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Tottenham Hotspur have entered pole position for a £50 million defender, who Chelsea hold a "serious" interest in signing, with Ange Postecoglou's side thought to have an "advantage" in the race for his signature.

Spurs face Fulham in the Premier League after 2-2 draw with Roma

Following their disappointing 2-2 draw with Roma, where they conceded an added-time equaliser courtesy of Mats Hummels, Spurs return to action against London rivals Fulham on Sunday.

The Lilywhites' inconsistency has been brought to the forefront yet again this week, with Spurs following up their 4-0 win away at Man City by failing to beat Serie A strugglers Roma, but Postecoglou hasn't been helped by the plethora of injuries and absentees in his squad right now.

Tottenham are currently without number one goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, who had surgery on his right ankle after his fracture against City, alongside Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, Mikey Moore, Wilson Odobert, Richarlison and midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur (domestic ban).

In his pre-match press conference this afternoon, Postecoglou did say that Romero is the closest to returning to action for Spurs, refusing to rule him out of contention to play Fulham in a couple of days time.

"So last night, at this stage a clean bill of health," said Postecoglou on Tottenham team news ahead of Fulham.

"Mind you I thought that last week and we had a guy who needed surgery an hour later. I think everything is alright from last night. Obviously we'll see when the boys come in. Returns...unlikely. Romero is closer, he's probably the closest but again probably unlikely, but I'm not ruling him out. He's got to get through a few things today and then we've got a session tomorrow."

It's been a desperately unlucky few weeks for Postecoglou and Spurs on that front, perhaps highlighting the need for further reinforcements.

Tottenham's manager has already brought attention to the fact his squad is being stretched to the bare limits, and there are reportedly a few players who the club's hierarchy are considering ahead of January and next summer.

Tottenham in pole position to sign Patrick Dorgu from Lecce

According to The Boot Room, Lecce left-back Patrick Dorgu is firmly on their agenda as a potential alternative to Destiny Udogie.

The Denmark international, who could cost as much as £50 million, can play further up the field as a winger as well - which could be attractive to the north Londoners. Spurs have already been named as suitors for Dorgu, but now TBR have another promising update.

TBR state that Tottenham are leading the race to sign Dorgu and hold an "advantage" over fellow Premier League suitors like Chelsea, despite Maresca's side having a "serious" interest in the 20-year-old.

Dorgu has started 12 Serie A games so far this season, netting three goals and averaging an impressive 2.1 shots at goal per 90 according to WhoScored.

"He has already had a lot of playing minutes in Serie A with Lecce, and he has done really, really well," said Denmark Under-21s coach Steffen Højer to bold.dk.

"What is special about him is that he is a quiet and calm guy, but things are just incredibly natural for him on a football pitch."

Tottenham Hotspur have always been a club good at identifying and nurturing exciting young talents.

The likes of Gareth Bale and Harry Kane are perhaps the most prominent examples of this over the last decade or so, with the former joining the club at just 17 years old before leaving for £85m six years later and the latter joining at 11 years old and eventually leaving for £86.4m last summer aged 30.

Even today, the likes of Mikey Moore and the lesser-talked-about Lucá Williams-Barnett look set to develop in North London before hopefully becoming first-team stars, and if they do end up leaving, they would likely go for massive sums as well.

However, with every club, there are those youth players who slip through the gaps and move on to become stars elsewhere, and that is the case with a former Lilywhites academy gem who left in 2018 and is now outscoring Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski while being compared to Bukayo Saka.

Spurs' 2018 departures

So, before we get to the player in question, let's look at some of the other players who left Spurs in the summer of 2018, starting with someone who went on to be sensationally successful, Kyle Walker.

The England international joined Spurs from Sheffield United in 2009, but eight years and 229 appearances later, he joined Manchester City for a whopping £50m plus add-ons, which was a record fee for a defender at the time.

At the Etihad, the Sheffield-born star won everything there is to win in the club game, including six Premier Leagues, four League Cups, two FA Cups, a FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Champions League, which was the centrepiece of an exceptional treble.

