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The Telegraph reporter Mike McGrath has said that a number of clubs have looked at a move for Giovani Lo Celso, including some Premier League sides.

Lo Celso looks likely to leave Tottenham

Lo Celso’s five-year spell at Tottenham looks likely to come to an end this summer, with the midfielder now having just a year left on his contract.

However, it remains unclear where he will move to this summer, with the 28-year-old not looking particularly close to a departure at the moment.

Earlier in the summer, it was widely reported that Real Betis were extremely keen on re-signing the Argentine, who was said to be willing to move back to his former stomping ground (Estadio Deportivo).

However, that rumour has gone quiet over recent weeks, with the possibility of the player reuniting with Unai Emery at Aston Villa mooted as a possibility (Fabrizio Romano – Playback show).

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English clubs have looked at Lo Celso

McGrath has now said that there is no shortage of interest in Lo Celso, with intermediaries exploring the Tottenham man’s availability.

The journalist told Last Word on Spurs: “Lo Celso is really interesting. Clubs are looking at him, clubs are looking at midfielders and he is one of them where intermediaries are asking if clubs are interested in him.

“That’s one I could see happening as an out for Spurs if it’s not part of the Ramsey deal. Maybe it’s one to another club in England. English clubs have looked at him.”

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I have a feeling that Lo Celso would be keen to move to La Liga and might not be enthused at the prospect of joining another Premier League club.

However, with the midfielder not appearing close to a transfer at the moment, his future might not be finalised until the final week of the window.

Ange Postecoglou says Tottenham Hotspur are much better prepared for the upcoming season than they were for the 2023-24 campaign, revealing that pre-season has been a lot smoother than last year.

Tottenham are ready for 2024/25

Postecoglou essentially had a free hit last season since he was walking into the club at a tumultuous time and the expectations were low, particularly after the loss of Harry Kane.

However, that is not the case this time around, with supporters now looking for signs of progress from last season, with a top-four finish now being expected of the side.

Postecoglou has been without many of his key players for pre-season while the fact that Tottenham have also failed to complete their key signings early is not ideal for the Australian.

However, the likes of Rodrigo Bentancur, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven linked up with the Tottenham squad at the start of this week, with Postecoglou admitting that the quality of training has stepped up as a result.

When asked about pre-season so far and about having the internationals back, the Spurs boss told Football.London: “It has been pretty good, pretty solid. Tour was good and well organised, less disruptive than last season’s pre-season in terms of training.

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“The games were really good and each game was a little bit more of a challenge for us and conditions were tough. Players got through it really well and like you say we’ve got the internationals back this week.

“We’ve had a really good week of training with them back, they help with the quality and intensity of our training. The key thing for us is getting up to date.

“We’ve got eight days to go, we’ve put in a good block of work and for the most part everyone is pretty healthy which from our point of view is the most important thing.”

Tottenham are better prepared than last year

When asked if the squad is in a better place compared to last season, Postecoglou responded: “I feel better prepared for sure because this time last year there were still a lot of things happening, comings and goings.

“Like I said, our pre-season tour was pretty disruptive and we probably didn’t have the games we wanted to. It was a little bit of a leap into the unknown whereas I think it feels like we’re better prepared.

“The training sessions have gone up a notch this year compared to last year and that’s because of player familiarity and the coaches we have. I think everyone thinks they’ve had a fantastic pre-season but until we get to that first game none of us really know. As I sit here right now, I think we’re well prepared.”

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Ange had to implement a brand new philosophy and style of play when he arrived through the door last year. The situation now is completely different, with the players already having a clear understanding of what is expected of them. The Tottenham boss will hope to hit the ground running at the start of the campaign.

According to Football Insider, Tottenham Hotspur are planning to loan Manor Solomon out rather than sell him permanently.

Tottenham want to loan Manor Solomon

Solomon joined Spurs on a free transfer last July, with the Lilywhites taking advantage of a FIFA ruling that allowed foreign players in Russia and Ukraine to suspend their contracts due to ongoing war in the region.

However, after a relatively bright start, the pacy wide man suffered a serious knee injury and has not kicked a ball for the club since September of last year.

Football Insider claim that Tottenham are now planning to accept a loan offer for the Israel international before the transfer window slams shut at the end of this month.

Spurs are unlikely to sell Solomon

It is alleged that a temporary move is ‘more likely’ than a permanent deal for Solomon at this moment, with Spurs expected to offload the former Shakhtar Donetsk man and replace him with another winger.

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This update comes on the back of a number of reports suggesting that Tottenham are continuing to plot a move for a winger this summer (The Times).

Solomon was not involved in the match against Bayern Munich today at the Tottenham stadium.

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A loan move would make sense as it would give Solomon a chance to prove his fitness and showcase his skills, thus potentially attracting decent offers in January or next summer and allowing Tottenham to make a sizeable profit.

