

“Thomas Frank, for now, is still in charge at Tottenham, and no decision has been made on what they’re going to do long-term.”

Tottenham have received offers from Roma for both Radu Dragusin and Mathys Tel, while Spurs are also looking to ship out Alejo Veliz, according to reports.

The north London club are having a difficult time in the Premier League this season with Thomas Frank’s side currently 14th in the table.

Tottenham have only won seven of their 22 Premier League matches this season with just one win in their last eight matches in all competitions under Frank.

The Spurs boss is coming under increasing pressure to get it right on the pitch and he will be hoping Tottenham can do some January business to help him out.

A number of players could be moving on in the winter with Frank upsetting Tel, who only joined permanently in the summer from Bayern Munich, after leaving him out of their Champions League list ahead of their clash against Borussia Dortmund.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano wrote on X: “Tottenham manager Thomas Frank excludes again Mathys Tel from Champions League squad list.

READ: Who will be next Tottenham manager if (when) Thomas Frank is sacked? Xavi or Xabi?

“Frank makes space for Dominic Solanke and the only way was to remove Tel. The French striker and his camp, not happy at all with the decision.”

And now Gazzetta dello Sport (via Football Italia) claim that Serie A side Roma are ‘in talks’ to sign Tel and Dragusin from Tottenham in January.

Roma’s interest in Dragusin has been known for a while but the Italian giants ‘have also sent an offer’ for Tel after the latest news.

Both deals are understood to be loan as the two ‘players are unhappy at Tottenham and seek more playing time in the second part of the campaign’.

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The report adds: ‘Dragusin has already given the green light to join Roma on loan this month, but Spurs want the Giallorossi to include an obligation to buy in the deal.’

Another player who is causing Tottenham a headache is Alejo Veliz, who is currently on loan at Rosario Central in Argentina, with Argentine outlet Cadena 3 insisting that Spurs are seriously thinking about paying a compensation fee to end the loan.

Spurs could then sell Veliz to Brazilian side Bahia with Tottenham seeing Veliz as a ‘problem’ with the Premier League side willing to pay a fee to ‘fix the broken-down car’.

Cadena 3 adds: ‘Sources close to the player describe the scenario bluntly: for Spurs , Véliz is “a problem,” and they would be willing to pay a hefty sum to “fix the broken-down car.”‘

Tottenham return to Champions League action on Tuesday night with Borussia Dortmund visiting north London, the latest in a never-ending string of must-win matches for Thomas Frank.

Spurs’ domestic form has unravelled in recent weeks, leaving them drifting into the bottom half of the Premier League and searching for stability after another damaging home defeat at the weekend.

Europe has offered a brief escape. Tottenham sit just outside the automatic qualification places with two league-phase games remaining and remain firmly in the mix for a top-eight finish.

That is largely down to their home form in this competition, where they have won all three matches without conceding, scoring freely while showing a level of control absent elsewhere.

Dortmund arrive in similar territory in the table, marginally ahead of Spurs, but with momentum building after an unbeaten run that stretches across seven matches in all competitions.

How to watch Tottenham v Borussia Dortmund

Tottenham vs Borussia Dortmund kicks off at 20:00 (UK) on Tuesday, January 20, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The match will be shown live on TNT Sports.

Tottenham team news

Tottenham’s defensive options are stretched after a difficult weekend.

Micky van de Ven is suspended, while Ben Davies is facing a spell on the sidelines after suffering a fractured ankle against West Ham.

Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mohammed Kudus and Richarlison all remain unavailable, while Mathys Tel and Radu Dragusin are ineligible for European selection.

Joao Palhinha is also a doubt, and Pape Sarr may not be ready to return after international duty.

Tottenham expected lineup

(4-2-3-1) Vicario; Porro, Romero, Danso, Spence; Gray, Bergvall; Odobert, Simons, Kolo Muani; Solanke

Borussia Dortmund team news

Dortmund travel with far fewer concerns and could welcome back several players rested or sidelined in recent weeks.

Ramy Bensebaini and Aaron Anselmino are available again, leaving Marcel Sabitzer as the only notable absentee.

Niko Kovac faces a decision in attack, with Fabio Silva having edged ahead of Serhou Guirassy in recent outings after a productive spell in the side.

Julian Brandt and Karim Adeyemi are expected to operate just behind the striker as Dortmund look to exploit space in transition.

