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Tottenham have recalled midfielder Jamie Donley from his loan spell at Championship side Stoke City.

The 20-year-old joined the Potters on 6 August and made an immediate impact, registering an assist on his debut in their 3-1 opening-day win over Derby County three days later.

Donley departs Stoke having made six substitute appearances – four in the league and two in the Carabao Cup.

He made his Northern Ireland debut in March and scored his first international goal in November's win over Luxembourg in World Cup qualifying.

On Thursday, Tottenham boss Thomas Frank returns to Gtech Community Stadium for the first time to face former side Brentford.

BBC Sport looks at the key talking points before the fixture.

For Tottenham fans, looking back and reflecting on 2025 must be a hard one to process. Ending their 17-year wait for a trophy with a Europa League triumph provoked delirious scenes, but either side of that epic night in Bilbao, it has been a glum and attritional year with positives at a premium.

Across the past 12 months Spurs managed a measly 11 league wins with both Ange Postecoglou and Thomas Frank struggling to get results. The only ever-present sides to win fewer Premier League points in 2025 than Tottenham's 39 were lowly Wolves (29) and West Ham (34).

Their gritty win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park at least saw Spurs end the year on a high and maintained their position on top of the Premier League's away form table with 17 points from nine matches.

They lost all four of their Premier League matches in January last season, with their past such win coming against a Brentford side managed by Thomas Frank in 2024.

This is a first return for the Dane to the club he managed with distinction for 278 league games between 2018 and 2025. However, he will put sentiment to one side as he looks to continue Spurs' excellent recent record against his former team.

The Lilywhites secured a 2-0 win in the first 'Thomas Frank Derby' back in early December and are unbeaten in their four Premier League visits to Gtech Community Stadium. Overall, they have lost just one of nine meetings with Brentford since they were promoted to the top-flight.

Bees boosted by excellent home form

While Spurs boast the league's best away record this season, Brentford's home form has been superb under Keith Andrews.

They have lost just one of their nine home games this season (won six, drawn two and it has helped propel them up to ninth in the table. Tipped to struggle following Frank's departure, they are actually two points better off than they were at this stage of last season.

Brennan Johnson will meet Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner on Thursday before making a final decision on whether to complete a £35m move from Tottenham.

BBC Sport understands the growing expectation is for the deal to be completed, but the talks will be pivotal towards the transfer's successful progression.

Palace have agreed the fee with Tottenham to sign the 24-year-old forward but are still waiting for the green light to conclude the deal.

Wales international Johnson's talks with Glasner will centre around the player's role in the team and the club's future and ambitions to ensure all parties are aligned.

If talks are successful, Johnson is expected to sign for Palace in the coming days.

Tottenham have got the best away record in the Premier League again, thanks to their win at Crystal Palace on Sunday, but Brentford are absolutely flying at home too.

So, how do I call this one? Let's be honest, Spurs are not an attractive team to watch at the moment, and they are very stuffy and scrappy whether they win or not.

Their form on the road will probably give Thomas Frank a bit of confidence going back to his old club. He will get a good reception there, I'm sure of that.

But Brentford have snuck up to ninth after taking seven points from their past three games, and they won't lack belief either.

Anyone can beat anyone in this part of the table, which doesn't help me when it comes to making a prediction. I can't pick a winner here so I'm going for a draw.

Sutton's prediction: 1-1

Tottenham are unbeaten in their last 14 Premier League games against Sunderland (W10 D4), since a 3-1 away loss in April 2010.

Sunderland have lost 14 of their 16 Premier League away games against Tottenham, with the exceptions being a 2-1 win in August 2008 and a 1-1 draw in November 2010.

Tottenham have scored in 61of their last 62 Premier League games against promoted sides, with the exception being a 0-0 draw with Brentford in April 2022. At home, Spurs have scored in their last 46 such matches since a 1-0 loss to Wolves in December 2009.

Sunderland have already won 2-1 at Chelsea this season. On just three occasions have they won multiple away games against London sides in a single Premier League season, doing so in 2000-01 (3), 2010-11 (2) and 2013-14 (2), winning at Chelsea in each of those campaigns.

Tottenham lost 11 home league games in 2025, their most ever in a calendar year. Spurs have also lost their opening home league game in five of the last seven calendar years (W2), going down 2-1 against Newcastle last year.

Sunderland have netted just four goals in their nine Premier League away games this season, failing to score on six occasions on the road. Indeed, the Black Cats have failed to score in 17 of their last 26 top-flight away games.

Sunderland’s Régis Le Bris will face Tottenham for the first time. French managers have won just one of their last 15 Premier League away games against Spurs (D3 L11), with Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal winning 1-0 in March 2014.

Dan Ballard and Brian Brobbey scored in Sunderland’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal in November. The last Black Cats player to score against both Arsenal and Spurs in the same league campaign was Darren Bent in 2009-10.

Richarlison averages a goal or assist every 55 minutes against promoted clubs for Spurs in the Premier League, scoring four and assisting four in 437 minutes.

Tottenham Hotspur have reached an agreement for Matilda Nilden to join from BK Hacken in January 2026, subject to international clearance and work permit.

The 21-year-old Sweden youth international has agreed a long-term contract and will wear the number 14 shirt.

