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Sky Sports’ Michael Bridge reveals there has been no contact between Tottenham and AC Milan since the Lilywhites rejected an £8.4m bid earlier this month (19/07/24 – 08:55).

AC Milan bid for Emerson Royal

It is no secret that AC Milan have been pushing to sign Emerson Royal since the transfer window first opened back in June, but they have so far been unsuccessful in that pursuit.

Milan have full approval from the player’s side, with Emerson himself telling Globo all about his desires to play regular first-team football next season.

Fabrizio Romano also revealed that Royal and Milan have come to an agreement on a five-year contract, with personal terms already sorted.

No contact between Spurs and AC Milan

AC Milan reportedly bid £8.4m for Emerson Royal earlier this month, which was swiftly rejected by the North London club who are holding out for double that fee – £16.8m (Alasdair Gold).

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GiveMeSport claim that a move to Milan may have now stalled for Emerson, but the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Al-Nassr, and Al-Qadsiah are all still keen on giving him an exit route out of Spurs.

Michael Bridge has now confirmed that there has been no contact at all between Spurs and AC Milan since the opening bid was rejected, which doesn’t appear to be a great sign for a potential agreement.

Spurs Web Opinion:

Emerson is easily worth £15m, especially to a club in a more defensive league like the Serie A.

After seeing him against Hearts in the pre-season friendly the other day, there is no way he will be in the Tottenham squad for the new season. I expect him to move on for a slight discount towards the end of the window.

Tottenham Hotspur need a new striker, but so do most clubs. It’s no surprise, then, that London rivals Arsenal are potentially looking at the same player Spurs are interested in.

Will Arsenal or Spurs sign Jonathan David?

Spurs have been linked with Lille’s Jonathan David for quite some time, but the latest murmurs suggest Arsenal might be ready to pounce and do a deal for the Canadian striker.

That’s according to Steve Kay on his YouTube channel, who said: “All the forwards they were watching and stuff, people like Gyokeres, they want £100m. I think now Arsenal have gone in another direction to spend money in midfield or on the wings.

“The big-money players are starting to dwindle away. At the moment there’s not really anybody. There’s a small rumour about Jonathan David, but I can’t say too much about that at the moment because I haven’t looked into it enough.”

David is Tottenham’s top target

That would be a real blow to Spurs if Arsenal did come sniffing around David, as it is thought he may be the Lilywhites’ number-one target for the striker position they so desperately need to fill this summer.

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According to GiveMeSport, the fact David’s contract expires in 12 months puts Lille in a fragile situation, where they would potentially be willing to accept offers of around £25m.

That report claims Newcastle United, Chelsea, and West Ham are also keen on the 24-year-old who has proven to be a prolific forward in the French league over the last two seasons.

Spurs Web Opinion

For £25m, I think we’d be crazy not to sign Jonathan David, to be honest.

We can’t let Arsenal beat us to these kinds of transfers, so unless we are lining up another, more elite signing (which is doubtful), then we should get this deal sorted quickly.

Tottenham Hotspur have a few players they want to get rid of this summer, but when it comes to Real Madrid’s interest in one of their most exciting young talents, Spurs will be pleased to hear the player himself would rather stay put.

Spurs should be able to keep hold of Mikey Moore

Mikey Moore has proven to be an explosive talent since his emergence from the Tottenham academy. Fresh off the back of getting his first minutes in the senior side at the end of last season, he’s now scored his first senior goal in the friendly win over Hearts this summer.

The 16-year-old has been linked with both Real Madrid and PSG, but Ben Jacobs has told GiveMeSport that he expects Moore to ignore the speculation and stick with Tottenham.

He said: “I think Mikey Moore still wants to stay at Spurs. He’s a highly-rated talent and still only 16 years of age, so we always need to be a little bit careful in how we report these things.

“We’re still talking about a young teenager, and it’s important that the hype is not overblown at this stage because there is never any guarantee with players until they turn 18 and have that first professional contract, or obviously end up as first-team players.

“But it is true to say that Mikey Moore is a top talent, and Tottenham’s expectation is that he will stay at the club.

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“The family are very grounded, as is the player, and they’re flattered by links with both Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. PSG downplay any kind of concrete move at this stage, and Tottenham are still optimistic that he will stay at the football club because it’s the right place for his development.”

