Sport Witness

AS Monaco are facing a ‘mountain of injuries’ ahead of taking on Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League this week.

That’s according to Made in Monegasque, who cover the struggles manager Sébastien Pocognoli is facing ahead of the clash with Tottenham.

The Ligue 1 side host Thomas Frank’s side on match-day three on Wednesday. They head into the game looking for their first win in the competition this season. That’s after one defeat and a draw so far. That’s left them sitting 30th in the table early on.

Tottenham, meanwhile, have a win and a draw to their name. They sit ninth in the table, just two points behind the early leaders.

Pocognoli is also eyeing his first win as Monaco coach after a 1-1 draw in his debut with Angers. That task has been made more difficult thanks to an ‘impressive list’ of injuries.

He will be without Lukas Hradecky, Eric Dier, Christian Mawissa, Vanderson, Denis Zakaria, Lamine Camara and Paul Pogba for the game. Striker Paris Brunner, meanwhile, has not been included in the Champions League squad so will also be missing.

It’s bad news for the new Monaco boss, who needs to work out what to do with Tottenham in town tomorrow.

Vasco da Gama have taken a major step to secure the future of Tottenham-linked gem Rayan.

According to ESPN Brazil, the Rio club have already presented a formal renewal offer to the 19-year-old striker. The proposal would extend his contract until December 2028, adding two extra years to his current deal.

The new offer includes both a salary increase and a higher release clause. Vasco want to protect the player from growing European interest, including Tottenham, while gaining more leverage for future negotiations.

Rayan’s existing contract runs until the end of 2026, but the club fear that waiting too long could reduce their control over his future. After his rapid rise this year, they see an extension as vital before the next transfer window opens.

Rayan’s progress has also triggered a major jump in valuation. As reported by ESPN, Vasco are now targeting around €30m for his transfer – up from the €18m requested in the previous window.

The increase of €12m in just a few months reflects how quickly his value has risen. If achieved, that fee would make Rayan the most expensive sale in Vasco’s history, overtaking Paulinho’s €18.5m move to Bayer Leverkusen in 2018.

Tottenham may need to work with Pini Zahavi

Behind the scenes, the situation has attracted powerful intermediaries. Pini Zahavi, one of football’s most influential agents, is following Rayan’s case closely. Working alongside Brazilian partner Humberto Paiva, Zahavi is helping manage the player’s pathway to Europe.

The duo have already played key roles in major transfers, including Neymar’s move from Barcelona to PSG. Their involvement signals that Rayan’s next step could reach the highest levels of the market.

Rayan’s new deal would give Vasco stronger bargaining power, especially considering FC Porto’s latest enquiries, as reported by ESPN. The Portuguese club rate him highly and appear to be in talks regarding his signing for 2026, possibly even for January.

Over the weekend, Porto’s name was widely mentioned across the Brazilian press as one of the clubs most attentive to Rayan’s situation.

However, so far, the only teams reported to have taken concrete steps are Tottenham and Barcelona, who have both sent scouts and made direct enquiries.

Aston Villa and Newcastle United have also been linked, but without any confirmed movement or formal approach at this stage.

Arsenal and Chelsea are among the clubs to have set their sights on Tottenham Hotspur summer target Nico Paz, according to Mundo Deportivo.

Back in August, Tottenham made multiple attempts to snatch the 21-year-old from Como. Spurs reportedly offered €70m but he wasn’t keen on joining them.

Como sporting director Carlalberto Ludi said he was thrilled Paz turned down Tottenham.

The attacking midfielder joined the Serie A side from Real Madrid in August 2024 and managed six goals and nine assists last season. He’s scored four times and registered four assists from seven matches this season.

Mundo report the Argentina international’s impressive performances for Como have seen other clubs take notice. From the Premier League, Arsenal and Chelsea are in the mix to sign him. Juventus and Inter Milan are also named as suitors.

The Premier League duo and others have to be wary of Real Madrid. The report states Los Blancos have a buyback option of €8m valid for next summer. They also retain a high sell-on clause.

Mundo state: ‘If Real Madrid doesn’t make this signing next summer, they could regret it greatly in the coming years. It remains to be seen how the pieces fit together with Franco Mastantuono, Arda Guler, [Jude] Bellingham, Brahim [Diaz] or Rodrygo, perhaps a sale is necessary.’

Arsenal, Chelsea and others can only hope Real Madrid don’t make advances to sign Paz.

Croatia U21 manager Ivica Olić has heaped praise on Tottenham Hotspur for letting Luka Vušković join Hamburg SV on loan in August.

The Bundesliga club will face VfL Wolfsburg in the league on Saturday. Olić represented both teams during his playing career and will be in attendance this weekend.

Ahead of this clash, Bild caught up with the manager to discuss the Tottenham owned player.

