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Jamie Redknapp picks Dejan Kulusevski as Tottenham Hotspur’s best player

Tottenham Hotspur’s form has been patchy for much of the ongoing campaign but they will hope that the 4-0 thumping of Manchester City last weekend is a sign of a positive string of results to come. With December set to be a decisive month in deciding the course of the season, Ange Postecoglou will need each and every one of his players to be on top of his game.

Among those who have performed at an optimum level so far has been Dejan Kulusevski, who is enjoying life in a newfound role in midfield. The Swedish international is proving to be a workhorse in the middle of the park and has taken his game to another level this season, drawing widespread praise from the media and fans in doing so.

Kulusevski was at his brilliant best against Manchester City as well, a team that he is starting to have a good track record against, as he provided a brilliant assist to James Maddison for Spurs’ opening goal. Jamie Redknapp was full of praise for the 24-year-old as Sky Sports quoted him saying the following words about him.

“Kulusevski has been Spurs’ best player this year. I’ve been so impressed with him. It feels like he is just going to another level now. Every game he’s at it, he can play in the ten, he can play wide. As I said, I wondered why he didn’t play in the ten today, but I think the manager got that absolutely, right.”

Redknapp’s praise for Kulusevski comes shortly after Gary Neville tipped the former Juventus star to play for Barcelona or Real Madrid some time in the future. The Englishman was also left awestruck by the Tottenham superstar’s form in recent months and believes it could only be a matter of time before Europe’s biggest clubs come knocking on his door.

Kulusevski is finally getting the praise he deserves after being an important player for Tottenham ever since arriving from Juventus. He even captained the Swedish national side in their UEFA Nations League fixtures some time ago, which is a sign of his increasing prominence not just for his club, but for country as well.

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It remains to be seen if Postecoglou continues utilising him in a dynamic midfielder’s role going forward or builds the team around Kulusevski, which would possibly elevate the youngster’s game to another level.

Leo Black has impressed with the Tottenham Under-21s this season

Tottenham Hotspur have a plethora of talent at Hotspur Way, with each of the youngsters having the capacity to make an impact for the first team in the coming years.

Daniel Levy and Co. are looking to build a pipeline of players from the academy to the senior team. With the cognizance of head coach Ange Postecoglou, several young guns including academy kids left Spurs on loan to different clubs in the past summer transfer window. And another academy talent in Leo Black could be the next in line.

Leo Black was a crucial player for Spurs’ Under-18 last season. Following his excellent form at that level, he was promoted to the Under-21s this term. The Englishman has made 10 appearances across all competitions, including featuring in seven games in the Premier League 2 and registering two assists.

The exciting talent’s performances have seemingly not gone unnoticed, with Spurs podcast Lilywhite Rose owner John Wenham expecting Leo Black to leave Tottenham on a season-long loan next season. After impressing for the Under-21s, he feels a first-team debut isn’t far away for the teenager.

Tottenham are set to embrace a packed schedule with Europa League and Carabao Cup games about to follow after the 4-0 thrashing of Manchester City on Saturday. There are more Europa League games to be played this season due to the change in the format of the UEFA competitions, so Ange Postecoglou has to manage his squad carefully.

With the Lilywhites’ squad already hit with injuries to key players and a lengthy suspension to Rodrigo Bentancur, the Greek-Australian tactician could take a dip into the academy. As a result, Black—having starred for the Under-21s, would be among the favourites to get an opportunity or two to feature in the first team.

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Black is highly rated among the academy at Hotspur Way, and he could well be one of the next players to make the loan move next summer, which would be a fantastic opportunity for him as he looks to take strides into senior football.

New Tottenham signing Yang Min-hyeok has confirmed he will make his way to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium ahead of schedule. The South Korean forward, currently enjoying a well-earned break after completing the K-League season with Gangwon FC, will join Spurs earlier than anticipated. Gangwon finished second in the league, just behind Ulsan, following the season’s play-offs.

Yang Min-hyeok wrapped up the K-League season with an impressive tally of 12 goals and five assists, ranking as the seventh-best player in the league for combined goals and assists—a remarkable achievement for an 18-year-old.