A bright start for Mikey Moore

Moore was called up to train with Ange Postecoglou‘s first-team in April and hasn’t really looked back since. He’s made his Premier League debut, scored his first goal, and starred for England at the Under-17 European Championships.

He’s been training with the senior squad so far this summer and could well be a part of Postecoglou’s plans for the season ahead.

Spurs Web Opinion

With all due respect, Real Madrid can back off. There is no way Spurs could or should let a talent like Mikey Moore go, and to be honest, I’d be keen to see him playing in the first-team this season, even if it’s just cup games and the odd Premier League game.

DSports report that Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa have agreed a deal to swap Giovani Lo Celso and Jacob Ramsey, with the Lilywhites also parting with £20m in cash.

Tottenham agree a deal for Jacob Ramsey

Tottenham have been linked with a move for Jacob Ramsey throughout the summer transfer window, and this is not the first time Giovani Lo Celso’s name has cropped up in reports either.

Football Insider said Spurs were in talks with Villa over a potential deal for Ramsey at the start of July, while Sky Sports added that the North London side were willing to offer Lo Celso as a makeweight.

In fact, the idea of a player-plus-cash deal came up again just yesterday, with Sky Sports’ Michael Bridge reporting that Spurs still looking into the idea of offering Lo Celso to Villa (19/07/24 – 08:55).

Aston Villa agree to sign Giovani Lo Celso

If DSports are to be believed, Spurs and Villa have now come to an agreement on a fee to swap Giovani Lo Celso and £20m for Jacob Ramsey.

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It is said that the clubs expect to have their new players in place in time for pre-season, and Lo Celso is keen on the move to earn regular first-team minutes. The Argentine was mainly a bit-part bench player for Ange Postecoglou last season.

It remains to be seen whether this news is confirmed by some of the reliable Tottenham journalists in the coming hours and days.

Spurs Web Opinion:

I am sceptical about such a big news story breaking without any of the Spurs regulars like Alasdair Gold covering it, but you never know.

If Postecoglou really wants Jacob Ramsey then getting him while also offloading Lo Celso sounds like a good deal. I would rather see Spurs prioritise a new striker at the moment though.

Ange Postecoglou says Lucas Bergvall was a bit sore after coming off early against Queens Park Rangers in Tottenham’s pre-season friendly today, but the overall assessment was far more positive.

Lucas Bergvall forced off early for Spurs

Bergvall was named in the starting XI for the first time this afternoon when Spurs made the trip to QPR for their second pre-season friendly of the summer.

Unfortunately, the youngster, who Spurs signed back in February, only lasted 24 minutes before an injury forced him to end his full debut early.

Dejan Kulusevski replaced his fellow Swede for the rest of the first half, but it appears the injury is nothing too serious to be concerned about moving forward.

What did Postecoglou say?

When asked about the injury to Bergvall, Postecoglou admitted that the Swedish youngster was a bit sore after coming off, but hopefully escaped any kind of significant injury.

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This bodes well for Spurs and Bergvall, with the pre-season tour of Asia fast approaching. The former Djurgardens player will be hoping to make his mark and earn a place in Postecoglou’s first team.

Ange told SpursPLAY after the game (20/07/24 – 5:09 pm): “Just a bit sore, I don’t think it was anything significant.”

Spurs went on to win the match 2-0, with a goal in either half from Yves Bissouma and Dane Scarlett, making it two wins from two in pre-season for Tottenham.

Spurs Web Opinion:

It sounds like it was just a precaution to take Bergvall off early. You don’t take any chances in pre-season.

This is going to be a huge pre-season for Lucas, so hopefully he is back in training this week and ready to make his mark on the pre-season tour.

Tottenham Hotspur were back in action again this afternoon in their second pre-season friendly of the summer where they came up against Championship outfit Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road, running out as convincing 2-0 victors.

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

Djed Spence is an option for Postecoglou

After returning from his loan to Genoa many expected Spence to be swiftly out of the door at Hotspur Way, however, the 23-year-old has handed Ange Postecoglou a big decision.

Spence didn’t record a goal and assist like he did in the team’s last game against Hearts but still shone, regularly causing problems for players on the right-hand side by beating them with skill or with pace.

