Daily Mail

The Premier League’s big clubs have bulked up. Driven in this direction by five substitutions, the expansion of European competition, the increasing intensity of modern football and the strain on individual players.

They have arrived at the conclusion, it would appear, that the schedule is not about to relent. Let’s face it, the owners don’t want it to relent. More games brings more exposure brings more money.

So, if they’re going to be playing football around the year at full throttle, with matches stretched beyond 100 minutes on a regular basis, the physical strain leading to injured and exhausted players is inevitable.

The rise of ambitious and upwardly mobile middle-rankers might have added impetus, too, all giving rise to the defining element of this summer’s £3billion recruitment spree, which is the Premier League’s elite strengthening squads and recalibrating firepower.

When at Tottenham, Antonio Conte was forever wrangling for more depth and coveting the substitutes at the disposal of his nearest rivals, their range of options and alternatives in forward areas.

His comments were usually framed to support his argument for new signings. He always wanted more. Maybe he knew the direction of travel because the six English clubs bound for the Champions League are stacked with fresh talent and especially in the attacking areas.

Liverpool in contrast to others have sought to find quality at the expense of quantity, with just five recognised strikers plus Florian Wirtz who scored between them 119 goals in 250 games last season at a rate of 0.476 per game, better than any of their rivals.

One of those is Federico Chiesa who scored just twice. Another is Mohamed Salah who scored 29 in the Premier League alone, six clear in the Golden Boot race ahead of Alexander Isak, now an Anfield teammate.

It is a fearsome force even if there are unknown elements, because the overall chemistry is at risk for the champions, with three new, very expensive signings, who will all expect to play regularly although none can eclipse Salah.

And how do they cope if they lose one or two to injuries? Arne Slot’s back up is 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha.

At Arsenal, they have seven forward players who hit double figures last season, plus Gabriel Jesus who scored seven in 27 appearances before sidelined with a serious knee injury.

Viktor Gyokeres is stepping up in class after scoring 54 for Sporting Lisbon in Portugal, however, and Mikel Arteta is beset by injury problems already with Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz out and Jesus still not back.

Take Arteta’s top six forward players based on last season’s returns, therefore excluding Jesus and Leandro Trossard’s 10 in 56 appearances, and Arsenal are not far behind Liverpool with 116 goals in 260 appearances, as a rate of 0.446 per game.

Gyokeres, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke have all been signed in response to the question: Where are the goals coming from when not from set plays? If they still have Trossard when all the world’s transfer deadlines have passed, and when Havertz, Saka and Jesus are back, they will have a squadron of eight top-class attacking players.

Arsenal’s new squad looks powerful. There is real depth and experience. There is goal craft to go with the mean defence and set piece threat although it leaves Arteta to find new rhythms. Early displays, albeit in tough away fixtures, have been short of fluency.

Erling Haaland still dominates Manchester City’s forward unit although Omar Marmoush came within three of his 31 goals in all competitions last season. Beyond those two, however, City need to find reliable contributors.

Rayan Cherki, ruled out injured for two months, scored 12 for Lyon and Phil Foden 10 in what was a poor season by City standards. Add Jeremy Doku and Savinho and the goal power is 0.337 per game. Short of Liverpool and Arsenal.

This season, Oscar Bobb is back from long-term injury although Pep Guardiola will see the return of Rodri as the most positive difference, restoring balance to give his forwards more freedom.

GOAL POWER (six top-ranking forwards with goals scored and games in 24/25)

Liverpool 119 goals in 250 games - 0.476

Salah 34 in 52, Isak 27 in 42, Ekitike 22 in 48, Gakpo 18 in 49, Wirtz 16 in 45, Chiesa 2 in 14.