However, not all of the Lilywhites' departures that summer have been so successful since leaving N17.

For example, Clinton N'Jie enuring a mixed career in six years since that has taken him to France, Russia, Turkey and now Romania, where he is struggling to find form with Bucharest-based outfit FC Rapid.

However, while both of these players are now on the wrong side of 30, the club's academy also lost an incredibly exciting prospect that summer, a prospect starting to show his worth with a rival side and winning comparisons to Saka.

The Spurs gem who got away

Okay, so to get straight to the point, the former academy star in question is Noni Madueke, who left Spurs' youth set-up in 2018 to join Dutch side PSV Eindhoven, where he would eventually make his senior debut and earn a £29m move to Chelsea in January 2023.

However, before getting to his form this season, let's address this comparison to Arsenal's Saka and where it has come from, for that matter.

It primarily stems from FBref, which compares players in similar positions in Europe's top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League, then creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each one, and in this instance, has concluded that the Gunners star is the ninth most similar attacking midfielder or winger to the Blues ace across the last 365 days.

The best way to see where this comparison has come from is to look at the underlying metrics in which the pair ranks closely, metrics including but not limited to non-penalty goals, shots and shots on target, successful take-ons, tackles won and ball recoveries, all per 90.

With that said, how has the 22-year-old fared compared to some of Postecoglou's attacking stars this season?

Well, with five goals to his name so far, he is being outscored by just Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson, is level with James Maddison and comfortably ahead of Son, Kulusevski, Werner and Richarlison.

Ultimately, it's impossible to keep a hold of all the promising talents in an academy system, but based on his form this season, we reckon Spurs wish they had been able to keep a hold of Madueke.

It's been just under a year and a half since Ange Postecoglou was named the new Tottenham Hotspur manager, and to say a lot has changed would be a massive understatement.

The Australian has brought back the entertaining and attacking football that Spurs used to be known for back in the day, and while success is yet to come, it feels like the club is moving in the right direction.

Moreover, the former Celtic boss has welcomed a plethora of talented new faces to the club who have already become core members of the first team.

That said, not all of his signings have been hits, and there is one player in particular, who he was excited about securing, who should be axed from the team.

Postecoglou's best signings

Okay, before we get to the negative stuff, let's look at a couple of Postecoglou's best signings since taking the reins in North London last summer, starting with Micky van de Ven.

The Dutch defender joined Spurs from VfL Wolfsburg in a £43m deal last summer and has already become arguably the most important player in the team, in no small part thanks to his incredible pace.

The 23-year-old became the fastest player in Premier League history last season when he clocked an incredible sprint speed of 37.38km/h against Brentford.

This supreme gift, combined with his footballing intelligence, allows the manager to play a higher line than most, safe in the knowledge that the Wormer-born titan will get back in time to stop counter-attacks.

Moreover, his blistering pace has also helped the team in attack more than a few times, as even with the ball at his feet, the ten-capped international can outrun most opposition players and either get a shot off himself or play the perfect pass to his teammates.

Speaking of goals, though, another of the Australian's best signings is Brennan Johnson, who, after a slow start to the season, has become an invaluable provider of them.

The Welshman has racked up an impressive tally of nine goals and one assist in 19 appearances, equating to a goal involvement on average every 1.9 games.

However, his effectiveness off the right highlights the ineffectiveness of another Postecoglou signing on the other flank.

The Ange signing who must be axed

So, with the signing primarily playing off the left, it should come as no surprise that it is German winger Timo Werner.

The former Chelsea ace first joined the Lilywhites on a six-month loan deal from RB Leipzig in January, and while fans were understandably unsure at the time, the manager wasn't, telling the press after the attacker's debut for the club that he had the potential to be "really exciting for us once he get to understand our game."

Unfortunately for all involved, that did not end up happening last season, and by the end of the campaign, he had scored two goals and provided three assists in 14 appearances, which wasn't abysmal, but it was pretty far from "exciting."

That said, the club opted to bring the 28-year-old back to N17 on a season-long loan this year in a deal that includes an option to buy for around £8.5m, and while that's not a lot of money, the club should not exercise that option.

