Sport Witness

Benfica could be set for a staff addition straight from Austria, with José Mourinho’s former Tottenham assistant João Sacramento reportedly about to leave his first managerial job at LASK.

According to Austrian outlet Krone, the 36-year-old is considering stepping down in order to reunite with his mentor in Lisbon.

Despite guiding the side to a derby win at the weekend, his future in Linz looks uncertain because Mourinho wants him as his assistant at Benfica.

For Sacramento, this would mean a reunion with his long-time mentor. The 36-year-old Portuguese worked as Mourinho’s right-hand man at Tottenham Hotspur and AS Roma, after earlier spells as an assistant with Lille, PSG and Al-Duhail. The LASK role was his first as a head coach, and he had been tied to the Austrian club until 2027.

Only on Sunday, Sacramento had insisted he believed in the young squad at his disposal, saying he hoped “they grow” together. That makes the sudden turn of events more striking.

Whether LASK will release him from his contract remains to be seen, but the chance to return alongside Mourinho at one of Portugal’s giants appears hard to resist.

Tottenham fans may not think particularly highly of Ange Postecoglou, despite their Europa League win last season, but it seems Giovanni Lo Celso does.

AS have comments from him today praising the former Tottenham coach ahead of their meeting this week in the same competition.

Postecoglou is taking on Real Betis in the Europa League with Nottingham Forest, looking to repeat the success he enjoyed with Tottenham in the competition last season.

He’s only been in place at Nottingham Forest since earlier this month, having arrived as a replacement for Nuno Espirito Santo following his sacking. Postecoglou had only been available after being removed by Tottenham at the end of last season despite their success in the Europa League last season.

He is hoping to rebuild something of a damaged reputation at Nottingham Forest, with his methods having been questioned after Tottenham finished 17th last season and lost 22 of their 38 games in the Premier League.

Ending Spurs’ trophy drought didn’t paper over the cracks and most have questioned him throughout last season and following his sacking. Lo Celso, though, appears to be a fan after making 24 appearances under the Australian before his return to Betis.

“He’s a great coach,” he said.

“He’s coming off a Europa League win with Tottenham. He’s a game-changer and intense. We have the tools to plan a game and be the protagonists from the first minute.”

Towards the end of the summer window, the Spanish media covered Tottenham Hotspur’s interest in Atlético Madrid’s Conor Gallagher.

On August 28th, AS reported Tottenham were planning to approach the La Liga club for the midfielder, and two days later, Marca stated Spurs considered signing him by offering not more than €40m.

The Europa League winners didn’t make an offer, and Gallagher is still at the Madrid club.

Recent claims from the UK have named the north London club as a contender to sign the 25-year-old in January, and Tuesday’s edition of Mundo Deportivo, after relaying this, gives their own take on how Tottenham could secure his services.

The first part of the report focuses on how the England international doesn’t seem to be a perfect fit under Diego Simeone.

Gallagher has made two starts so far this season and a limited role with the Madrid club could impact his chances of representing England at the next World Cup.

He’s aware of this and considering the former Chelsea man doesn’t fit well into Simeone’s plans, the chances of him featuring regularly at Atlético remains unlikely.

Tottenham are said to be thinking about Gallagher for January, while the newspaper say Atlético’s plan is to retain the player as they see him as an important player. Mundo add they will only let him leave for a ‘huge amount’ of over €60m.

In short, Spurs are being told to pay €60m for Gallagher. That feels a completely unrealistic fee and Tottenham are likely to dump any interest unless the price falls.

Tottenham Hotspur allowed Luka Vušković to join Hamburg SV on loan in the summer window. At the weekend he scored his first goal for the German club in their 2-1 win over Heidenheim.

The 18-year-old found the back of the net in the 42nd minute, after missing an earlier chance.

Vušković was disappointed to have missed out on the opportunity and reacted angrily by hitting the goal post. The Tottenham man then believed he’d broken a finger.

Bild now report there are ‘two bits of good news’ for the centre-back, including one about the injury concern.

It’s claimed the Tottenham man had feared of a finger fracture after lashing out over the weekend. He has now received ‘all-clear’ as the diagnosis have shown it was just a bruise, meaning his finger isn’t broken.

The Spurs defender received his second good news on Monday when Croatia manager Zlatko Dalić included him in the squad for October’s World Cup qualifiers against Czech Republic and Gibraltar. Vušković made his senior national team debut in June.

Bild say the World Cup dream if ‘getting closer’ for Vušković as Croatia would qualify for the tournament if they were to secure wins in the upcoming two matches.

