The Spurs Web

Tottenham Hotspur are now leading the race for a 17-year-old striker, who is wanted by a host of top Premier League clubs.

Tottenham eyeing another young gem

Spurs have signed an array of talented young players over recent years and it now looks like they have set their sights on another emerging starlet.

According to TEAMtalk, the player now in the North London club’s sights is Irish teen sensation Mason Melia, who is turning a lot of heads with his displays in the League of Ireland.

The teenager made his debut for St Patrick’s Athletic at just 15 years of age and has scored 10 times in 54 appearances for the club, while also netting nine goals in 19 appearances for Republic of Ireland’s Under-17s side (Transfermarkt).

Spurs at the front of the queue

The report says that many see Melia as the best young talent across his age group in Irish football at the moment and a host of Premier League clubs have been alerted to his talent.

This includes Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea, who have all watched the striker closely and are known admirers of the youngster.

However, currently, it is Tottenham who are said to be in ‘pole position’ to land the player during the upcoming transfer window.

MORE SPURS STORIES

Tottenham’s transfer plans

The report says that the feeling at the North London club is that Melia is a ‘potential star in the making’, with Ange Postecoglou’s men thus not wanting to waste any time.

The Lilywhites are said to be ‘keen to steal a march on their rivals’ in the pursuit of the striker and want to firm up a move ‘as soon as possible’.

The publication adds that Tottenham are eager to continue building a strong base of youth in their academy set-up and see Melia as the ideal profile.

The Daily Mirror’s Ryan Taylor believes that one Tottenham star’s value has skyrocketed since he arrived in North London and that the player is now worth around £75m.

Tottenham man is getting rave reviews

It is not just Tottenham fans who are in awe of Dejan Kulusevski, but the Swede is also starting to win admirers across the Premier League.

Pundits have been waxing lyrical about his performances after each game and Pep Guardiola became the latest to join the Spurs man’s fan club, admitting after his side’s loss in the Carabao Cup that he is a big fan of the 25-year-old (Hayters TV)

Taylor believes that the former Juventus man’s value has skyrocketed over the last couple of years and Juventus will be ruing their decision to let him leave.

Ryan Taylor on Dejan Kulusevski’s market value

The journalist pointed out that Tottenham initially paid a loan fee of £8.3m for the attacker before spending a further £25.6m to sign him permanently, thus bringing the total transfer to £33.9m.

However, he insisted that Kulusevski‘s value has almost tripled since then, suggesting that he is now worth close to £75m.

Taylor wrote in his column for The Mirror about the Sweden international: “He is right at the heart of everything that is currently exciting about Tottenham, their aggressive pressing, their speedy counter-attackers, their endeavour and the lingering sense of anticipation that Spurs possess the power to hurt you at any given minute despite their ongoing defensive vulnerability.

MORE SPURS STORIES

“He also deeply cares about the club and it shows. Players of Kulusevski’s mould are hard to come by and in the modern transfer market, they are also certainly not cheap.

“He is now surely worth £50m at the very least, if not close to £75m – which effectively means his valuation has tripled in the past year or so. Juve will now be living to rue their decision to offload the player for what now looks like peanuts.”

Kulusevski is worth more than £75m to Spurs

Whatever one deems Kulusevski’s market value to be, there is no doubt that Daniel Levy and Tottenham will laugh off a £75m bid for the attacker right now.

One Tottenham Hotspur man is on Juventus’ transfer list ahead of January as they look to reinforce a key area of their squad.

Speculation continues over Spurs man’s future

There continues to be plenty of speculation linking Radu Dragusin with a return to Italy, even though the defender only swapped Genoa for Tottenham at the start of this year.

Friday’s edition of Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness) claimed that Juventus are plotting a move to re-sign the Romanian on loan.

The report stated that the Serie A giants are keen to sign a centre-back after learning that Gleison Bremer will miss the rest of the season due to an injury.

It was suggested that should they prove unsuccessful in their efforts to sign Milan Skriniar from Paris Saint-Germain, they would turn their attention to the Tottenham man.

Radu Dragusin is Juventus’ top target

However, journalist Pierfrancesco Vecchiotti has now revealed that Dragusin is at the top of the Bianconeri’s list of centre-back targets.

The reporter claimed that the Tottenham man could be allowed to leave N17 on loan and he would be an ideal option for Thiago Motta’s since since he already knows the club well.

MORE SPURS STORIES

Vecchiotti told TuttoSport (as translated by Sport Witness): “The names studied by Giuntoli are many and among these, that of Radu Dragusin stands out.