We say that because in 15 games so far, the Stuttgart-born flop has scored one goal and provided two assists, which just is not good enough, not for a back-up winger and certainly not for someone who could start an increasing number of games as Son Heung-min continues to age.

Moreover, once the incredibly exciting Mikey Moore has recovered from the virus that has seen him sidelined this month, Postecoglou should axe the £165k-per-week flop from the team altogether, as using the academy graduate as the go-to back-up for Son would be far more beneficial to the club, both now and in the future.

Ultimately, while Werner has shown glimpses of real quality in a Spurs shirt, they have been just that, glimpses, and have been vastly overshadowed by countless frustrating displays in which he's lacked any real attacking threat.

Therefore, Postecoglou must not exercise the option to buy in the summer and must minimise his game time for the rest of the season.

Tottenham Hotspur have a "brilliant" academy talent who is going "under the radar" right now, with his performances away from the Spurs first team now attracting praise.

Tottenham draw with Roma as Postecoglou prepares Fulham

Spurs were held by Serie A strugglers Roma in the Europa League on Thursday evening, bringing them right back down to earth after their imperious 4-0 win over Man City last weekend.

The Lilywhites were holding a 2-1 lead for the vast majority of the 90 minutes - courtesy of first-half strikes from Son Heung-min (penalty) and Brennan Johnson - but Spurs couldn't press home their advantage in the second half.

Veteran defender Mats Hummels made Ange Postecoglou pay for Tottenham's wasteful finishing in the final third, notching Roma's equaliser in added time and robbing the home side of all three points.

"Yeah frustration with the way the game ended," said Postecoglou on Tottenham's 2-2 draw with Roma.

"Yeah we should have killed it off a lot earlier. We should have killed it off in the first half with the chances we had. At 2-1 you're always keeping the opposition in the game and they're throwing men forward, so disappointing we weren't able to see the game out. Ultimately we're still in a decent position.

"It is what it is. We've been in this situation for quite a while. We are fairly thin in terms of squad depth at the moment. We had four kids on the bench tonight so we couldn't even fill the quota. It is what it is, we've been dealing with this for quite a while and I still think we certainly had enough of the game and enough clear cut chances to win the game."

Mikey Moore has been praised for his Europa League performances at Spurs this season, with striker Will Lankshear also getting an opportunity as these youngsters take advantage of Postecoglou's thin squad.

Pundit hails Tottenham youngster George Abbott going "under the radar"

Unfortunately, 19-year-old midfielder George Abbott hasn't had a chance to strut his stuff in the Europa League.

Abbott is currently out on loan at Notts County, but the N17 academy gem is impressing on-lookers in England's lower tier. Pundit John Wenham, speaking to Tottenham News, says that Spurs youngster Abbott is going "under the radar" with his performances on a temporary spell at County.

“It is brilliant to see how well Abbott is doing,” Wenham said.

“He kind of goes under the radar because he is surrounded by players who get all the goals and assists. However, he is a really reliable player, and I’m pleased he is doing well in Nottingham.

“He seems to start every game and always tends to play the full 90 minutes. Therefore, for Abbott, it is just about continuing to impress. If he does that, I imagine he will be lined up for a Championship loan next season."

Water is wet, the sky is blue, and Tottenham Hotspur remain one of the most frustratingly inconsistent teams in football.

Ange Postecoglou's side followed up their incredible 4-0 win against Manchester City in the Premier League with a lacklustre 2-2 draw at home to Roma in the Europa League last night.

The North Londoners were not dreadful, but the difference compared to the display at the Etihad was stark.

There were plenty of underwhelming performances on the night, but two of them would have left Postecoglou particularly frustrated, including Radu Dragusin.

Dragusin's performance in numbers

With Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero still out injured, it was down to Ben Davies and Dragusin to martial the backline against the Giallorossi.

However, while the Welshman once again rolled back the years and showed why he's still a valuable player to have in the squad, the Romanian had yet another night to forget.