Tottenham secured a deal for the young forward during the summer transfer window, with his official arrival scheduled for January. However, reports from KoreaTimes confirm that Yang will join his new teammates ahead of schedule, arriving earlier than originally planned.

Spurs could really use some depth to their squad

With the K-League season now concluded, Yang is taking a well-deserved holiday before making his way to England. He confirmed that he will arrive in mid-December to begin preparations for joining Tottenham’s first team in January.

“I will leave [for England] on December 16. Tottenham wanted me to come over early, so I will take some time off before heading over. I will focus on getting acclimated as soon as possible,” Yang said after the season’s conclusion.

Similar to how Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall were handled, Tottenham plans to give Yang ample time to adapt to his new surroundings rather than rushing him into Ange Postecoglou’s immediate plans. The South Korean teenager will be gradually introduced to life at Tottenham, the Premier League, and the new culture, ensuring a smoother transition. The club’s strategy is for him to arrive in December and prepare ahead of his January move, avoiding the pressure of being thrown into matchday squads too quickly.

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It’s important to remember that Yang, at just 18, is nearing the end of his first season in senior football, which started back in March. By the time the season finishes, he will have accumulated over 3,000 minutes of play. Making the jump straight into Premier League football, with its intense pace and physicality, will be a significant challenge for him. We can only hope that he has a strong debut and adjusts well to the demanding conditions in England.

Tottenham duo praised by Postecoglou after City win

Tottenham Hotspur kept a vital clean sheet and perhaps one that came against the odds when they beat Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium by a 4-0 margin on matchday 12 of the Premier League. A hapless home side were fully shut out, courtesy of some good work at the back from the defensive quartet and in particularly the central defenders.

Ange Postecoglou did not hide his happiness when speaking about Ben Davies and Radu Dragusin to the media. BBC quoted him saying the following words when quizzed about the defensive job.

“Brilliant. Ben and Radu were outstanding and Vicario when we needed him. Those two, not just defensively, a part of it was playing out from the back and they had to get on it first. They showed courage and got the rewards.”

Tottenham Hotspur had to reshuffle at the back owing to injuries suffered by Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, and it had seemed as if the introduction of a new pairing of central defenders would significantly impact their chances of winning at the Etihad although that turned out to be far from the case.

Davies’ experienced proved important while Dragusin was full of energy and won a fair share of duels in the game. The opponent’s offensive department was kept at bay and the couple of decent chances Erling Haaland had were also not put away by the Norwegian as a result of some very good closing down and marking in the box.

Van de Ven and Romero still remain on the sidelines and there is no guarantee as to when they would be returning, so Davies and Dragusin will have more minutes in the near future. Their performance against City as a pair was brilliant but that’s not to say Spurs should sit back comfortably and not invest in signing a defender or two in the upcoming months.

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They remain relatively short staffed nevertheless and a few fresh faces could really make the difference between winning a piece of silverware and falling short, like they have done in recent years.

Neville showers Kulusevski with a massive compliment

Dejan Kulusevski was phenomenal as Tottenham Hotspur earned a resounding 4-0 win over Manchester City on Saturday. The Swedish international set up James Maddison’s opening goal with an immaculate cross and proved instrumental in the team’s third goal as well after his neat pass to Dominic Solanke led to the Englishman teeing up Pedro Porro.

Former Manchester United right back and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville was full of praise for the former Juventus star and had the following to say about him (via TBR Football).

“Kulusevski was and looks a serious player. He has become a hell of a player. His strength and running power is getting better, but he has a subtlety in beating players. He has a variation to his game now. He is a different player now. This is a player that the likes of Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid will begin to look at. I am not being disrespectful to Spurs, but that was the level of his performance and he has been like that for a while now. He was outstanding.”

Kulusevski has been having one of the best seasons of his career and has been in the top three Tottenham players this season, if not the number one. It is Ange Postecoglou who deserves the plaudits for finding an even more suitable position for him in midfield, in which his creative qualities are also coming to light.

The 24-year-old’s rise has been rapid and as Neville said, joining a bigger and better club is only a matter of time for a player who would perhaps be wondering why he left Juventus for Tottenham all of possible clubs. He has a contract with the Lilywhites until 2028, however, and knowing how sternly they negotiate sales of key players, any interested party will have to pay a hefty fee.