The centre-back has played five matches so far and has enjoyed a good start to the season with the German club. His impressive performances helped him return to the Croatia squad for October’s international break.

Olić has already managed the 18-year-old for Croatia’s U21s and is well aware of his quality and potential. He’s convinced the defender will make it to the World Cup if he continues to shine for Hamburg.

Tottenham praise: “That’s how you develop”

“If Luka continues to perform so well for HSV and his country and stays healthy, I’m convinced he will be at the World Cup,” he said.

In September 2023, Spurs agreed a deal with Hajduk Split for Vušković to arrive at the north London club in 2025. He arrived at Tottenham after two loans spells at Radomiak Radom and KVC Westerlo.

Vušković wasn’t part of Thomas Frank’s core plans at Spurs this season and was sent out on loan. The Croatia U21 manager is enthusiastic with the youngster’s career plan so far and his future.

“He was carefully developed, loaned to Poland and Belgium. And the loan from Tottenham to my former club also makes a lot of sense. A lot of things were done right. That’s how you develop talent. But it’s important that he continues to play well,” Olić explained.

“Luka is a down-to-earth boy who is very mature for his age, both on and off the pitch. He lives and loves football. You can feel that in every training session, in every game. He always gives 100%.”

Manchester City have joined Tottenham Hotspur in the chase for River Plate’s Lautaro Rivero.

Earlier this week, Spanish journalist Pascual Ruiz Arnal reported Spurs and Atlético Madrid are showing interest in the 21-year-old.

Two days ago, we covered claims Argentina that Tottenham sent their scouts to watch him live in action. It was also reported River Plate are referring to his €100m release clause.

El Intransigente now report on Manchester City, Juventus and RB Leipzig joining the north London club and Atlético in the transfer race.

For now, these clubs are closely monitoring the centre-back’s situation. It’s claimed they all have intention of starting negotiations with River Plate over signing the youngster in January.

Rivero spent 18 months on loan at Central Córdoba and returned to his parent club last summer. Since then, he played 10 matches for River Plate.

With several clubs showing interest, the report state the defender has made an ‘important decision’ for his future.

His contract is until December 2028 and journalist Hernán Claus reports he’s prioritising staying at River Plate at least until next summer.

Rivero is enjoying regular minutes and therefore, wants to continue at the club. He knows this is needed for him to maintain hope of making it to the World Cup with Argentina.

This favours River Plate, who believe his valuation could rise further if he were to make it to the World Cup squad.

Therefore, Tottenham, Manchester City or another club may have to wait until the end of the season to secure his services.

Stephane Dalmat has revealed he turned Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United down, before later joining Spurs. That later transfer move isn’t one he’s thrilled about years afterwards either.

Girondins 4 Ever cover comments from the Frenchman today after a recent interview in which he discussed his career.

Dalmat had a wide-ranging career, starting with Châteauroux in France before joining Lens, Marseille, PSG and then Inter Milan. By 2003, he was at Tottenham on loan for a year before returning to Italy in 2004.

More loan moves followed before he had a spell at Racing in Spain. He then returned to France and played for Bordeaux, Stade Rennais and Nimes before retiring in 2012.

He only ended up in England for a year, but could have made the transfer much earlier, as Tottenham and Newcastle both had agreements in place for him.

“It’s the agents, who want to make money on transfers,” he said.

“My agents, at the time, between the transfers from Châteauroux to Lens, from Lens to Marseille, Marseille to Paris, Paris to Inter, everything they picked up… Not one of them told me it was better to do something else, career-wise… That I should settle down.

“It was mainly Éric Di Meco and Jean-Philippe Durand, who were sporting directors at the time, who told me to leave. They reached an agreement with Tottenham and Newcastle. I had Éric Di Meco call me and tell me that there was an agreement with these two clubs.

“I told him that there was no way I was going abroad. It was either I stay in Marseille, or they find me another French club, and there aren’t fifty: Monaco, Lyon, Paris… The deal was made for €70 at PSG, even though I wanted to stay in Marseille.”

His time in England did not prove to be a particularly successful one either. He managed just three goals and two assists in 28 games for Tottenham, numbers which did not convince them to make his move permanent.

Perhaps things would have been different at Newcastle, although Dalmat does not believe that would have been the case.

“I didn’t go to a youth academy, so I wasn’t trained. I was immediately presented with a fait accompli,” he added.

“I had a lot of transfers in the space of four years. When you change clubs often, you don’t have stability, so… When I left Inter, I was in a bit of a hole.

“I played for other clubs, Toulouse, Tottenham, Bordeaux… I didn’t have continuity, and I didn’t have the right people or entourage at the time to advise me properly and tell me to take my time, not to move too fast, especially when I was at Lens.

“I would have liked to have been told ‘stay at Lens for a second season to confirm your skills’, rather than making a big move to Marseille. But then, who turns down Marseille when they’re 19? Marseille was something else.”