There wasn't one stand-out mistake like there was against Qarabağ and Galatasaray, but the former Genoa ace just looked uncomfortable and unconvincing throughout.

It might sound harsh, but it's an opinion shared by the Standard's Tom Parsons, who awarded the defender a 5/10 match rating on the night, writing that the manager 'will be desperate to have Cristian Romero available again.'

Dragusin's statistics on the night back up the journalist's appraisal, as he made four clearances, lost 100% of his aerial and ground duels, lost the ball four times, committed a foul and failed to make a single interception or tackle in his 95 minutes of action.

In all, it was a bad day at the office for the Bucharest-born titan, but one of his teammates was just as disappointing.

Dominic Solanke's performance in numbers

Yes, the other starter who would have left the manager particularly disappointed last night was Dominic Solanke.

After missing out on the goals against City over the weekend, the Englishman would have been hoping to get back on the scoresheet against Roma, but every time he found himself with a goalscoring opportunity, he managed to fluff his lines.

Moreover, he didn't even help out his teammates either, failing to pass to an open James Maddison in the penalty area in the second half.

The former Bournemouth ace isn't responsible for two goals his team conceded, but had he taken his chances, those two goals wouldn't have mattered.

Unsurprisingly, Parsons was equally unimpressed with the 27-year-old poacher, awarding him a 5/10 at full-time and writing that he 'should have done better' with his chances.

Furthermore, his overall statistics from the game are simply dire, as in 95 minutes of action, he failed to score from an expected goals figure of 1.15, missed two big chances, maintained a passing accuracy of just 81%, committed three fouls and somehow endeavoured to lose 16 of 19 duels.

Ultimately, it wasn't a great night for Spurs, but it's hard to look past Solanke and Dragusin when it comes to the Lilywhites' worst performers.

Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou are currently looking at a "top" winger, who's been compared to Manchester City star Jack Grealish.

Tottenham face Roma in Europa League clash tonight

Spurs will be in very good spirits after their 4-0 win over Man City last weekend, but the excellent result was followed by very bad news that goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario is out for a lengthy period after surgery on his fractured ankle.

The Italy international hasn't missed a single league game since joining the club from Empoli in 2023, but he's set to sit out for a long time now.

Postecoglou confirmed that Vicario is set for months on the sidelines at Tottenham, so number two Fraser Forster will be thrust into the spotlight, as Spurs look to build upon their win at City and enjoy a strong festive period.

While Postecoglou also stated that Spurs won't sign a replacement for Vicario in January, the club are working to strengthen other areas of the squad.

Technical director Johan Lange and Tottenham are looking at signing a new forward, according to various reports, and an exciting, young name has been linked this week.

Tottenham scouting Southampton winger Tyler Dibling

According to former chief scout Mick Brown, who worked at Spurs and Man United, the north Londoners are one of many Premier League sides taking a real interest in Southampton winger Tyler Dibling.

Football Insider, sharing Brown's comments, write that Tottenham are among the sides interested in Dibling ahead of a potential move for the Englishman, called the "next" Grealish, who's played in all 12 of Southampton's league matches this season - starting seven of them.

“He’s attracting a lot of interest,” he told Football Insider.

“Nearly every club in the Premier League have been keeping an eye on his performances this season because he’s a very talented young player.

“They’re assessing just how good they think he is, and many of them have had scouts watching him. After that game against Liverpool, I’m told they like what they see.

“If Southampton go down, chances are they’ll have to sell some players. The way the financial rules are at the moment, relegation can be very costly. I think we saw that with Leeds and Leicester last year. With Dibling attracting interest, he may well be one they look to cash in on if a good offer arrives. Don’t get me wrong, they’ll be keen to keep him at the club, he’s a product of their academy and a very good one at that.

“But with interest building, relegation from the Premier League might force them to sell.”

The teenage sensation at St. Mary's is fast-growing a reputation for himself, with teammate Yuki Sugawara calling him a "top" player and former Saints coach David Horseman tipping him to be the "next big thing" out of Southampton.

"Tyler could be a top Premier League player, under the current manager and his style he could be a star of the future for sure," said Horseman (via The Sun).