Arsenal 116 goals in 260 games - 0.446

Gyokeres 54 in 52, Havertz 15 in 36, Eze 14 in 43, Saka 12 in 37, Madueke 11 in 41, Martinelli 10 in 51

Man City 89 goals in 264 games - 0.337

Haaland 31 in 44, Marmoush 28 in 48, Cherki 12 in 44, Foden 10 in 45, Doku 6 in 38, Savinho 2 in 45

Spurs 70 goals in 236 games - 0.297

Johnson 18 in 51, Solanke 16 in 45, Simons 11 in 33, Kolo Muani 10 in 33, Kulusevski 10 in 50, Richarlison 5 in 24

Newcastle 70 goals in 239 games - 0.293

Wissa 20 in 39, Woltemade 17 in 33, Barnes 9 in 40, Murphy 9 in 41, Gordon 9 in 42, Elanga 6 in 43

Chelsea 66 goals in 267 games (excluding CWC) - 0.247

Palmer 15 in 46, Delap 12 in 40, Garnacho 11 in 58, Joao Pedro 10 in 30, Gittens 12 in 48, Neto 6 in 45

There’s more to scoring goals than goal scorers of course but they do help.

Chelsea’s appetite to trade has prompted another summer of upheaval with Joao Pedro, Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens and Alejandro Garnacho in to replace Nicolas Jackson, Christopher Nkunku, Jadon Sancho and Madueke in attacking areas.

Teenage Brazilian Estevao is a new addition, while Tyrique George’s collapsed move to Fulham and the deadline-day loan signing of Facundo Buonanotte leaves them stacked with nine forwards, without getting into the realm of attacking midfielders such as Enzo Fernandez.

For all the valid criticism of the buy-to-sell recruitment model, the bomb squad and expensive cast-offs at Chelsea, the sheer size of the squad helped Enzo Maresco manage an arduous campaign last season.

In 64 games, culminating in the Club World Cup final in mid-July, no forward players made more appearances than Cole Palmer’s 55. Garnacho made more for Manchester United.

Tottenham and Newcastle were busy up to the deadline, trying to restore their goal power ahead of a return to Champions League football.

Newcastle added Yoane Wissa and Nick Woltemade, who scored 37 between them last season, to replace Isak and Callum Wilson, who scored 28.

Spurs, having lost the goals of Heung-min Son, sold to LAFC, James Maddison, out injured for most of the season, and Dejan Kulusevski, not expected back before December, invested in Randal Kolo Muani, Xavi Simons and Mohamed Kudus.

Thomas Frank has eight forward players to work with, a figure up to nine when Kulusevski returns and 10 when Maddison is back.

And it creates a puzzle to solve because they do not all fit into the Champions League squad, which is reduced to 22 players in Tottenham’s case because they cannot fill the club-trained quota.

Mathys Tel is the surprise omission from Tottenham's Champions League squad.

Dejan Kulusevski, Radu Dragusin, Yves Bissouma, Kota Takai and James Maddison also miss out.

Squads were submitted to UEFA on Tuesday with Tel, a £30million summer signing from Bayern Munich after a loan spell last season, did not make the cut.

Thomas Frank knew there was a difficult decision to make after signing Xavi Simons and Randal Kolo Muani in the final days of the transfer window.

Both were named for the league phase of the competition which starts with a home tie against Villarreal on Tuesday week.

There were consequences however because Tottenham are three short of UEFA's four-man quota for club-trained players, which effectively means they must submit a squad of 22 not 25.

Players such as Lucas Bergvall, Wilson Odobert and Takai, who all qualify for the Premier League as Under-21 players, do not meet the stringent UEFA criteria and so must be part of the senior squad. Frank has left out all his injured players.

Maddison will miss most of the season with a cruciate knee ligament injury and was a simple decision, but Kulusevski expects to be back in December and Dragusin could be back before the end of October.

They are sure to be disappointed even though it makes good sense if they are protected from the temptation to play in every game when they first return to fitness after long-term injuries.

There will be an opportunity to makes changes to the squad before the knock-out phases begins in February.

Bissouma has not been involved in a first team game under Frank, can leave for the right price and might yet move to Fenerbahce in Turkey, where the transfer window is open until Friday week.