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In the end, it could turn out to be a win-win situation for both parties as Kulusevski will join a club that better aligns with his mentality and can offer him the chance to win silverware, while for Tottenham, it would be an injection of funds which seems to be the dictator of their success over sporting factors.

Tottenham Hotspur have been looking to sign a new central defender in the upcoming winter transfer window, with Fulham’s Joachim Andersen the latest player being linked with a move to the Hotspur Way.

The Denmark international signed with Fulham in a £30m switch from Crystal Palace in the past summer transfer window. He has quickly forged a strong partnership with Calvin Bassey at the heart of the Cottagers’ defence, starting eight of nine Premier League games thus far.

Joachim Andersen has helped shore up the Fulham defence, with Marco Silva’s side currently occupying the seventh spot in the league after a strong start to the 2024/25 season. Just three months into re-signing for the West Londoners—where he spent the 2020/21 campaign on loan from Lyon—he has emerged on both Tottenham and Liverpool’s radars ahead of the 2025 transfer intervals.

While Fulham will loathe losing their defensive lynchpin midway through the season, ex-Spurs scout Bryan King predicts the West London club will demand at least £30 million to let Andersen leave in 2025. He thinks the Cottagers will want to recoup the £30million they spent to secure the Dane’s signature in the summer.

In Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Radu Dragusin, Ange Postecoglou has three senior centre-backs at his disposal. While Romero and Dragusin have been linked with exits from the club, Van de Ven is slightly injury-prone. Due to a lack of quality depth in the central defensive unit, Daniel Levy is trying to address that problem in January.

In Andersen, the Lilywhites can bring in a defender who is not only composed on the ball and a great leader but also is an asset from set-pieces. Tottenham play an aggressive high defensive line under Big Ange, and he would love a defender with the physical attributes, tenacity and recovery pace of the Dane.

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PSV Eindhoven star Malik Tilman is on the radar of Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur had a productive summer transfer window as they not only invested in quite a few young talents with high potential but also managed to move on the majority of the deadwood.

However, the Lilywhites’ squad still has a few gaping holes and requires fleshing out. Football London correspondent Alasdair Gold has revealed that the Greek-Australian would love to sign a creative midfielder during the January transfer window if the opportunity arises. That said, the chiefs at the Hotspur Way can fulfil their head coach’s requirement by signing a player from PSV Eindhoven.

According to an exclusive report from TBR Football, PSV Eindhoven midfielder Malik Tilman has emerged as a target for both Tottenham and Aston Villa ahead of the 2025 transfer intervals.

The USA international impressed on loan at PSV Eindhoven from Bayern Munich last term before joining the Eredivisie club permanently for around £10 million before the start of this campaign. Due to the player’s talent and potential, Bayern Munich smartly inserted a £30 million buy back and a sell-on clause.

He has got off to a flying start this campaign, scoring six goals and supplying four assists in 17 games across all competitions. The creative midfielder has performed very well in the Eredivisie with five goals and an assist in 12 appearances.

Max Tilman has found a home in PSV Eindhoven after failing to cut the mustard at Bayern. Following his stints in Germany, Scotland and now the Netherlands, the 22-year-old could well fancy a move to the Premier League.

As for Spurs, failed to replace experienced midfielders such as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Giovani Lo Celso before the summer window’s deadline. That said, Tilman, who at 22 fits the profile of signings Spurs have been making in recent transfer windows, has possibly emerged as an option to replace one of them in the engine room.

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Tottenham Hotspur midfielder James Maddison has been the victim of a reduced amount of prominence in the team over recent weeks. The English international’s exclusion from the Three Lions’ team has been compounded by being excluded from the starting elevens by Ange Postecoglou on a number of occasions in spite of coming off the bench to good effect.

It has now emerged that he has been left ‘confused’ by his standing in the club with Postecoglou planning on extensively using Yves Bissouma to cover up for Rodrigo Bentancur’s absence through suspension. John Wenham gave his two cents on the situation when he spoke to Tottenham Hotspur News and said the following words about Maddison’s possible thinking.