To be honest, he isn’t going to play much, if at all, if he stays at Spurs this summer.

Fabrizio Romano has said that Tottenham Hotspur could bring another attacking player through the door before the transfer window shuts as Ange Postecoglou looks to reinforce his forward line.

Tottenham sign Solanke from Bournemouth

It was always quite clear that Tottenham were prioritising a move for a number nine this summer, with the Lilywhites eventually signing Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth.

Solanke was officially announced by Spurs today and the striker was even in attendance to meet the fans at the stadium before the Bayern Munich match.

However, that is not the only addition Ange Postecoglou’s men are expected to make, with multiple publications now suggesting that the club also want to sign a winger and a left-back who can serve as Destiny Udogie’s understudy (The Times and Football Insider).

Spurs could sign another attacker

Speaking before Solanke was announced, Romano confirmed that Tottenham wanted to sign not one, but two attacking players this summer.

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With Solanke now through the doors at Hotspur Way, it remains to be seen who Spurs will go for next.

Romano told GiveMeSport about Spurs’ transfer objectives: “They need one more offensive player, at least one. Could be two, based on opportunities. But for sure, Tottenham will be busy there.”

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Two attacking players is the bare minimum Tottenham need, with a number nine and a pacy winger, who is good in one-vs-one situations, seemingly on the agenda.

As things stand, we have no idea who Spurs might go for though, with Pedro Neto on his way to Chelsea.

For the first time since his move to Bayern Munich last summer, Harry Kane was able to return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and bid farewell to the Spurs fans in this evening’s friendly.

Kane left the Lilywhites behind a year ago in pursuit of silverware with Bayern, and left an incredible legacy in North London as the club’s all-time leading goalscorer.

The striker was on the winning side in the Visit Malta Cup as Bayern prevailed 3-2 against Ange Postecoglou‘s men, but had to settle for a place on the bench and a ten-minute cameo.

We were paying extra close attention to the Spurs legend, and spotted these five things Kane did on his return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

A teary reunion

Just before the match got underway, the Tottenham trumpet blasted out a rendition of ‘When the Spurs Go Marching In’ and the camera panned to Kane on the Bayern bench.

Clearly, the emotions of the moment got to the former Spurs man, who appeared to have a tear in his eye as he soaked up the atmosphere. It’s likely Kane was reliving all the good times he enjoyed in a Tottenham shirt in that stadium, in front of those fans.

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Passing the torch

Tottenham may have finally replaced Kane with the signing of Dominic Solanke, but there is another forward who appears to be the long-term successor to the club’s all-time leading goalscorer: Will Lankshear.

In a perfectly-timed moment on the sidelines in today’s game, both Kane and Lankshear stood side-by-side ready to enter the field of play at the same time. The pair even shared a handshake, which is a rather poetic passing of the torch from the symbol of Tottenham’s past to a key figure of the club’s future.

A hug for Sonny

One of the saddest elements of Kane’s departure last year is the separation of his and Heung-min Son’s electric partnership. The pair became great friends during their time playing together, and have often spoken about how much they miss each other since Kane moved on.

Now, Kane and Son got to embrace on the sidelines as the former prepared to come on for Bayern and the Spurs captain was subbed off. We’re sure the reunion will have been more substantial, both before and after the game, but it was a great sight for Spurs fans to see.

Lap of honour

The nature of Kane’s move last summer meant he was never given a proper send-off by the Spurs fans. That was put right today, as the 31-year-old lapped up the attention of the Lilywhites’ fans after the final whistle, devoting himself to a lap of honour around the ground.

Kane applauded the Spurs fans every step of the way, and they returned the favour with an outpouring of love for the Tottenham icon.

No trophy lift for Kane

That’s not all Kane did after the full-time whistle. Once his lap of honour was complete, Kane was seen being readied for the trophy presentation, but instead of rushing to get his hands on the Visit Malta Cup, Kane indicated he had something he needed to do away from the celebrations.

When he joined the Bayern squad, he had given the captain’s armband back to Manuel Neuer and clearly didn’t want to be the centre of attention when it came to parading the trophy around. Kane even hid himself at the back of the presentation, perhaps not wanting to enjoy his first trophy with Bayern in such bittersweet circumstances.

Tottenham Hotspur suffered another defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich this evening, once again losing by a one-goal margin to the German giants.

Let’s take a look at the five things we learned:

Harry Kane’s return to Tottenham

I don’t know why Premier League teams have made such a meal of it over the years – keeping Harry Kane off the scoresheet is easy! The Spurs legend only came on for a 15-minute cameo at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but he had plenty of time to get a nice reception from the crowd and see all his old mates come the final whistle.