Takai, a 20-year-old centre half signed from Kawasaki Frontale in the summer, will not be surprised. He has been injured and missed some of pre-season.

It will be a blow for Tel, however, who appears set to be the big loser in the deadline day swoop for Kolo Muani.

They both like to occupy the same positions, playing off the left or through the middle, where competition is fierce.

Bournemouth took the extraordinary, gas guzzling decision to FLY to London for their Premier League match at Tottenham Hotspur, Daily Mail Sport understands.

The Cherries took to the skies for a 20-minute short-hop to City Airport, rather than opting for a more eco-friendly train or bus journey in a carbon heavy move which may well raise eyebrows among campaigners, other clubs and the league itself.

Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium is a mere 113 miles from Spurs’s Tottenham Stadium and can be reached without traffic in around two-and-a-half-hours by road. Trains from Bournemouth to Waterloo take around one hour and 59 minutes.

However, the Cherries instead decided to fly to London, ahead of Saturday’s 1-0 victory which left them with two wins from their opening three games.

It now remains to be seen if they will repeat the trick for the six other top-flight matches they will have to play in the capital.

The decision would appear to be at odds with the Bournemouth’s own, seven-page sustainability policy, in which an entire section is dedicated to ‘Sustainable Transport’.

Within the section, the club pledge to ‘develop a domestic travel policy that reduces reliance on air travel, considering sustainability, performance, and logistics’.

It adds that it will ‘expand low-carbon travel options for fans (e.g. coach travel, public transport info)’ and look to introduce a Cycle to Work and Car Share scheme for employees. It would appear that there is a different stance towards manager Andoni Iraola and his players.

Bournemouth have been contacted for comment.

In March of this year, the Premier League launched an Environmental Sustainability Strategy, which it said ‘reaffirmed its commitment to addressing environmental issues and building on existing work to support long-term change’.

The strategy has three priority areas including ‘future-proofing the game by supporting decarbonisation across the Premier League’.

Bournemouth declined to comment. It is thought the club were keen to maximise the time the manager had available to work with players between matches. They had played at home to Brentford in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.

Tottenham suffered defeat in the Premier League for the first time this season as they lost 1-0 at home to Bournemouth on Saturday.

Evanilson scored the only goal for the Cherries in the fifth minute.

There was a buzz surrounding Tottenham following victories against Burnley and Manchester City.

The arrival of Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig has also given the club a boost.

However, the loss to Bournemouth shows that there is still much work for Thomas Frank's side to do.

Daily Mail Sport's MATT BARLOW assessed the game.

Frank expresses his frustration

These are the days sent to test new Tottenham bosses. Never mind Manchester City away, it's the ones they're expected to win that cause anguish in this North London postcode.

Days when the fresh optimism of a new £51million signing evaporates quickly, replaced by familiar despair with Thomas Frank flapping his arms at the fourth official because the decisions are going the wrong way.

They were jeered by the home crowd at the end, just a week after victory at City. 'I would prefer them not to boo, but I understand that was not a good performance and they have high expectations, which is absolutely fair,' said Frank.

Here we go again, the veteran Spurs watchers were thinking. Somewhere Ange Postecoglou was raising a glass to Bournemouth.

No creative spark…

It was tempting to wonder just how much Xavi Simons could have changed the outcome. Frank said it would have been useful to have someone who might conjure 'something out of nothing' but this was a day when the dearth of creativity screamed out from the bench.

The threat of Mohammed Kudus was easily nullified by Bournemouth's new left back Adrien Truffert, while new centre-half Bafode Diakite pocketed Richarlison, who has started the season so well.

Pedro Porro, perhaps preoccupied with keeping an eye on Antoine Semenyo, had little of his usual influence going forward.

An injury setback to Dominic Solanke, who missed most of preseason with an ankle injury, was a reminder that there is no reliable source of goals without Heung-min Son.

Brennan Johnson, who was last season's top scorer, hero of the Europa League final and had scored in the previous two Premier League games, misfired on the left flank and the decision to replace him was greeted with a cheer but the options on the bench were limited.