Borussia Dortmund expected lineup

(3-4-2-1) Kobel; Can, Anton, Schlotterbeck; Ryerson, Bellingham, Nmecha, Svensson; Adeyemi, Brandt; Guirassy

Tottenham v Borussia Dortmund stats

– Tottenham have won all three of their home Champions League matches this season without conceding.

– Spurs sit one point outside the top eight with two games remaining.

– Dortmund are unbeaten in seven matches across all competitions.

– Dortmund have scored in every away match this season.

– Spurs have lost three straight matches in all competitions.

– Dortmund have won none of their four Champions League meetings with Tottenham.

Tottenham v Borussia Dortmund predictions

Tottenham’s European home record gives them a foothold here, even as their wider form continues to wobble.

However, the defensive absences and confidence issues evident at the weekend leave little room for error against a Dortmund side that carry threat on the break and have scored freely away from home.

Dortmund’s ability to punish mistakes in transition makes Dortmund to win and both teams to score at 7/2 feels a generous price worth chancing, particularly with Spurs still capable of finding goals despite their struggles.

The visitors look well placed to take advantage if the game becomes stretched, with lethal forward Serhou Guirassy often on the end of their breakaways. He’s a good bet to score at 6/5.

This has the feel of a match that could turn quickly, with Tottenham competing early before Dortmund’s composure and depth begin to tell.

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank has angered Mathys Tel and “his camp” by choosing to leave the Frenchman out of Spurs’ Champions League squad list.

Frank is coming under increasing pressure to turn around results at Tottenham with rumours he could be sacked before Spurs face Dortmund on Tuesday.

However, David Ornstein of The Athletic revealed on Monday that Frank will be in position to take charge of Tottenham against the German side in the Champions League.

Ornstein did claim the day before that he reckons “it’s a matter of when, not if, he will go” with the Dortmund game seen as a must-win match for the Dane.

And now there is further trouble at Tottenham with Fabrizio Romano and other journalists claiming that Spurs attacker Tel is “not happy at all” that Frank has removed him from the Champions League squad list.

Romano wrote on X: “Tottenham manager Thomas Frank excludes again Mathys Tel from Champions League squad list.

READ: Who will be next Tottenham manager if (when) Thomas Frank is sacked? Xavi or Xabi?

“Frank makes space for Dominic Solanke and the only way was to remove Tel. The French striker and his camp, not happy at all with the decision.”

Another journalist, Ben Jacobs, stated: “Mathys Tel omitted from Tottenham’s Champions League squad for second time this season despite starting the last four games under Thomas Frank.

“Tel is understood to be surprised and disheartened. Dominic Solanke comes in to replace him.”

While Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg added: “Mathys Tel remain the absolute dream transfer target for Paris FC until Deadline Day. Tel still wants to leave Tottenham, as revealed.

“Edin Dzeko is also on the list, but Tel is internally ranked as the clear number one priority.”

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Tottenham boss Frank seemed relaxed ahead of the clash with Dortmund and revealed he had met with chief executive Vinai Venkatesham, sporting director Johan Lange and Nick Beucher for lunch.

On the conversations, Frank said: “I haven’t heard any situation like that in football where they say ‘hey, mate, if you win tomorrow, no problem. If you lose tomorrow, no problem’.

“We had a good conversation about life and football, the future of the club, everything normal, like you do. Of course, there’s a little bit, how would we say, stormy weather out there.

“I just think it’s an extremely good sign, because normally people are running away if there’s bad news or bad weather coming, they’re normally not coming in and being friendly for lunch.”

The Champions League is back and there’s managerial intrigue all over the place as Roberto De Zerbi auditions for a big Premier League job against Arne Slot’s Liverpool, Thomas Frank stares down the barrel and Liam Rosenior takes charge of his first game in the competition.

Meanwhile, Inter away feels like a game for Kai Havertz and not Viktor Gyokeres, if indeed there’s such a thing as a game for Viktor Gyokeres.

Game to watch: Marseille v Liverpool

“Ideally it’s not 11 games unbeaten it’s 11 wins in a row,” Arne Slot said ahead of their clash with Burnley when asked if the run was a sign of improvement and greater stability after a harrowing few weeks of defeats. As the boos rang out at Anfield after Marcus Edwards’ equaliser Saturday we wondered if what is now a 12-game unbeaten run has ever been met with such apathy from a group of supporters.