Nilden said: "I'm so excited and really happy to be here. I think this is the right step for me because the club wants to develop players and I feel they have a clear plan for me.

"I'm young and this feels like the next step in my career. I've spoken to Martin [Ho] and Andy [Rogers] - and I really liked our conversations. They like the way I play and that gave me a good feeling. I've watched the English league for many years, and it has always been a dream to play here. To now be at Spurs is really special."

Head Coach Martin Ho added: "Matilda is an exciting attacking player with the ability to operate as a winger on both sides. She plays with pace, bravery and intent, and has the qualities to consistently impact games in the final third.

"She is comfortable receiving in wide areas, attacking 1v1 situations and making decisive movements in behind. Matilda has significant potential, and we believe this environment will allow her attacking instincts, decision-making and end product to develop to an even higher level."

Best memory and why

Our Europa League victory parade in the N17 sunshine was a wonderful experience. We came out in our thousands to celebrate the end of our trophy drought and it felt like the best family party.

Worst moment and why

While winning a trophy took the edge off the bleakness of finishing 17th in the league in May, losing to Arsenal in November was a particularly painful reminder of just how much work needs to be done to build a Spurs team capable of competing consistently in the Premier League.

If I could drink a New Year's brew with one member of our squad/management it would be...

I would love to sit down with Thomas Frank and ask him who would be in his favoured starting XI if everyone was fit. I would also like to remind him that to dare is to do, and that the perfect Spurs style requires slightly less pragmatism and much more creativity.

The thing that's infuriated me in 2025 is...

Injuries are a common frustration in football but we seem to have been plagued by them this year. With key players missing for long periods, it has had a significant negative impact on our ability to make any consistent progress, regardless of who the manager is.

My gut tells me 2026 will bring...

I am hopeful the new year will bring some useful signings in January, and again in the summer, but I am also mindful that we will probably have to endure some more painful parts of the process before we start to reap the rewards of Frank's project. If everyone can survive that, he will lead us into next season in much better shape.

Find more from Ali Speechly at Women Of The Lane, external and on Instagram, external

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We asked for your views on Brennan Johnson after Tottenham agreed a deal to sell the forward to Crystal Palace

Here are some of your comments:

Gavin: Johnson will go down in folklore and in my mind is now a Spurs legend. But he was last season's top scorer at a club that lacked consistent goalscorers. The squad needs to be Frank's squad and if it means selling certain players, Johnson should be sold.

TP: It seems odd that Frank cannot find a position for a proven goalscorer when goals are hard to come by right now. Personally, I think he's an option up front instead of Richarlison or in the number 10.

Dan: Bit harsh on Johnson but we do not need to replace him with another winger. We have them in abundance, which is why we can sell him in the first place. We need a central midfielder that can control a game. First choice is Rodrigo Bentancur and whoever he's partnered with hardly ever get the better of the midfield battle. Priorities!

Andy: Sad to see him go but it's the right time to sell and get some money out of him. He just does not offer anything other than the back post tap-in, which Frank also isn't utilising this season. Forever a club legend for delivering the Europa League.

Mark: I think we should keep Brennan. He's been unlucky that Mohammed Kudus has come in in his position and done well but that's good for competition for places. He scored a lot of goals last season and can do so again given the game time though I'm not sure that can happen under Frank, unless Kudus gets an injury. It's always good to have good back-up and that's where Brennan comes in. Having said that, £35-40m would be a good price for him but only if we can get someone better to replace him.

Francis: Think it's time for Brennan to move on, if only for his own sake. He's not getting ahead of Kudu and Kulusevski is still to return. Always will have that winner in Spain to treasure.

Tottenham midfielder Brennan Johnson would be "a steal" for Crystal Palace if he was to complete a move in January.

Following reports on Tuesday a £35m deal had been agreed for the 24-year-old, with Johnson to make a decision once he has held talks about his future, BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast discussed the news.

"Knowing his dad, who I played with at Manchester United, David would have been saying: 'You need to play son, you need games and you need minutes'," ex-England striker Dion Dublin said.

"I like Palace as a football club. The way they are run, I think Steve Parish is a very good owner and he'll spend money where he needs to spend money.

"If they can get Brennan through the door, it's a huge plus point for them. He will make a difference and make Palace better."

Football statistician Statman Dave added: "What Johnson's done at Spurs is score goals. You can't deny that. [He was their] top scorer last season.

"That's the really weird thing. It's weird that he's not been a part of this team this season. Because at the start of the year when they were playing really well, pressing high, being aggressive, he was scoring goals and he's a different profile to a lot of their players.

"He's just a goalscorer. Look at his chance conversion over the past 365 days - scored a chance 36% of the time and that ranks him in the top 1% of players in Europe. He's very effective in that position.

"You think about Palace's system and Ismaila Sarr being that goalscorer from midfield, that's exactly what Brennan Johnson could do for them which will add such depth to their team. For £35m, that's a steal."

Former England striker Ellen White agreed and added: "It just seems strange to me why you would sell someone who was their top goalscorer last season. It just baffles me. Who is in that squad at the moment who will score that amount of goals?

"But it seems he doesn't feel loved. There might be some friction with the manager - he doesn't want to fit him in the system. So I wouldn't blame him at all for going to Palace and wanting to go play football under a manager that seems great - although we also don't know how long he [Oliver Glasner] is going to be there either."

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