Tactical mistakes…

Frank was hailed for his tactical acumen and flexibility through the first three games in his new job, but Spurs started poorly, conceded after five minutes and failed to respond.

They moved the ball too slowly in deep areas, they were utterly overwhelmed for the first hour of the contest and did not find a foothold into the game until the closing stages.

Bournemouth both won possession in the press in the final third and caused problems firing long balls direct into spaces, particularly looking for Semenyo behind Porro in the early stages.

Spurs improved when Mathys Tel came on and Lucas Bergvall moved deeper into midfield, from where he sought to pass the ball forward with more zip. Although this came in tandem with the visitors sinking deeper with an eye on the clock.

What a difference a day makes…

It didn't take long for Djed Spence to crash back down to earth after his first England call-up. Slow to push out, Spence played Evanilson onside for the only goal, scored with the help of a deflection in the fifth minute.

Everything changed for Spence at Bournemouth in December, a day when Tottenham lost by the same score and Postecoglou came under fire from the travelling fans.

Spence walked across to put an arm around his beleaguered boss and led him back to the dressing room, and his Spurs career never looked back. Before long he was in the team regularly, signing a new contract and now in the England squad.

Hopefully, another 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth does not represent the other bookend to an exceptional nine months in lilywhite.

All hail the Cherries…

Bournemouth on this evidence are no worse off for selling the bulk of their defensive unit in the summer. They defend very much from the front under Andoni Iraola, brimming with energy and intent, turning over possession in the final third.

David Brooks, who was exceptional, set the pattern. Working hard with flashes of technical brilliance on the ball. It was a shame he could not add a goal. He rattled the bar in the second half. Alex Scott and Tyler Adams also impressed in midfield.

The Cherries shot count was at 15 before Spurs managed their first and Djorde Petrovic was not required to make a save until Bergvall fired one straight at him in the 69th minute.

Only a hamstring injury soured the occasion for Iraola, who may, on his way back to Dorset, have congratulated himself on a decision to decline interest in the Tottenham job.

Tottenham have reportedly reached an agreement to sign RB Leipzig midfielder Xavi Simons in a £51.8million deal.

Thomas Frank's side have turned their attention to the Netherlands international after failing in their attempts to land Morgan Gibbs-White, Savinho and Eberechi Eze.

Simons, a versatile attacking midfielder who can play as an energetic number 10 or wide, was given permission by Leipzig to leave the training camp and complete a move.

The 22-year-old, who held talks to join Chelsea this summer, and his advisors flew to London on Thursday afternoon.

As reported by The Athletic, Spurs have had a £51.8m bid accepted and the player has completed his medical.

Simons is now finalising the last details of his Leipzig exit before officially completing the switch to north London.

Spurs wanted to proceed with the transfer quickly after the ways things played out with Eze and Crystal Palace.

Chelsea have been closely on Simons' trail throughout the summer. Personal terms have long since been agreed and Simon was keen on a move to Stamford Bridge.

There has been no firm bid however from the Blues. They have been focused on making sales to comply with UEFA’s financial restrictions, with Christopher Nkunku close to a move to AC Milan, and on signing winter Alexandre Garnacho from Manchester United.

Chelsea fans have taken to social media to fume after it had appeared that Simons was bound for Stamford Bridge all summer.

One said: 'If it was some unknown kid we wouldve paid asking price already...what are they doing? Surely we need a backup for Palmer now with Nkunku gone'.

Another wrote: 'It's really crazy, after waiting, nkunku sold and now he's gone to Tottenham, crazy stuff.'

Earlier this month, Leipzig's Sporting director Marcel Schafer told BILD: 'We know his great ambitions to play in a top league for a title contender. He wants to prove himself at the highest level.

'If it makes economic sense, we're open. But only then. If it doesn't make financial sense for us, we look forward to another season with this outstanding player.'