Many fans will now be on tenterhooks to see what squad Postecoglou names for the tour to Asia, based purely on performances, Spence has easily earned himself a spot on the plane.

James Maddison is still a way off his best

Following his England EURO 2024 squad omission many Spurs fans had big hopes for Tottenham’s number ten who struggled to regain his early season form following his injury against Chelsea back in November.

Maddison did struggle to make a huge impact upon the game against QPR despite creating many chances, the ex-Leicester man never really had his usual decisive influence on the game’s flow and Tottenham’s attacks.

Yves Bissouma can be key for Tottenham

Much like Maddison, after Tottenham’s impressive opening run came to a grinding halt last season following a 4-1 loss at home to Chelsea, Bissouma never reached the same performances that he as displaying before the game.

That was until today when the Malian international controlled the game’s tempo and displayed his impressive dribbling abilities that were so vital to the way Tottenham played last season.

Bissouma’s goal was a thing of beauty and was an apt reward for a performance that felt very much more like the ones fans expected of the midfielder when he was signed.

Moore can produce moments of magic

Although his overall performance wasn’t as impressive as plenty of fans may have hoped, Moore did still get another goal contribution by providing Dane Scarlett with a brilliant assist.

Moore beat his man countless times and did ask questions of a Championship defence when deployed at right-wing.

However, the 16-year-old attacker was much more effective when utilised on the left where he is more familiar with playing, setting up Tottenham’s second with an assist to remember, using the outside of his boot to perfectly curl the cross away from the goalkeeper and towards Dane Scarlett who was charging in at the far post.

Lucas Bergvall has the ability to become a star for Spurs

Despite the 18-year-old midfielder only managing around half an hour before being hooked off due to an injury, that Spurs fans will be hoping isn’t too serious, Bergvall was extremely impressive.

The Swede was placed under tremendous pressure by his fellow teammates, often with the ball being played into him whilst being surrounded by two or three QPR midfielders, but Tottenham’s new signing was unphased, regularly beating his man and causing a subsequent Spurs attack.

Tottenham Hotspur ran out 2-0 winners in this afternoon’s pre-season friendly against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road with academy players, Mikey Moore and Dane Scarlett, linking up to score Spurs’ second.

Let’s take a look at how the Tottenham players performed in the second half:

Tottenham second half player ratings vs QPR

Luca Gunter: A clean sheet to be proud of for the young goalkeeper, doing extremely well to ensure he wouldn’t concede by tipping an effort inside the box just past of the post. 7.

Djed Spence: The former Leeds loanee continues to impress in pre-season, despite not quite emulating the goal and assist recorded against Hearts, Spence did offer Postecoglou plenty to ponder. The 23-year-old beat his man and forced either a foul or corner from QPR’s defence countless times. 8.

Emerson Royal: A mixed-bag performance from one of Tottenham’s makeshift centre-backs. Emerson continued, as he did last season, to dwell on the ball and slow down play. However, the Brazilian did come across well and time his slide tackles multiple times to block a QPR attacker’s shot. 6.

Ashley Phillips: Had a strong defensive display and was key as one of Tottenham’s only recognised central defenders. 6.5.

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George Abbott: Helped the ball on multiple times from defence into attack and linked up with many of his fellow youth players well, as you would expect with the midfielder being the captain of the U21’s. 6.

Alfie Devine: Devine struggled to make a huge impact and did largely go unnoticed in the game. 5.

Dejan Kulusevski: A pretty quiet second half, that was cut short after the 65th minute, for Kulusevski although he was unlucky to get a second assist after Mikey Moore failed to convert a through ball that the Swede fed him early in the half. The ex-Juventus man continues to look more effective in a midfield role, however. 6.

James Maddison: We started to see moments of James Maddison to ensue hope in the 27-year-old ahead of next season with many of his passes creating chances for Spurs but the midfielder is still a way off his previous form. 6.5.

Mikey Moore: The 16-year-old will be frustrated to have not converted a great chance early in the second half but made up for the missed opportunity by providing Dane Scarlett with a golden one later in the game. Moore delivered an audacious outside of the boot cross which Scarlett merely had to tap home for Tottenham’s second. 7.

Manor Solomon: It will take time for the winger to get back to his best but like many players in the game, he showed glimpses of what can become of him. The 24-year-old wields a threat with his tremendous amount of pace. 6.