"He could go all the way, he looks like he's loving life and he's found his perfect fit. He looks like he could be the next big thing out of Southampton."

As is to be expected by now, this season has been another one full of ups and downs for Tottenham Hotspur.

Ange Postecoglou's side looked like one primed for a crisis following their loss to Ipswich Town earlier this month but then quashed any such talk with an emphatic 4-0 win away to Manchester City on Sunday.

Based on their last performance, the Lilywhites are a side that not many teams would want to play at the moment, and they should be taking that confidence into their Europa League clash with Roma tonight.

That said, the Italian giants should not be underestimated as they have some serious talents of their own, including the incredibly exciting Paulo Dybala, but Ange might already have his own version of the Argentine in his squad that must start.

As many Spurs fans will be well aware, Roma's Dybala is a player who has been touted for a move to N17 on several occasions over the years, starting back in 2019.

One of the biggest transfer sagas that summer was the Argentine's supposed move to the Lilywhites, and according to a report from Sky Sports News, the North Londoners had actually agreed on a £64.4m fee with Juventus.

However, just a day later, once the fans were excited about the supremely gifted star's potential arrival, the Serie A side stopped the transfer over an inability to get an adequate replacement.

Then, a few years later, when the former Palermo ace was finally set to leave the Old Lady, Tottenham were once again said to be interested in signing him, only for Roma, who were managed by former Spurs boss José Mourinho at the time, to swoop in and secure the talented attacker's signature themselves.

Now the Laguna Larga-born star is 31 years old and settled in Rome; it seems like the Lilywhites will never get their man, although there's a dynamic attacker in Postecoglou's squad who could be their answer to him.

Spurs' own Dybala

Okay, so there are a few candidates for this tag in the current Spurs squad, from Dejan Kulusevski to possibly even Lucas Bergvall, should he continue to develop in the way he is.

However, the player we are talking about is James Maddison, and there are two reasons for this.

The first is that, like the Roma ace, the Englishman is adept at scoring goals and setting up his teammates with exquisite passes.

For example, in his 46 appearances for Spurs thus far, the "incredible" attacker, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, has scored nine goals and provided 13 assists, equating to a goal involvement every 2.09 games.

Likewise, during his time with the capital club, the former Juve ace has scored 36 goals and provided 18 assists in 90 appearances, which equates to a goal involvement on average every 1.66 games.

The second similarity is where the pair plays.

When we look at the former Leicester City star's heatmap, we see that he spends most of his time on the left-hand side, between the halfway line and the penalty area.

Interestingly, the five-time Serie A winner occupies the same space, just on the right-hand side, showing that the pair are about as attacking as a midfielder can get without occupying the same areas as their strikers do.

Lastly, while it's not possible to quantify, both players are sensationally entertaining to watch, and while they may make a mistake here and there, you know that they will also try and make something happen at some point.

Ultimately, we'll never know just how good Spurs could have been with Dybala in the team, but they have someone similar in Maddison.

Therefore, Postecoglou must make sure he starts the game tonight.

Arguably, the most challenging position to replace in the modern game is striker, and up until very recently, that wasn't something Tottenham Hotspur had to worry about.

For years, the North Londoners knew they could rely on the incredible Harry Kane to put the ball in the back of the net, so the most they had to worry about was finding a good backup.

That wasn't the case in the seasons before the Englishman became the star he is today, and so, under former manager André Villas-Boas, they signed who they hoped would be the player who'd lead the line for years to come.

Unfortunately, that's not near what happened, and to make things worse, the player in question earned more than summer signing Dominic Solanke earns today, and by all accounts, he looks set for success in N17.

Dominic Solanke's journey to Spurs

Solanke has endured a fascinating journey to where he is today, a journey that started at Chelsea's Cobham academy, where he was part of the England U20 World Cup winning team of 2017 alongside the likes of Marcus Rashford, Dominic Calvert Lewin and even Ademola Lookman.

That same summer, the Basingstoke-born marksman opted to join Liverpool on a free, hoping for more opportunities in the first team.