Tottenham have emerged as contenders to sign Xavi Simons, whose proposed move from Leipzig to Chelsea has stalled.

Dutch international Simons has two years remaining on his contract. He is looking for a move to the Premier League and Leipzig are prepared to sell for £60million, with their sights set on Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott as a replacement, according to Bild in Germany.

Chelsea have been on the trail of Simons for weeks with personal terms said to be agreed, although the London club is currently focused on outgoings and yet to make any sort of official move.

The delay has given Thomas Frank a chance to consider the 22-year-old as a solution to their quest for more midfield creativity having failed to land either Eberechi Eze or Morgan Gibbs-White in this transfer window.

Simons fits the profile Spurs like. He is young with scope to develop. His high-energy style is a good fit for Frank.

He dazzled in the youth ranks at Barcelona before moving to Paris Saint-Germain at 16 and left for a year with at PSV before the French giants exercised a buy-back clause. Leipzig signed him in January after spending 18 months there on loan.

Tottenham however have other options in play, including Savinho of Manchester City, Nico Paz of Como in Italy and Maghnes Akliouche, who has received his first call-up to the senior France squad after a strong start to the new season with Monaco.

The fact that Tottenham are involved in the Champions League this season could be appealing for Simons.

Tottenham midfielder Yves Bissouma is in talks to join Galatasaray on loan with an obligation to buy.

Bissouma, 28, is yet to feature for Spurs this season after being axed from their squad for the UEFA Super Cup against PSG because of persistent lateness.

The Mali international has been widely linked with a move away from the club in recent times and also missed their victories over Burnley and Man City.

Daily Mail Sport previously reported how Roma and Fenerbahce had expressed an interest in Bissouma, but Galatasaray have now seemingly emerged as frontrunners in the race.

The midfielder has made 100 appearances for Spurs since joining from Brighton in a deal worth £25million plus add-ons in 2022 and he played the full 90 minutes of their victory over Man United in the Europa League final in May.

He featured 44 times in all competitions last season, but the summer addition of Joao Palhinha from Bayern Munich has knocked Bissouma down the pecking order.

The midfielder, who Spurs are believed to value at around £20m, also faces competition in central midfield from Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Rodrigo Bentancur and Pape Matar Sarr.

Meanwhile, Bissouma's dropping for the Super Cup was the latest disciplinary issue to blight his time in north London.

A year ago, he was left out by Ange Postecoglou after being filmed inhaling nitrous oxide from a balloon.

Speaking about the timekeeping issue, Spurs boss Thomas Frank insisted he had moved on and said Bissouma was to be in the squad for their game against Burnley, although the Malian subsequently missed the 3-0 victory due to injury.

'We have dealt with the situation internally,' Frank said. 'There was a situation. I addressed it.

'There was a consequence and he will be in the squad. It is dealt with. We move forward to a big game.'

Galatasaray have won the Turkish Super Lig in the past three seasons and their squad includes several former Premier League players such as Nicolo Zaniolo, Leroy Sane, Lucas Torreira and Mario Lemina.

Former Tottenham and England star Andy Sinton is recovering in hospital after suffering a heart attack on Friday.

The 59-year-old's former club QPR, who he now represents as an ambassador, asked for supporters to wish Sinton well.

QPR issued a statement which read: 'On Friday evening, our club ambassador, Andy Sinton suffered a heart attack. We are pleased to say he is now recovering in hospital. Please join us in wishing Sints well'.

Sinton was capped 12 times by England between 1991 and 1993 and was part of the Three Lions' squad at Euro 1992.

He won the League Cup with Tottenham in the 1998-99 season and made 100 appearances for the club.

Sinton also featured prominently for QPR between 1998 and 1993 before signing for Sheffield Wednesday.

He later had a spell at Wolves and then represented Burton Albion.

Sinton returned to QPR in May 2015 as the club's first club ambassador. His job includes attending games and fan events as well as working with commercial partners.

In 2016 he helped to create 'Forever Rs', the club's association for former players.