Will Lankshear: The PL2 top scorer was only handed twenty minutes by Postecoglou but still showed plenty of encouraging signs, being unlucky not to get a goal after shooting his close-range shot into the side netting from a very tight angle. 6.5.

(Sub) Tyrese Hall: Tyrese didn’t have lots of time to make an impact but still displayed impressive moments with his signature body feints and close dribbling. 6.5.

(Sub) Alejo Veliz: The Argentine struggled to make an impact on the small time he did have on the pitch and will be hopeful of longer cameos in the team’s upcoming pre-season games. 5.

Tottenham Hotspur ran out 2-0 winners in this afternoon’s pre-season friendly against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road with academy players, Mikey Moore and Dane Scarlett, linking up to score Spurs’ second.

Let’s take a look at how the Tottenham players performed in the second half:

Tottenham second half player ratings vs QPR

Luca Gunter: A clean sheet to be proud of for the young goalkeeper, doing extremely well to ensure he wouldn’t concede by tipping an effort inside the box just past of the post. 7.

Djed Spence: The former Leeds loanee continues to impress in pre-season, despite not quite emulating the goal and assist recorded against Hearts, Spence did offer Postecoglou plenty to ponder. The 23-year-old beat his man and forced either a foul or corner from QPR’s defence countless times. 8.

Emerson Royal: A mixed-bag performance from one of Tottenham’s makeshift centre-backs. Emerson continued, as he did last season, to dwell on the ball and slow down play. However, the Brazilian did come across well and time his slide tackles multiple times to block a QPR attacker’s shot. 6.

Ashley Phillips: Had a strong defensive display and was key as one of Tottenham’s only recognised central defenders. 6.5.

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George Abbott: Helped the ball on multiple times from defence into attack and linked up with many of his fellow youth players well, as you would expect with the midfielder being the captain of the U21’s. 6.

Alfie Devine: Devine struggled to make a huge impact and did largely go unnoticed in the game. 5.

Dejan Kulusevski: A pretty quiet second half, that was cut short after the 65th minute, for Kulusevski although he was unlucky to get a second assist after Mikey Moore failed to convert a through ball that the Swede fed him early in the half. The ex-Juventus man continues to look more effective in a midfield role, however. 6.

James Maddison: We started to see moments of James Maddison to ensue hope in the 27-year-old ahead of next season with many of his passes creating chances for Spurs but the midfielder is still a way off his previous form. 6.5.

Mikey Moore: The 16-year-old will be frustrated to have not converted a great chance early in the second half but made up for the missed opportunity by providing Dane Scarlett with a golden one later in the game. Moore delivered an audacious outside of the boot cross which Scarlett merely had to tap home for Tottenham’s second. 7.

Manor Solomon: It will take time for the winger to get back to his best but like many players in the game, he showed glimpses of what can become of him. The 24-year-old wields a threat with his tremendous amount of pace. 6.

Will Lankshear: The PL2 top scorer was only handed twenty minutes by Postecoglou but still showed plenty of encouraging signs, being unlucky not to get a goal after shooting his close-range shot into the side netting from a very tight angle. 6.5.

(Sub) Tyrese Hall: Tyrese didn’t have lots of time to make an impact but still displayed impressive moments with his signature body feints and close dribbling. 6.5.

(Sub) Alejo Veliz: The Argentine struggled to make an impact on the small time he did have on the pitch and will be hopeful of longer cameos in the team’s upcoming pre-season games. 5.

Here’s how we rated the Tottenham Hotspur players following the opening forty-five minutes of action in this afternoon’s pre-season friendly against Queens Park Rangers.

Ange Postecoglou’s side head into the break at Loftus Road currently ahead by a single goal in a end-to-end half (courtesy of a goal from Yves Bissouma)

Tottenham half-time ratings vs QPR

Brandon Austin: Manged to get a fingertip to Rayan Kolli’s long range effort and did well collecting a few ariel balls that came his way. 7.

Pedro Porro: It wasn’t the right-backs best half by any means, frequently overhitting crosses that were in good positions, almost got caught out in behind one or two times but manged to recover. 5.

Oliver Skipp: A routine display from Spurs’ number four. Did well despite not being a recognised central defender and nullified up a number of QPR attacks. 6.5.