Even Ange Postecoglou couldn’t stand to see Kane and Son play against each other. As soon as Harry approached the touchline to come on, Ange took Son straight off. It was nice to see Kane doing a little lap of honour to say a proper goodbye to the Spurs fans too – something he didn’t get a chance to do last summer.

Returning players made a difference

The improvements in the second half came as no surprise, with Micky Van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Rodrigo Bentancur all coming off the bench. The two defenders in particular settled Tottenham down and allowed us to play out from the back a lot more efficiently.

Ange now has another 9 days to get them up to full fitness in time to start the match against Leicester. A good 45 minutes in the tank for all three today though.

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Set pieces are still a problem for Spurs

I know it’s only pre-season but Tottenham really struggled to defend set-pieces once again today, albeit without Romero and Van de Ven on the pitch. Two of Bayern’s goals came from set-pieces, with Spurs often leaving the man at the back post completely unmarked.

Hopefully, that will improve once you swap Dragusin, Davies and Spence for a more cohesive trio of Romero, Van de Ven and Udogie. Either way, something to work on still for Tottenham.

Postecoglou’s favourite youngsters

With the full squad now back in training, there was less room on the bench for academy youngsters today, and even less time for players to actually get minutes on the pitch.

However, it appears that Will Lankshear and Mikey Moore have impressed Postecoglou most over the past month, with both players getting a decent run-out in the second half. That could hint that both will have a role to play this season.

Dejan Kulusevski is a machine

It wasn’t a great performance from Spurs today but it would be remiss not to mention the hard work of Dejan Kulusevski. Starting up front again today, he scored within 30 seconds after reacting faster than anyone to a Brennan Johnson cross. He then slotted another into the Bayern net with a real striker’s run into the box after latching onto Lucas Bergvall’s pass.

Will he play much up front this season now that Solanke has arrived? Probably not. But he has done enough to impress Ange in those central areas and I’m sure will be starting the match against Leicester in some way, shape or form.

Tottenham Hotspur made it two defeats in as many weeks against Bayern Munich this evening, as Harry Kane made his return to North London.

Let’s take a look at how the individual players got on:

Tottenham player ratings vs Bayern Munich

Guglielmo Vicario – 6 – Made a few decent stops throughout the match but also played Spurs into trouble on more than one occasion. That’s two mistakes in two games for him against Bayern, costing Spurs two goals.

Archie Gray – 7.5 – Our first piece of proof that Postecoglou is willing to use Gray as a back-up right-back in his system. Looks comfortable in those inverted positions, as you would expect. Battled really well in the defensive positions too. Looks such a bright player.

Cristian Romero – 7.5 – Of course, Romero was always bound to add some more defensive stability, but it’s his passing through the lines that changes games. Spurs look way more comfortable playing out from the back with him on the pitch.

Micky Van de Ven – 7 – Great to see Micky back in action. The second half was a little quiet at times so he didn’t have to get up to full speed too often. Looked far more solid than the makeshift options Spurs have had to use at times in pre-season.

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Destiny Udogie – 7 – Finally, a left-back! Udogie returned from injury for the second half and added a lot more to the side both offensively and defensively. Easing himself back into action.

Rodrigo Bentancur – 7 – Played the pivot role in the second 45. Still getting up to speed after a late arrival in pre-season, but he looked much sharper on the ball than at times last season.

Oliver Skipp – 6.5 – Showed some nice interplay down the right side with the likes of Gray and Kulusevski. You can see why Ange likely wants to keep him – he can cover so many jobs to a decent standard.

Lucas Bergvall – 7.5 – A bit of a worrying moment when Bergvall went down off the ball and struggled to cough something up, but he was fine to continue in the end. Assisted Tottenham’s second goal with a lovely ball through to Kulusevski. Does not look out of place among the Spurs starters.

Dejan Kulusevski – 8.5 – This lad gets through an immense amount of work. His first goal was the perfect example of how that hard work can earn a goal, as he reacted faster than anyone to put Spurs ahead in just 30 seconds. His second goal was a real striker’s run and finish into the corner.

Heung-min Son – 6 – Not his brightest game today. Dropped deep to collect the ball a few times, but that’s not really his strong point. Just one of those days where he didn’t seem to get going. Ange clearly couldn’t stand seeing Son play against Kane, so hauled him off as soon as Harry came on.

Timo Werner – 6.5 – Looked brighter on the left side than Sonny did in the first 45. Often seems to lack that final shot or pass, but he certainly created a few problems for Bayern.

Substitutes:

Mikey Moore – 6.5 – Didn’t see too much of the ball during his cameo but he did have a couple of really bright moments in the final third. He’s an absolute firework on the ball.

Will Lankshear – 6 – Got a nice handshake from Harry Kane on the touchline when they both came on for their 15-minute cameos.

Here’s how we rated the Tottenham Hotspur players following the opening forty-five minutes of action in today’s pre-season friendly against Bayern Munich.