“Maddison will be thinking ‘What do I have to do to get a game?’ However, I’m just looking at it and I think that midfield gives you the best balance. Kulusevski has been performing at a higher level than Maddison and you need Sarr’s energy and legs in midfield in a game such as this.”

Madders has not been in the best of forms this season, admittedly so, and Dejan Kulusevski’s emergence as a handy midfielder has worked against the former Leicester City star. However, it is indeed startling that Postecoglou, the same manager who has given a longer than deserved rope to a player on loan in Timo Werner, is refusing to give James Maddison the minutes required to prove his credentials.

Maddison turned 28 today and is in the prime years of his career and neither he nor Tottenham Hotspur will find it sustainable to be associated with one another unless he is able to find regular minutes. It remains to be seen what Postecoglou’s plans are with him in December and thereafter when the fixture list reaches its busiest point in the season.

The Englishman offered fans and detractors a timely reminder of his talents with a sensational double away to Manchester City. Surely that should strengthen his case in the quest for regular game time.

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Having said that, a Tottenham Hotspur exit for Maddison can be comfortably ruled out for January although things could turn sour by next summer if his role in the team remains on the periphery.

Postecoglou believes pressure will mount if results don’t improve shortly

Tottenham Hotspur play eight matches in all competitions in December, a month that is usually very pivotal in determining the course of the campaign. Six games are scheduled for the Premier League, of which fixtures against Chelsea and Liverpool particularly stand out, while Manchester United await in the Carabao Cup in addition to a game against Rangers in the Europa League.

Spurs’ form so far in the campaign can be described as patchy at best as some decent results have been overshadowed by some not very good ones, like losses against Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town, who had not won a single Premier League game before facing them. Ange Postecoglou was quizzed about what he feels about the pressure on his shoulders heading into the festive period.

The Australian had the following to say in response as quoted by Daily Mail.

“There would be a lot of scrutiny and probably a lot of scrutiny around me, which is fair enough, but that’s not where I plan for us to be.”

Tottenham Hotspur’s form at the start of the campaign was caused by a newfound attacking trio taking some time to acquaint with another as an important player in Dominic Solanke arrived at the club after the pre-season fixtures had ended. Meanwhile, recent results have come down to the defensive department being understaffed.

In truth, Postecoglou has just three quality central defenders and two full backs who are really up to the Premier League standard, and that is a fairly low number given the congestion of matches. All the other top sides have at least four centre backs and two full backs on each side of the pitch, so the responsibility here belongs to Tottenham’s recruiters.

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The scrutiny around Postecoglou, however, shows that the club is repeating the same mistakes it made with Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho as they were not permitted the time to restructure the team in spite of their winning CVs. Another manager seems to be on the path of suffering the fate of the board’s frailties and unfortunately, Spurs could be taking a few steps back.

Tottenham Hotspur sold Giovani Lo Celso to La Liga side Real Betis in the summer and as part of the Argentine’s deal, they managed to agree upon a clause with Los Verdiblancos that allows them to sign promising American international Johnny Cardoso for a £21 million transfer fee next summer, alongside having the right to first refusal in case any other offers arrive for him.

The Lilywhites have been joined in the race for Cardoso by Atletico Madrid, as per Spanish source Estadio Deportivo (h/t Football Espana) with Diego Simeone’s side keen on landing the defender in the winter itself. It is a prospect that Tottenham can do nothing about as their rights over the player’s next move activate only after the end of the season.

Cardoso is a terrific midfielder and has the potential to become one of the world’s best in the game due to his superb passing game as well as his ability to work in tight spaces, but with Tottenham Hotspur’s high-octane football, it is arguable whether a swoop to north London at this stage of his career would be the right step, thereby handing Atletico the upper hand.

Tottenham also need to prioritise the signings of defenders and offensive players given that they already have a decent number of midfield options already to call upon. Dejan Kulusevski has also transformed himself into a useful player in the engine room, so the Swedish international’s profile and that of Cardoso might not work too well in tandem.

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Tottenham, however, can leverage their £21 million prerogative to sign Cardoso next year only to resell him to another club for a greater sum given that his valuation is certainly closer to £35 million. It would ensure that Spurs make a good business decision although it could come at the cost of risking any unnecessary signing if no realistic suitor emerges.