Tottenham held further talks with Manchester City on Saturday over a proposed deal for winger Savinho.

Last week Daily Mail Sport revealed that the Brazilian's agent had jetted in from South America with a view to getting a deal over the line.

Savinho is thought to be keen to organise a move that facilitates his desire to become a regular first-team starter in the Premier League ahead of next year's World Cup.

Spurs had switched their primary focus to No 10 target Eberechi Eze in recent days, and believed they were on the brink of securing the services of the Crystal Palace star.

But within hours, the north London club saw their deal hijacked by their loathed rivals Arsenal, with the Gunners swooping for a star that had begun his boyhood career at their academy.

Eze was announced as an Arsenal player on Saturday afternoon ahead of his new club's 5-0 win against Leeds at the Emirates.

Savinho was left out of Man City's squad for their first two games this season - including Saturday's 2-0 defeat to Tottenham at the Etihad.

Tottenham are prepared to offer over £60million for the 21-year old Brazilian winger who is open to joining if City accept the offer.

Having missed out on Eze, Tottenham are also showing interest in West Ham attacking midfielder Lucas Paqueta along with Aston Villa.

Paqueta has endured a difficult time after facing betting allegations and is open to leaving for a Champions League club.

The Brazilian was a solitary bright spark during his side's woeful 5-1 defeat to Chelsea on Friday evening, scoring the opener goal for the hosts before the visitors took over at the London Stadium.

West Ham have already sold Mohammed Kudus to Spurs this window while Villa have financial restrictions and have been exploring a deal also for Chelsea forward Nicolas Jackson, along with Newcastle and Bayern Munich.

Villa are believed to be open to a loan deal for the striker, who has found himself knocked down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge following the arrivals this window of Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Villa have also asked about Chelsea's Christopher Nkunku as they consider a number of options.

Monaco's Maghnes Akliouche is also on Spurs' radar, while Leicester's El Bilal Khannouss has been pushed towards them too after Crystal Palace made two offers for the 21-year old last week.

El Khannouss was left out of Leicester's squad that won at Charlton on Saturday amid talk he didn't wish to travel.

However, coach Marti Cifuentes said: 'We felt it was perhaps not the easiest week and in the end I decided to take him out of the spotlight, just because I think it's best for him and the team.'

Spurs are also looking to arrange more outgoings before the window closes, with Bundesliga side Hamburg close to signing Spurs defender Luka Vuskovic on loan.

Mikel Arteta has revealed Eberechi Eze phoned him as he was about to join Tottenham.

Arsenal left their north London rivals red-faced on Wednesday night when they reached an agreement in principle with Crystal Palace to sign Eze, 27.

Eze had looked Spurs-bound after they spent 10 days negotiating over a deal worth £55million plus add-ons - only for Arsenal to sneak in at the last minute with a bid worth £67.5m.

The 27-year-old completed the move to Arsenal on Saturday and was unveiled in front of fans before their 5-0 win over Leeds.

A report from The Athletic claims that Eze got in contact with Mikel Arteta just as he was about to commit to Tottenham.

When asked if it was true, Arteta said: 'That shows you how much he wanted to come.

'It's very different sometimes because you want to be very open and transparent with the players as they have to make decisions in their careers but I'm delighted to have him.

'I'm delighted to have him, I can tell how much it means to him and his whole family.'

Daily Mail Sport understands Spurs had agreed to Palace's transfer demands on Wednesday and also struck terms with Eze who, at that stage, was keen to finalise the move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

But Crystal Palace are understood to have insisted that Eze remain available for their Conference League play-off first leg against Norwegian side Fredrikstad on Thursday night, which handed Arsenal an opportunity to swoop in.

But in the end, Eze didn't play. Oliver Glasner expected him to have a send-off but revealed that the winger called in sick on the morning of the game.

He has signed a four year deal at the Emirates, with the option of a further year and will wear the No 10 shirt.

Eze Could make his debut when Arsenal travel to Anfield to face title challengers Liverpool next Sunday.