The concern for many of those fans – those who have now had enough of Slot – is that the turgid, cautious football now being played by Liverpool doesn’t allow for the sort of result required to put a nail in the Dutchman’s coffin.

A Champions League defeat of any sort would put hammer in hand with Liverpool currently out of the automatic qualification spots, but De Zerbi’s Marseille are capable of striking the telling blow on Wednesday.

With several top Premier League jobs set to shortly be going begging, De Zerbi will have extra motivation if it were needed to dole out a mega-win the likes of which Marseille have delivered on several occasions this season. They’ve hit opposition teams for five or more seven times.

READ: Van Dijk is wrong over biggest problem Liverpool ‘have to address again apparently’ in ‘debrief’

Team to watch: Chelsea

Liam Rosenior has very quickly been cast as a David Brent-ian figure of fun owing to his middle-management away-day tropes, and we’re all thoroughly looking forward to The Athletic long-read detailing his use of kitchen utensils as tools in analogies and quotes from buxom country singers as motivation, but it is also worth considering how far he’s come in such a short space of time as he prepares for his first Champions League game. Credit is as due as the withering putdowns on the basis of his grating personality.

There’s a lot of good fortune in his appointment. Chelsea are the only club of their size and standing that would hand such an opportunity to a guy of Liam Rosenior’s level of experience and he would not have got the job had he not been managing sister club Strasbourg.

But he’s “worked his whole life for this” and if we allow ourselves to put cynicism for a moment it’s undeniably great to see a young English coach of Sierra Leonean descent who had a decent but not outstanding playing career now managing Chelsea at the very highest level, albeit vs Pafos at home first up.

It is possible to root for someone you don’t want to share a pint with.

Team to watch: Tottenham

The solace that the Champions League has provided for Thomas Frank at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is one of the great quirks of the season. While only West Ham (7) and Wolves (5) have won fewer points at home than Spurs (9) in the Premier League, Frank’s side have won all three of their Champions League games on home turf, scoring eight goals and conceding none.

Villarreal, Copenhagen and Slavia Prague is as gentle a run of opponents as he could have hoped for mind, and Borussia Dortmund – second in the Bundesliga and level on 11 points with Spurs just outside the automatic spots – aren’t the next patsy Frank needs to save his job.

David Ornstein reckons “it’s a matter of when, not if, he will go” and the “when” will surely be Tuesday around 10pm should Spurs not get a result against the Bundesliga side. When the players believe a manager is “out of his depth” there’s only ever one outcome.

Player to watch: Kai Havertz

Surely. He’s been fit, if not match fit, for the last six games and has made just two substitute appearances totalling 29 minutes against Portsmouth in the FA Cup and Chelsea in the League Cup semi-final. Arsenal’s forwards have been pants in most of those games; no one more pants than Viktor Gyokeres.

Even if the £64m striker was flying rather than delivering the bumbling reality, Gyokeres need not play against Inter on Wednesday. Arsenal are three points clear at the top of the table. If anything, the Swede looks as though he could do with a night off to sulk, scream into the night or however else he exhibits his utter misery.

The danger for him is that the return of Havertz will also see the return of Arsenal’s attacking fluency and consign Gyokeres to the bench for the foreseeable. There’s more than a fair chance of that happening as the best football Arsenal have played this season – against Tottenham and then Bayern Munich in November – came when The Proper Striker They’ve Always Needed was out injured.

EFL game to watch: Coventry v Millwall

Frank Lampard’s side were running away with the Championship at the end of November but their lead at the top of the table has been cut to six points after just three wins in their last nine games and Millwall in fourth are just nine points behind Coventry ahead of their meeting at the CBS arena on Tuesday.

A win for Lampard would ease the nerves of his young side, who are now playing with The Fear that was absent in the first few months of the campaign. Millwall meanwhile will believe they have a genuine chance of automatic promotion should they come away with all three points.

Tottenham Hotspur reportedly have a ‘top’ interim candidate to replace Thomas Frank until the summer, while there is an update on Mauricio Pochettino.

The pressure on Frank has mounted following Saturday’s embarrassing 2-1 loss against relegation-threatened West Ham.

Frank’s appointment has not worked for anyone involved, as he does not appear to be a good fit for Spurs. He has failed to gain backing from supporters, who have taken issue with his dull style of play.