However, after 27 middling displays, the Merseysiders felt it better to sell the young striker to Bournemouth in January 2019 for an enormous profit of £19m.

Unfortunately, the forward's career on the south coast did not get off to a great start.

In his first season and a half, the Englishman scored just four goals and provided two assists in 46 appearances and was relegated to the Championship.

Fortunately, life in the second tier allowed the promising talent to get better, and over the following two campaigns, he racked up an impressive tally of 45 goals and 16 assists in 93 matches and played a vital role in the club's promotion in 2022.

Once back in the top-flight, the former Chelsea prospect needed time to adapt, and after producing a reasonable haul of 14 goal involvements in 22/23, he exploded in 23/24, scoring 21 goals and providing four assists in just 42 games for the Cherries.

This impressive form led to the Lilywhites splashing £65m on him in August, and considering he's already scored six goals and provided three assists for the club, it would be fair to say he's more than justifying his £90k-per-week wages, which is not something that can be said about the costly flop signed by AVB in 2013.

The costly Spurs flop signed by AVB

So, it might not come as a surprise that the player we are talking about is, of course, Roberto Soldado.

The former Spanish international joined Spurs in the summer of 2013 for a then-club-record fee of £26m, and while that sounds like too much today, it made sense at the time.

See, across the two prior campaigns, the Valencia star had scored a whopping 57 goals and 11 assists in 97 matches, which worked out to a goal involvement every 1.42 games on average.

Unfortunately, as many fans will remember all too well, that form did not follow him to England, and throughout his two seasons in North London, he could only muster up a tally of 16 goals and 11 assists before he headed back to Spain to join Villarreal.

What made his disappointing stint with the Lilywhites even worse was the money involved, as the Valencia-born star was paid around £106k-per-week, which looks outrageous now we know how ineffective he was and how much the club are currently paying Solanke.

When added up, he cost around £11m in wages, so when we include his fee as well, the 39-year-old ended up costing Tottenham a massive £37m.

When broken down, that comes to around £486k-per-appearance, £2.3m-per-goal, £3.3m-per-assist and £1.37m-per-goal-involvement, which cannot be described as value for money in any way whatsoever.

Ultimately, Spurs have signed their fair share of disappointing forwards in their time, but given his form in the seasons before and the money he cost, Soldado has to be right up there as one of the worst.

Tottenham Hotspur might just be the most inconsistent team in the Premier League.

In the last month or so, Ange Postecoglou's side have handed Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town their first wins of the season while then demolishing Aston Villa 4-1 and, most impressively, embarrassing Manchester City 4-0 at the Etihad.

Fans will be hoping that the unexpected result against Pep Guardiola's juggernaut will see the North Londoners embark on a run of good form, and based on the performances of their players in that game, we wouldn't be surprised if that happens.

From top to bottom, Postecoglou's starting lineup reminded the rest of the league just how good they are, and there's one player in the Australian's squad who's beginning to look like Tottenham's answer to Martin Odegaard.

Spurs' creative midfield talent

Before we get onto the player in question, let's examine a few of the other creative midfielders exceeding expectations for Spurs this season, starting with someone who loves playing at the Etihad, Dejan Kulusevski.

Now, the Swedish maestro did start off the right of Dominic Solanke for the game on Sunday but has mainly played in midfield this season, and to say he's adapted to life in the middle of the park well would be a colossal understatement.

Of his eight goal involvements this season, six of them have come in central or attacking midfield roles, and according to FBref, which compares players in Europe's top five leagues, the former Juventus ace sits in the top 1% of midfielders for expected assists, touches in the opposition's penalty area and the top 4% for shot-creating actions, per 90.

Another of the club's midfield gems who hasn't been quite as impressive as Kulusevski but has still shown glimpses of promise is fellow Swede Lucas Bergvall.

The 18-year-old has only played 325 minutes of first-team action so far, but in that, the "uber-complete" talent, as dubbed by analyst Ben Mattinson, has provided two assists and shown more than enough for fans to get excited about just how good he'll be a few years down the line.