Ange Postecoglou’s side head into the break at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium currently 3-1 down against the German giants.

After a promising start that saw the Lilywhites strike within the first minute thanks to some hard work from Dejan Kulusevski, Spurs have struggled to keep control of the game.

Indeed, Bayern now lead thanks to some slightly dodgy defending from Spurs and Postecoglou will have to find a way to turn the game around in the second half.

Tottenham half-time ratings vs Bayern Munich

Guglielmo Vicario: Poor distribution from the back proved costly for Bayern’s second goal. Pulled out a strong save to deny Jamal Musiala later on, though. 5.

Pedro Porro: The play has been a lot quieter down that side of the pitch, so a lot less for Porro to do. But, he’s look confident carrying the ball out of defence when given the chance. 6.

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Radu Dragusin: A solid enough showing from the Romanian. Has looked comfortable on the ball and in the tackle, but needs to improve his positioning. 6.

Ben Davies: Put in a couple of strong and decisive tackles around the box. Arguably needs to cover for Spence a little better, but that’s as much down to communication as it is Davies and his positioning. 6.

Djed Spence: Some promising moves going forward with deft dribbling. However, has struggled defensively, often found out of position and losing Mathys Tel and Serge Gnabry on multiple occasions. 5.

Yves Bissouma: Has looked comfortable on the ball and proved just how press-resistant he can be by dribbling out of danger a number of times. 7.

Pape Matar Sarr: Fairly quiet from Sarr today. Has worked hard to win back the ball at times, but has had very little opportunity to show what he can do on the ball. 5.

James Maddison: Has been getting stuck in and playing a little deeper than normal. Struggling to have the desired impact further up the pitch, though, and needs to find a way to get into more dangerous pockets within the Bayern defence. Narrowly missed with a nice long range effort just before the break. 5.

Brennan Johnson: Has hardly been involved down the right-hand side. Either needs to get himself into the game or be replaced. 4.

Dejan Kulusevski: Worked really hard to gain an advantage and score the opening goal. Has been grafting high up the pitch since, finding pockets of space, but has been unable to do much with the opportunities he’s given. Lost his man (Muller) for the third goal, though. 6.

The Spurs players and backroom staff including Ange Postecoglou have arrived in North London ahead of today’s match against Bayern Munich.

Spurs take to the field at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time since losing 2-0 to Manchester City in May, a result which all but ended Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes.

Bayern were the victors when both sides met in South Korea last weekend, running out 2-1 winners with Pedro Porro on target for Ange Postecoglou’s side.

Tottenham will be seeking revenge against the Bavarians today as they look to finish on a high ahead of their first top flight match of the new season when they travel to Leicester City a week on Monday.

Harry Kane is back at Tottenham

Among the players spotted arriving at the stadium were Djed Spence, Manor Solomon and Heung-min Son.

COYS!

Ange Postecoglou has admitted that Tottenham look for players who can make an instant impact in the summer transfer window, especially with the striker role.

Tottenham sign Dominic Solanke

After weeks of speculation, Tottenham have finally got a big-money signing with Premier League experience through the door, with Solanke arriving at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on the back of an exceptional season for Bournemouth.

With the 26-year-old enjoying tremendous success with Andoni Iraola’s high-pressing, possession-based approach, one would expect his transition to Tottenham to be relatively straightforward.

When asked if the new striker coming through the door needs to hit the ground running, Postecoglou told Football.London: “To a certain extent. I have always felt that if you get the recruitment right then whoever it is hits the ground running. We signed Micky van de Ven three days before the first game last year, against Brentford, and we threw him straight in. He literally hit the ground running.

“We are trying to identify players who fit into our style of football. There will be a bit of adjustment but hopefully, they will already have those qualities to come into the group and contribute straight away. That is my expectation when we sign someone – they will be ready to contribute from the moment they arrive.”

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The pressure of following Harry Kane

Postecoglou insisted that Tottenham are not trying to directly replace Harry Kane, although he acknowledged that any new signing will have to deal with those inevitable comparisons.

The Australian pointed out that his side coped relatively well with the loss of the England captain last season, with the goals being spread through the side.

He added: “We showed last year that we were still a threatening team going forward without Harry. We are talking about a generational talent here, he was never going to be replaced, but invariably there will always be comparisons.

“It’s pretty evident from the way we play that we are never going to be reliant on one player. When we are up and running we can score from many different areas. Hopefully, the striker, when he is playing in our system, is a beneficiary of that as well as a contributor.

“It was a fairly sizeable hole to breach. It would have been referred to a lot more if we had struggled, there’s no doubt about that. It suggests we did a pretty good job collectively as a group.”

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There is no doubt that Solanke would find it much easier to adapt to Postecoglou’s system than someone like Ivan Toney, with the 26-year-old proving last season that he is ideally suited to playing in a high-pressing system.