Archie Gray: Loftus Road doesn’t wield the happiest of memories for Gray with the teenager losing 4-0 when last playing here with Leeds towards the end of last season, but Spurs’ new signing impressed in the first half. Gray’s calmness on the ball and maturity is way beyond his years and it showed in the first half. 7.

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Jamie Donley: An extremely varied half of football for Tottenham’s academy star. The 19-year-old is adapting to his unusual left-back role well with his inverted runs coming naturally due to Donley’s natural position being attacking midfield. However, Donley’s defensive imperfections were exposed in the first-half, often being ran past or giving the ball away cheaply which you can afford to do when playing further forward, less so when playing as a left-back. 5.5.

Yves Bissouma: The star of the half. Bissouma’s solo goal was oustanding and teased Tottenham fans that the player they saw at the start of last season is very much still there. Spurs really benefitted from the midfielder’s ability to beat his man and convert defence into attack. 9.

Pape Sarr: It was a surprise to see Pape start the game after his exclusion from the trip to Hearts, however the young midfielder started the game very well, being the metronome within Spurs’ midfield. His performance did wain as the half dragged on however. 6.5.

Lucas Bergvall: The 18-year-old was frustratingly forced off after 24 minutes but it was an extremely promising display in Tottenham colours, despite only being on the pitch for under half an hour. Tottenham’s defence put Bergvall under a lot of pressure when he was on the pitch but the Swede dealt with it extremely well, beating QPR’s press and often igniting an attack. Rating would be much higher should Bergvall have remained on the pitch. 7.

Brennan Johnson: A pretty poor half from the Welshman. Johnson was given the ball, like Porro, in plenty of positions that were perfect for a cross to be expertly delivered and possibly get a goal for Spurs, but Johnson squandered almost every one. There was some improvement from the ex-Nottingham Forest man as the half went on but it was a half to forget for him overall. 4.

Heung-Min Son: Tottenham’s captain only had a few chances in the half but often did well wit them, testing the goalkeeper or laying off a teammate in a better position. It’s not been Son’s blistering best but it was still a decent display from the South Korean. 6.5.

Timo Werner: There is little to talk about Werner’s first half performance as the German rarely got on the ball, and when he did, struggled to create much. 5.5.

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has named his side which will take to the field in this afternoon’s pre-season friendly against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.

Tottenham take on QPR this afternoon

Tottenham head into the match in the capital on the back of the 5-1 win against Hearts on Wednesday evening at Tynecastle.

Postecoglou decided to blood a mix of experience and youth, especially in the second half with a number of young players catching the eye including Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray, Mikey Moore and Will Lankshear.

A number of players who have been on international duty in recent weeks at Copa America or Euro 2024 are still yet to report back including Radu Dragusin, Guglielmo Vicario, Micky van de Ven, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso and Rodrigo Bentancur.

QPR have already played twice in pre-season with a double-header in Girona where they beat lower league Spanish opponents FC Santa Coloma and L’Escala 2-0 and 11-0, respectively.

The match kicks off at 3pm UK time and is being broadcast live on SPURSPLAY, Tottenham’s streaming service.

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QPR vs Tottenham team news

Ange Postecoglou decides to keep his makeshift defence of Porro, Gray, Skipp and Donley against QPR but brings in Bergvall and Werner to start the match, as well as Pape Matar Sarr, who was completely absent from Spurs’ trip to Hearts on Wednesday.

This is who takes to the field this afternoon:

QPR starting XI: Nardi, Dunne, Cook, Clarke-Salter, Paal, Colback, Dixon-Bonner, Andersen, Kolli, Smyth, Frey.

Substitutes: Walsh, Cannon, Fox, Morrison, Larkeche, Santos, Tuck, Talla, Bennie, Dykes, Lloyd.

R’s fans have been given the first chance to have a look at new goalkeeper, Paul Nardi, as the 30-year-old replaced veteran ‘keeper Asmir Begovic this summer.

Tottenham starting XI: Austin, Porro, Gray, Skipp, Donley, Sarr, Bissouma, Bergval, Johnson, Son (C), Werner

Substitutes: Whiteman, Gunter, Spence, Royal Phillps, Abbott, Robson, Hall, Kulusevski, Devine, Maddison, Moore, Lankshear, Solomon, Veliz, Scarlett

COYS!