That said, neither he nor his older compatriot are looking like the club's answer to Odegaard. That accolade goes to another creative midfielder.

Spurs' own Odegaard

So, it's probably fairly obvious at this point that the Spurs ace who is Ange's own Odegaard is, of course, James Maddison, whom FOTmob now value at €75m, which is £63m.

The Englishman was once heavily compared to the Norwegian in 2021 when it looked as if Arsenal were trying to decide which one to sign, and while things haven't been all plain sailing for the former Foxes star in North London, he's starting to show that he can be just as good.

For example, like the former Real Madrid wonderkid, he's just as adept at scoring goals as he is creating them, as evidenced by his Lilywhites tally of nine goals and 13 assists in 46 appearances, compared to 11 goals and 14 assists in 55 appearances for the Norwegian in the same period.

Moreover, while the Drammen-born dynamo is the Gunners' captain, Postecoglou made the 27-year-old "magician," as dubbed by analyst Statman Dave, one of the club's co-vice-captains last summer, which is about the most he could do with Son Heung-min still in the side.

Furthermore, Maddison's leadership qualities were on show in the match against City, as he maintained his composure, scored two goals and continued to lead by example as the game progressed.

Finally, when we look at their underlying creative numbers from the entirety of last season, as the Arsenal man has missed so much of this season, we see that, once again, the pair are incredibly similar.

For example, according to FBref, they rank very closely in several important metrics, including non-penalty goals plus assists, progressive passes and carries, key and live passes, shot and goal-creating actions and passing accuracy, all per 90.

Ultimately, while there are times Maddison fades out of games, his unreal innate talent is undeniable, and as he continues to improve this season, it will become more apparent that he is Postecoglou and Spurs' answer to Odegaard.

Tottenham Hotspur could sign a high-earning forward in 2025, with a U-turn done behind-the-scenes after a decision by manager Ange Postecoglou.

Spurs preparing for Europa League clash against Roma on Thursday

Spurs are fresh off the back of an imperious 4-0 win over Man City at the Etihad Stadium, so Postecoglou's side will be in very good spirits as they prepare to make a return to Europa League action.

The north Londoners lost their last European encounter, a damning 3-2 defeat away to Turkish champions Galatasaray, where they displayed hapless defending throughout and could've conceded even more goals on the night.

Postecoglou will be looking to put that performance behind them against a Roma side who are seriously under-performing in their Serie A campaign, winning just three league games all season so far, with Claudio Ranieri's side languishing just three points above the relegation zone.

Timo Werner, who's been a real point of discussion among Spurs supporters this season, missed their clash with Galatasaray due to a hip injury - but the German has since returned to action and even provided an assist against City.

The forward, who pockets £200,000-per-week when bonuses are triggered, has been criticised throughout 2024/2025 for his wasteful finishing in front of goal.

"He is definitely down in confidence you can see that," said Postecoglou on Werner's form after Spurs beat AZ Alkmaar 1-0 in late October.

"It is a difficult thing to get out of sometimes. It can feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. All we can do is try to support him and keep trying to get him to a place where he feels a little bit more confident with certain things.

He scored his first goal since March in their 2-1 win over City in the Carabao Cup recently, and reports in the last few weeks have suggested that Werner is set to rejoin Leipzig at the end of his loan spell - with Tottenham electing not to trigger the £8.5 million buy option in his contract.

GMS reported that Werner was on track to leave Spurs after this campaign, but that same outlet has now suggested that Daniel Levy, Postecooglou and co are performing a U-turn.

Tottenham refuse to rule out permanent Timo Werner deal

According to their information, Tottenham are nw refusing to rule out a permanent deal for Werner, following Postecoglou's own decision not to cut his loan spell short in January.

While they're still in the market for wide forwards, with Andreas Skov Olsen among the names being monitored to provide competition for Werner, it is believed the former Chelsea forward could now stay beyond 24/25.

No final decision has been made just yet, as key figures are holding off on the call until later in the campaign, but it appears those within Tottenham are having a change of heart - as it looked far more likely that Werner was set to go back to the Bundesliga.