Timo Werner hasn’t played a minute of football so far this season but did make an appearance on RB Leipzig’s bench for their 3-1 victory over FC Koln at the weekend.

The 29-year-old returned from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer, after a difficult season on loan with Spurs. He made 27 appearances overall, but those appearances were usually very brief and Werner largely disappeared at Tottenham in the second half of last season.

As the window approached, there were repeat claims in the German media that the forward could be off to MLS to try and kickstart his career. No approaches tempted him enough and he remained with RB Leipzig.

Leipzig themselves had been keen on an exit, trying to get whatever fee was possible for a player with less than a year left on his contract.

RBLive now report on fans chanting for Werner during that match against FC Koln. The club’s support are taking him back into their hearts and pushing for the player to get some minutes.

Despite him not even having played this season, his shirts are selling, and there’s a buzz growing around a potential redemption.

On the pressure to play the Tottenham flop, RB Leipzig manager Ole Werner is quoted as saying: “Every player can demonstrate their worth through training performance and improve their position. That applies to everyone. Some players are still ahead of him in our rankings. We’ll see how things develop in the coming weeks.”

Captain David Raum added: “He’s the face of the club. He has done a lot for the club. Many players are humbled by him and greatly appreciate having him on our team. He gives his all in training, is very positive in the dressing room, gives everyone a good feeling, and is very popular. It’s great that he was in the squad today, and we’re happy for him. We’re glad we have him.”

This summer, Luka Vušković arrived at Tottenham Hotspur, after they agreed a deal with Hajduk Split in September 2023. He wasn’t part of Thomas Frank’s core plans and ended up joining Hamburg SV on loan towards the end of the summer window.

The 18-year-old made his debut for the German club in their 5-0 defeat to Bayern Munich and played his first home game in their 2-1 win over Heidenheim at the weekend.

The Tottenham owned player starred for Hamburg by scoring his first goal on Saturday and after the match he explained how happy he was to get his name on the scoresheet, with Hamburger Morgenpost relaying his comments.

“I’m very proud, very emotional, and hope it wasn’t my last goal. I just hoped the goal wouldn’t be taken back,” he said.

According to MoPo, the centre-back was in pain when he scored as he picked up an injury earlier in the game.

The Croatia international came close to scoring in the 27th minute and was frustrated not to find the back of the net. He reacted by hitting his right hand to the goal post and broke his finger in the process and the Spurs man has said his injury isn’t serious.

“I probably broke a finger. It’s an old injury; I broke my finger a few months ago. But I was so angry about missing such a great opportunity that I hit the post with my hand. It will heal, don’t worry,” Vušković explained.

Hamburg face Union Berlin on September 28th, and MoPo report his involvement for the next clash is ‘not in jeopardy’.

The defender is also pleased that Hamburg fans chanted his name over the weekend.

“This means a lot to me. Ever since I started playing football, he’s wished me good luck before every game. I’m really proud to have a brother like that,” he added.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Yves Bissouma was linked to Juventus, Inter Milan and AS Roma in the summer window, but no deal took shape.

The midfielder is in his final year of contract and hasn’t made an appearance this season. Thomas Frank said he has to impress in training to have an opportunity to feature for Tottenham.

Recent claims from the UK have mentioned Italy as a possible destination for the Tottenham player. Calciomercato.it relay that and then provide their take on AC Milan as an option.

The north London club opened the door for the 29-year-old to leave in the summer. It’s claimed he was offered to the Rossoneri, but they weren’t able to find an agreement with the Europa League winners.

Bissouma is available in the next market, likely because he’s not part of Frank’s plans and his contract situation. This can be attractive for Milan, who have their eyes on him.

Calciomercato.it report the former Brighton & Hove Albion man is valued at €20-25m, but his price is set to drop further as his contract expires in 2026. The Serie A side would be evaluating a move for the player in January.

Milan sporting director Igli Tare and staff are ‘already hard at work’ for the winter market.

Harry Kane has impressed for Bayern Munich since joining them from Tottenham Hotspur in 2023.

The England international was regularly the standout player for Tottenham, scoring 280 times and registering 63 assists from 435 matches, and his displays for Spurs convinced Bayern Munich to invest €100m to secure his services two years ago.

Well known German journalist Alfred Draxler was critical of the Bundesliga winners’ decision to invest big on the striker, and has now explained he was wrong in his Bild column.

Draxler was of the belief there were better and cheaper alternatives than Kane available at that time and therefore, he wasn’t pleased with the Bavarian club’s decision to offer big money to Tottenham.

