Sport Witness

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.

Lucas Bergvall turned down Barcelona before completing a move to Tottenham Hotspur.

In February 2024, Tottenham agreed a deal with Djurgården for the 19-year-old to arrive at the north London club in the summer of that year, and they beat Barcelona to secure his services.

Earlier this year, Djurgården sporting director Bosse Andersson explained Barcelona were extremely disappointed to have missed out on the midfielder to Tottenham.

Fast forward to September and Tuesday’s edition of AS again talks about the Catalan club losing the Sweden international to the Europa League winners.

They report everything pointed to Bergvall ‘packing his bags’ to leave his homeland and make a switch to Barcelona, after they reached an agreement with him for personal terms and Djurgården for a transfer fee of around €15m including bonuses.

The operation didn’t go through because Spurs snatched him from the La Liga winners’ clutches.

AS claim Bergvall’s compatriot Dejan Kulusevski and a delegation from the north London club played a key role in convincing the youngster to snub Barcelona.

The move has worked out well for the young Swede, who played 45 games last season and five so far this season. The newspaper backs him to be an important player while the Spanish giants seem still disappointed over missing out on Bergvall to Tottenham.

Tottenham Hotspur allowed Alejo Véliz to return to Rosario Central on a season-long loan deal in the summer window and the move has worked out well so far as he’s featured regularly for them.

At the weekend, the striker made his seventh appearance of this season for the Argentine club against Boca Juniors and suffered an injury in the first half.

After the match, Rosario Central manager Ariel Holan confirmed the Tottenham man hurt his collarbone, while claims from Argentina suggested he’s dislocated his right shoulder or collarbone.

Rosario Central took to their official channel on X, formerly known as Twitter, to confirm that Véliz suffered a “Grade 2 acromioclavicular injury in his right shoulder.”

They made no mention of further details like the timeline for recovery or whether the 21-year-old has to go under the knife, and these details are provided by media close to the South American club.

According to La Capital, the Tottenham owned player has suffered a ‘partial tear of the ligaments that support the joint between the clavicle and shoulder bones, specifically called the acromioclavicular joint.’

It’s claimed the frontman is set to avoid surgery, which should please him and Rosario Central, and his injury could be cured by a conservative treatment.

La Capital state Véliz will have to wear sling for a few days, to restrict movement and reduce swelling.

Back in May, Tottenham Hotspur won the Europa League and secured a berth in the group stages of this season’s Champions League.

The European success also meant Spurs ended their 17-year trophy drought, and they will face Villarreal in the first Champions League group stage fixture on Tuesday.

Ahead of the clash in north London, Monday’s edition of El Periódico Mediterráneo, a newspaper local to the La Liga club, reported on Tottenham’s history, success and their investment in the summer transfer window.

The Spanish newspaper detail Tottenham’s honours, which includes two league titles [last one in 1961], eight FA Cups [last one in 1991] and four League Cups [last one in 2008] among the domestic competitions.

Spurs have also tasted success in Europe as they won the UEFA Cup/Europa League thrice and the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup during the 1962/63 season.

The English club have two trophies since 2000 and lost the 2018/19 Champions League final to Liverpool, but that hasn’t stopped the newspaper from praising Spurs.

El Periódico Mediterráneo point out Tottenham are ‘not considered a winning club’ in the UK, but they feel the reality is ‘quite the opposite’.

The north London club, who appointed Thomas Frank as Ange Postecoglou’s successor before the start of the season, invested over €200m on new signings this summer.

Tottenham have nine points from four games and are third in the table, and despite their big investment and good start, the newspaper say Villlarreal aren’t afraid to face them in the Champions League this evening.

Alejo Véliz struggled since joining Tottenham Hotspur from Rosario Central in August 2023 and the Premier League club sent him on loan to Sevilla [in January 2024] and Espanyol [last season].

The striker had no place at Tottenham this season, and in the summer window, Spurs let him return to the Argentine club on a season-long loan deal.

Véliz has played 551 minutes from seven games for Rosario Central this season, managing a goal, and suffered an injury in their 1-1 draw against Boca Juniors on Sunday.

That’s according to La Capital, a newspaper local to Rosario Central, and they provide the details of the Tottenham man’s setback. The 21-year-old was forced off the pitch in the 42nd minute and was replaced by Enzo Copetti.

After yesterday’s match, Rosario Central manager Ariel Holan confirmed the Argentina U21 international has suffered an injury blow.

“I’m a little sad about Alejo. He has a blow on his collarbone. We need to run tests and see what’s wrong,” he said, as quoted by La Capital.

According to the newspaper, the Spurs owned player left through a different door and was the last to leave the stadium on Sunday. He will undergo tests [X-ray/scans] today to find out the extent of the damage.