Results and performances have also been dire as the north London outfit have slipped deep into the bottom half of the Premier League over the past few weeks.

Despite this, several outlets have revealed that Frank will remain in charge for Tuesday night’s Champions League group phase match against Borussia Dortmund.

READ: Spurs sacking Thomas Frank is easy; delaying it is absolutely pointless

Regarding Frank’s position, Sky Sports have claimed: ‘Frank is under increasing pressure to keep his job and the Spurs hierarchy are believed to be looking at alternative options after board-level talks following the defeat at home to West Ham on Saturday.

‘No final decision has yet been made and the long-term plan has always been for Frank to lead the team through a difficult, transitional period for the club.’

Former Liverpool coach John Heitinga recently joined Spurs as Frank’s assistant, though Dutch outlet Algemeen Dagblad have claimed that ‘at the top of the list of candidates as a temporary successor’ as he is ‘in this circus’ for the long haul after penning a deal until 2028.

Heitinha has the necessary experience to guide Spurs until the summer, by which point they will likely look to appoint a long-term successor.

READ: Who will be next Tottenham manager if (when) Thomas Frank is sacked? Amorim, Maresca in the hunt

Beyond this season, Spurs are being linked with several potential long-term replacements, including club legend Mauricio Pochettino.

It has been widely reported in recent years that he would be keen on returning to Spurs to have a second spell in charge and it is possible that he takes over after managing the United States at this summer’s World Cup.

According to a new report from Football Insider, Spurs have ‘no chance’ of luring Pochettino back to the club before the World Cup.

This is hardly surprising, but there is a fare greater chance of an appointment in the summer.

The report explains: ‘The former Spurs boss has his full focus on leading the USA in their home tournament, and a deal will not be possible until after they are eliminated, despite the pressure increasing on Thomas Frank.

‘The 53-year-old “ticks a lot of boxes” for the Tottenham hierarchy, and there is a feeling on his part that he has unfinished business in North London. The Lilywhites want somebody who is proven in the Premier League, and Pochettino’s credentials are appealing to them at this stage.’

There are few bleaker things in football than the point where absolutely everyone has realised a manager is doomed, apart from the suits who actually have to make the decision.

Spurs fans know Thomas Frank is done. The Spurs players definitely know Thomas Frank is done. Most clearly of all, Thomas Frank knows Thomas Frank is done.

In the cruellest of twists, the only person among the 60000 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for Spurs’ latest barrel-scraping nadir against West Ham who doesn’t yet realise Thomas Frank is done is Vinai Venkatesham, the new post-Levy CEO who actually has to make the decision.

His mule-like refusal to accept the evidence of his own eyes and ears appears to tell us two things.

One, that we must surely all have been wrong in framing the appointment of Frank as Daniel Levy’s last act at Spurs. The timing of announcements may suggest it was his call, but it can’t have been, can it?

The refusal to admit a clear and obvious mistake makes even less sense if we continue to act as if the clear and obvious mistake Spurs’ ‘new’ rebadged Lewis Family regime are denying isn’t even their own.

And two, Vinai really did let pulling a Homer with the Mikel Arteta decision at Arsenal convince him he is some kind of manager-whisperer.

He isn’t. Frank is a dud, entirely out of his depth and wholly unsuited to a job that would right now be astonishingly hard for the right man, never mind such a conspicuously wrong man.

And at some point in the very near future even Venkatesham and the other new-broom suits in the Spurs boardroom are going to have to accept reality. Having already waited long enough to allow a disappointing season to descend into an undignified relegation fight, further delay will soon reach a point where it becomes existential.

There is a match against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night. It is, of course, a vaguely inconvenient irrelevance and it does seem like Frank will be in charge of that.

Win or lose (SPOILER: they will almost certainly lose) it makes no real difference. We don’t think we’re speaking out of turn in suggesting Spurs will not win the Champions League this season either way and, thanks to the dreary design of your modern Champions League, they will still likely end up in the play-offs at worst even if they lose both their remaining league-stage games.

But after Dortmund comes a third successive Premier League six-pointer, against Burnley. Having lost against a team with no wins in 11 games and then a team with no wins in 10 games, they really cannot afford to lose another one of these.