While Lucas Bergvall continues to rise at Tottenham Hotspur, his brother Theo Bergvall is also undergoing a strong rise.

Fotboll Direkt cover him today, with Djurgårdens IF determined to extend his contract at the Swedish club.

They cover comments from their sports director Bosse Andersson, who says the 21-year-old is impressing everyone at the Swedish club.

“His development is impressive, and we want to sign a longer contract,” he said.

“So, with his strong development, we have initiated future discussions with his advisors. He has been at Djurgården for three years now and has really shown what a strong psyche he has.

“He has taken steps and shows what a modern defender he is and that in the future he will play at a good international level.”

Fotboll Direkt continue adding the Theo Bergvall praise, insisting he now increasingly looks like ‘one of the best right-backs’ in the Allsvenskan. He’s gone from being on the periphery of the squad to starring in it.

That’s been noticed, particularly by Andersson and Djurgården. They’re now working to get his current deal, which expires in 2026, extended. It remains to be seen if they can do it, with club’s already interested.

The Bergvall name is very much on the rise. Tottenham had to battle Europe’s best for Lucas and now his brother appears to be making a name for himself as well. Perhaps Tottenham might even consider a move for themselves and set up a family reunion in London.

That’s just us speculating, of course, but stranger things have certainly happened before now.

Tottenham Hotspur are facing increased competition for River Plate youngster Lautaro Rivero. The City Group, owners of Manchester City, are now in the mix for him.

That’s according to El Intransigente, who say River Plate are becoming convinced that their young star is on the way out.

They say the 21-year-old is continuing to attract interest from Europe. Tottenham and Atletico Madrid have already made ‘initial enquiries’ and now Manchester City’s owners are in the mix. That’s set off alarm bells at River Plate.

The Argentine side know that keep Rivero has become a ‘nearly impossible task’. That’s despite him having a $100m release clause in his contract. The City Group have already begun preliminary contacts, while Tottenham and Atletico have made initial enquiries as well.

River’s intentions are to fight any offers that come their way, but the belief is that those offers will arrive sooner rather than later.

Indeed, River Noticias report everything indicates Tottenham and Atletico will make official offers at some point. Neither of them would exceed $20m at this point. River absolutely would not sell for that price.

They put that $100m clause in his contract to protect themselves from situations such as this and will use it to their advantage.

Marseille president Pablo Longoria has given insight into how he signed Pierre-Emile Højbjerg from Tottenham Hotspur.

Longoria was a guest on Business of Sport podcast, and Le10 Sport have relayed his comments.

Marseille initially signed the 30-year-old on loan from Tottenham in July 2024 and made his stay permanent the following May. The Denmark international knows the Ligue 1 club’s sporting director, Medhi Benatia, as they played together at Bayern Munich.

Højbjerg had several options to leave Tottenham in 2024. Later that year, Benatia said the Dane Højbjerg was determined to join the French club.

Longoria has now explained they used Champions League football as the main factor to attract the player. This as essential for them to convince Højbjerg to choose them when leaving Tottenham.

Tottenham exit sees Champions League every season

“How does OM position itself for a player like Højbjerg? I think that when you reach maturity in your career, you want to play in the Champions League every year. That’s the number one priority for a player like Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg,” he said.

“So, we’re selling a project based on patience, a love of football, being in a different environment. The desire to play in the Champions League every season.

“When you reach maturity in your career, you’re not just looking for a career plan. You’re thinking about how to maintain stability at the highest level, how to feel emotionally, how to feel important in a project.”

The president believes the ex-Tottenham man knowing the language and his connection with Benatia helped him settle in quickly.

“Pierre, for example, has natural leadership skills. I think that automatically fit with the atmosphere, especially since he speaks French and played with Benatia, at Bayern. It was like a perfect fit,” Longoria explained.

Last season, Højbjerg played 32 matches and he’s made nine appearances under Roberto De Zerbi this season.

Eric Dier is set to miss AS Monaco’s Champions League clash against Tottenham Hotspur on October 22nd.

That’s according to L’Equipe, who report the 31-year-old picked up an injury in training.

The England international will be out of action for two to four weeks, so can’t face Tottenham.

Another French newspaper, Ouest-France, also report Dier’s injury setback while training with Monaco.

They claim the midfielder, who can also operate in defence, injured his right hamstring on Thursday. This will force him to miss the weekend league clash against Angers.

Ouest-France aren’t certain yet as to how long Dier will be sidelined for. They have found out from sources he’s expected to miss next Wednesday’s Champions League match against Spurs.

Dier spent close to a decade at Tottenham before leaving them for Bayern Munich in January 2024. His latest setback is a blow for Monaco, who currently have several players in the treatment room.

This is also a disappointment for Dier as he won’t be able to face his former club.