La Capital say ‘everything suggests of dislocation of the right collarbone’ and are hopeful that Véliz’s setback isn’t serious.

Tottenham Hotspur youngster Luka Vuskovic will be dropped into the deep end by loan club HSV Hamburg this weekend, with a debut against Bayern Munich.

That’s according to BILD, who say the Tottenham youngster will be handed his debut as a replacement for Jordan Torunarigha, who is injured.

The highly rated youngster joined HSV on loan at the end of the summer window after Tottenham decided late on to let him depart on loan.

He had returned to them from a highly successful loan spell in Belgium last year and Thomas Frank had initially wanted a more detailed look at him during pre-season.

The decision was made to loan him out and they initially sought out an English loan but eventually accepted a move to HSV late in the window instead. They had been interested throughout the summer and already convinced the youngster, using the fact that his brother already plays for them to their advantage.

Now he’s set for a baptism of fire, with BILD reporting that the 18-year-old will start in central defence for the clash with Bayern.

According to them, the Tottenham loaned has ‘quickly demonstrated’ int raining that he can be a valuable asset to Hamburg’s defence. This is despite only returning from international duty on Wednesday.

Now he can show his talents against Germany’s best team straight away and gain the experience Tottenham were hoping for early on.

Yves Bissouma will now look to the January transfer window to depart Tottenham, after failing to do so in the summer transfer window.

That’s according to Africa Foot, who report that a knee injury is expected to keep the midfielder out until October and thus ruined his plans to leave Tottenham this summer.

The midfielder does not appears to be a part of Thomas Frank’s plans moving forwards and was linked with a move away throughout this summer, with several sides in Türkiye thought to be keen.

Indeed, Fenerbahce president Ali Koc revealed this week that they had ended up scrapping a move because of his latest injury. Africa Foot now report that will keep him out until October.

According to their information, several offers actually arrived from the Premier League, with Newcastle, Crystal Palace, West Ham and Chelsea also showing an interest.

Bissouma is interested in a move to revive his career away from Tottenham and according to their sources, has expressed a desire to stay in the Premier League. In fact, he would ‘play for any Premier League team’.

Tottenham, though, rejected this idea and would prefer to move him out of England. They appear to be favouring a sale to a club outside of England. Thus, discussions between them and Bissouma have reached an impasse.

The focus will now be on the January transfer window and finding a move that suits both parties during that month.

Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario has made it clear that while he has no regrets about losing to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup final, it is a wound that remains open.

The Spurs star spoke to Cronache di Spogliatoio in a lengthy interview about his journey from the lower divisions of Italian football to winning the Europa League and playing in the Super Cup final in his home town of Udine.

He told the outlet that he is still disappointed that Tottenham couldn’t hold on to win more silverware, but is grateful that he could play a big game in his home territory.

“The final result wasn’t what we hoped for, especially given how the match unfolded. So, obviously, there’s still the disappointment of not being able to get across the finish line as we’d hoped. But I have to say that, as an experience, playing in a final, having done it at home in front of so many people, is still a historic moment for me.”

He described the game as a positive memory for himself.

“And, ultimately, a beautiful memory of an experience that was useful to me because, after all, there was the first final I’ve played in but it is the second one before I lose.

“Probably in May, I was on the good side, and I celebrated, I rejoiced, it was all fantastic and sometimes sport teaches you, after all, when you live these experiences, you can unfortunately also be on the other side.”

The Italian also described the game as a wound which is still open, but he has no regrets about Tottenham’s performance on the day.

“A wound that remains open but I still carry within me the emotions and the good feelings that were there during the match. Obviously, if I could change the ending, I would, but I have to accept it and there were certainly lessons of growth that I will carry within me, negative emotions that I will carry within me to grow along the way, but I have no regrets whatsoever.”

Vicario said that every member of Thomas Frank’s side had prepared in the best possible way and their performance showed that they can beat anyone.

“Well, our game plan was executed perfectly, and we were able to explore areas where Paris Saint-Germain could have struggled against us, and they did.

“This, however, as a test for us, as a growth strategy, must give us awareness of our own abilities. Because if we prepare things, follow what the coach tells us, we can be uncomfortable against any team, and we played against the strongest team in the world in 2025. So, as I said, it must be a source of great pride, of great growth, because when we are all aligned collectively at 100%, we can cause problems for any opponent.”

Vicario is very optimistic about Tottenham’s future under Thomas Frank and there is good reason for that.

Spurs lost to Bournemouth but they nullified Manchester City in their second game of the season.

Xavi Simons and Randal Kolo Muani have added more firepower to the attack, with Pape Matar Sarr also growing in prominence in midfield. They also seem like a more well-oiled unit than they did under Ange Postecoglou.

Frank already appears to be getting a lot out of the team and it will not be a surprise if Tottenham finish inside the European places this season.