After Burnley, Spurs play Man City, Man United, Newcastle and Arsenal. They have already lost the chance to get a new-manager bounce in games against Sunderland, Bournemouth and West Ham; even if they act today they are now looking at hoping for a bounce against some teams that are actually good.

They’ll probably beat City, obviously, but outside that it’s hard to see where points currently come from in any of these games – Burnley included – if Frank remains at the wheel. If they are still below 30 points when that run of games is done, it is no longer an outside chance of being sucked into relegation trouble.

The clear desire from the Spurs board to at least muddle through until summer and see where they’re at might be about to collide hard with a far more uncomfortable reality. At some point during that run, pennies will drop and Frank will be sacked.

But then what? Part of the desire to muddle through the season could be about the potential for a bigger pool of suitable managerial candidates to exist in the summer. Especially after the World Cup.

Yet if, as looks increasingly certain, that luxury is not one that will remain open to Spurs, what should they do?

Do they go the Man United interim route? Appointing a former Ajax head coach as Frank’s new assistant manager was certainly an interesting move last week, one that could just as easily be seen as readying a knife for the manager’s back as showing him support.

But it doesn’t really change things. Say it is John Heitinga as interim for the rest of the season; on what grounds could you possibly expect that to prompt meaningful improvement at the speed Spurs will require it?

It’s easy when watching Spurs to think it can’t get any worse than it already is. But they’ve just spent the last few games reminding us that, in the immortal words of Mick McCarthy: it can.

But it also is genuinely now quite hard for it to get much worse. After the last two league defeats, and with the recent improvement and greater resilience being shown by your Wolveses and Burnleys, it is neither difficult nor mischievous to suggest Spurs are as of right now the single worst team in the division.

It does feel like almost anything must by definition be better than… whatever this spectacle of collective misery now is. But if Spurs are going to try, as they really probably should, to appoint a proper new manager now then it’s very far from easy.

One lesson Spurs must learn from Frank, despite their proud record of never learning any lessons from anything ever, is that appointing an impressive and overachieving manager from a well-run club is a bigger gamble than you might think.

We’ve seen it with Graham Potter and we’re seeing it now with Frank. It’s not just how exposed they’ve looked outside the sensible and functional environments in which they flourished; it’s how effortlessly the clubs they’ve left have carried on without them.

Neither Brighton nor now Brentford have missed those once-venerated managers at all. What was hailed at the time as a fine manager doing great work has turned out to just be a well-run club being a well-run club.

That means this morning’s links with Fabian Hurzeler should raise concern. But makes someone like Oliver Glasner potentially much more interesting.

On the face of it, it’s an appointment that has all the same issues as Frank or Hurzeler or another stepping-stone appointment. The football isn’t a perfect fit for Spurs, and there is no record of success at a club of comparable size. But at least he isn’t a manager who has flourished only in high-functioning environments. Crystal Palace are not Brighton or Brentford, and that means something.

Of course, there is also something delicious about the idea of Glasner flouncing out of Palace in righteous indignation at the suits’ lack of support for the football side of operations and then turning up immediately at Spurs.

What Glasner’s vague if unconvincing suitability really highlights, though, is just how large Spurs’ problems now are. They have an obviously doomed manager who should have been sacked weeks ago, but no obvious route out of trouble under anyone else. The gettable managers aren’t quite right, and the right managers aren’t quite gettable.

The right profile of manager for what Spurs have become is something of a unicorn. The clearest indicator of that is that a manager of the perfect profile is out there, right now. Xabi Alonso is precisely the right fit.

There are no guarantees of success anywhere in football, and that’s more true of Spurs than just about anyone else. But if you were looking for just the right level of manager to have the best possible chance, then a man who Knows The League and has achieved astonishing things with a club like Bayer Leverkusen before coming unstuck at a club like Real Madrid is the ideal kind of thing.

And there is absolutely no chance of that happening, because Xabi Alonso isn’t an idiot.

So while certainty exists on what Spurs must do first of all, there is no clarity whatsoever about what happens next. And that’s really even more important.

They can go interim, they can have another go at finding an overachieving manager further down the food chain who can manage to replicate that success at the world’s stupidest football club, they can make a doomed play for the actual perfect manager for them who is certain to have better offers.

None of it looks that appealing. But what they absolutely must do now is something. It should already have been clear that ‘do nothing’ was already the worst option even before the West Ham unpleasantness.