The 32-year-old has extended his north London club form at Bayern Munich, scoring 95 goals and assisting 29 times in 102 games.

Earlier this week, Kane scored a brace to help Vincent Kompany’s side beat Chelsea 3-1 in the Champions League. Draxler used this latest appearance as an example to say that he was wrong to criticise the frontman and has now issued an apology to him.

“Harry Kane [32] practically single-handedly decided the match against Club World Cup winners Chelsea,” he wrote in his column.

“He won a penalty, scored it himself! And then sealed the first Champions League victory of the season with the 3-1 win. That’s what a true superstar does! And he does it so often and so confidently that you’d almost think it was a given. But it isn’t! In any case, it’s high time I formally apologised to Mr. Kane. Sorry, I was completely wrong!”

“I was one of those who were rather critical of the transfer of Tottenham to Bayern in 2023 for €100m. Kane is exactly the man who makes the difference. Today I know: He’s worth every cent of the €100m.”

The journalist then went on to further praise the former Tottenham star,

“What also impresses me: When he drops back and plays long passes. His hit rate is over 70%. He’s a playmaker and goalscorer rolled into one. And he’s never injured! That’s not just luck. It speaks for strict discipline and hard training,” Draxler said.

“And he also comes across as down-to-earth and humble. Almost too much of a good thing!”

“I don’t think Harry Kane vacations in a hotel where you have to reserve your sunbed in the morning. If I ever meet him, I’d get up very early and put a towel on his sunbed for him. I wouldn’t do that for any other Englishman!”

Chelsea, Newcastle United, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur all showed interest in Dean Huijsen before he left AFC Bournemouth for Real Madrid this summer.

Saturday’s edition of AS have published an interview with the defender’s agent, Ali Barat, and the majority of the chat is focused on Huijsen’s arrival at Real Madrid.

During the interview, the representative said Chelsea, Newcastle, Liverpool, Tottenham and Bayern Munich were among the ‘big clubs’ that wanted to sign his client from the Cherries.

The 20-year-old joined Bournemouth from Juventus in the summer of 2024 and starred under Andoni Iraola’s orders in his debut season in England, making 41 appearances.

His impressive performances for Bournemouth helped him make debut for Spain in March, after which Real Madrid made contact.

“We always thought Real Madrid would come: Dean is a fantastic player, and after the two games with the national team, Juni [Calafat] contacted us, and everything moved very quickly, honestly. Absolutely. When they came along, it was an easy decision: there were many clubs, but with Real Madrid, there was no doubt,” he said.

The decision to pick Real Madrid over the Premier League quartet and others was easy for the centre-back as he’s a huge Los Blancos supporter.

AS asked the agent about the Chelsea links and whether that was just a rumour, he then spoke about Newcastle, Liverpool, Tottenham and Bayern.

“Chelsea wanted him, even since January. They were the first big club really interested, but Bournemouth didn’t want to sell in January, and his release clause wasn’t active then, only in the summer,” Barat explained.

“And of course, after playing for the national team, we had about seven big clubs: Bayern, Liverpool, Tottenham, Newcastle… They all wanted Dean, to be honest.”

Lucas Bergvall has impressed for Tottenham Hotspur in their 3-0 league win over West Ham United and 1-0 Champions League victory over Villarreal in less than a week.

The match against Villarreal on Tuesday saw the 19-year-old make his debut in Europe’s elite club competition and after the match, the midfielder expressed his joy over fulfilling his long-term dream.

Last summer, Bergvall arrived at Tottenham and played 45 games, winning the Europa League in the process.

The Sweden international’s rise at the north London club doesn’t surprise his brother Theo Bergvall, who has been at Djurgården since 2023. Fotboll Direkt had a chat with the older brother, and the Tottenham player was inevitably one of the topics of discussion.

The 20-year-old defender says he’s not as nervous as he used to be with regards to Lucas and his performances and is confident of his qualities.

“I’m not as nervous anymore. He’s incredible, there are no words to describe him. At the same time, I know what he’s capable of, so I’m not surprised either. But of course, it’s great fun,” he said.

Despite featuring regularly for Tottenham, the midfielder didn’t get to play for a minute for the national team during September’s matches.

When asked about this topic, Theo explained: “I think Lucas has proven himself on the pitch. I’ll leave it at that.”

The Djurgården right-back is yet to make his debut and dreams of representing Sweden and play alongside with the Spurs man.

“Yes, I need to do more. I need to play better on an individual level and continue to develop, then I think I can get there [national team]. Yes, we’ve played together our whole lives, so it would be the ultimate ending,” he added.