“The Romanian defender seems to be the most suitable solution because he already knows the Juventus environment well, having grown up with the next-gen, and more generally knows the Italian championship.

“Dragusin, moreover, is finding very little space with Tottenham and this could lead Spurs to think about a loan, a solution this last one very welcome to Juventus.

“The Bianconeri would find themselves with a defender young, strong, ready because he knows the environment and is skilled in marking even in open field situations, a component that should not be underestimated, given the game and tactical system of Tiago Motta, who would thus find himself with an important additional solution, among other things at zero cost.”

Juventus living in dreamland

There is next to no chance that Tottenham would consider weakening their squad by letting Dragusin leave in January, particularly given Micky van de Ven’s injury record.

However, the suggestion that they would loan him out is even more ridiculous as Postecoglou’s men have nothing to gain in that situation.

The likes of Juventus and Napoli might have to wait at least until next summer if they are to harbour hopes of signing the 22-year-old.

According to Estadio Deportivo, a long queue of clubs have now joined in the race for a Tottenham target ahead of January, even though the Lilywhites remain in the driver’s seat for the player.

Spurs have the option to buy a midfielder

The player in question is Johnny Cardoso, who Spurs have the option to buy for £25m next summer, with the North London club securing the option as part of Giovani Lo Ceslo’s sale to Real Betis in the summer (Telegraph).

It remains to be seen if the Lilywhites activate that option but reports from Spain suggest that it is certain to happen.

This was reported most recently by ABC Sevilla (via Sport Witness) last week, who claimed that the 23-year-old’s future ‘points to’ Tottenham.

Johnny Cardoso is now a wanted man

Estadio Deportivo have now also discussed Spurs’ option to buy the midfielder but they reveal that the player’s list of admirers is now growing.

They claim that Atletico Madrid are big fans of Cardoso, with Diego Simeone having asked the club’s hierarchy to secure the services of the USA international.

Additionally, the likes of AC Milan are also keeping an eye on the Betis star’s situation while the midfielder’s entourage have also fielded enquiries from Turkish, Greek and Saudi clubs.

MORE SPURS STORIES

Tottenham’s option may be useless

This report adds that the feeling at Betis right now is that Cardoso is likely to end up at Tottenham.

However, it is worth keeping in mind that Spurs’ option to buy the midfielder next summer may be useless if Atletico land the midfielder in January.

It would thus be interesting to see if Tottenham accelerate their approach for Cardoso if they find out others are plotting a move in the upcoming transfer window.

South Korea’s head coach Hong Myung-bo has been speaking about how involved Heung-min Son will be in the upcoming international break in light of the forward’s recent injuries.

Son working his way back to full fitness

Son is still not 100 per cent fit, as evidenced by the fact that Ange Postecoglou withdrew him in the 55th minute of Tottenham‘s win over Aston Villa on Sunday.

The 32-year-old was far from happy to come off, but the Spurs boss insisted in his post-match press conference that his captain was never going to play more than 55 minutes, given his recent injury issues (Football.London).

Tottenham now face Galatasaray and Ipswich Town in back-to-back away matches before Son joins his national team for the international break.

Hong Myung-bo’s confession about Son

South Korea have two big World Cup qualifiers coming up during the international break against Kuwait and Palestine.

Hong Myung-bo has insisted that Son‘s minutes will depend on how he fares over the next week, admitting that he would be careful not to burden his captain with more minutes than he is ready for.

Hong said about Son’s availability (via Yonhap News Agency): “We will see how much his playing time increases in the next two matches, and that will be part of our preparation for the two November games.

MORE SPURS STORIES

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to push him hard on the national team just because he has returned to action for his club. We’ll first have to see how much he plays in his next club match, and we’ll go from there.

“I obviously understand he wants to play for the national team. But first and foremost, we have to protect his health.”

Son is unlikely to feature against Galatasaray

Postecoglou is evidently being very careful with Son as he knows how important the forward is to his side.

One would thus expect the Spurs captain to sit out the game against Galatasaray, with Timo Werner likely to be back in the starting eleven.

The former Bayer Leverkusen man would be expected to play against Ipswich Town but Postecoglou will be managing his minutes again, and he will hope that Hong Myung-bo does the same during the international break.

Pedro Porro will donate a part of his salary to aid the rescue and rehabilitation efforts for the victims of the flood in Valencia, with the Tottenham man admitting to a feeling of helplessness at the situation.

Tragedy in Spain – What happened?

Parts of Eastern Spain received over a year’s worth of rainfall in less than a week, leading to devastating floods in Valencia.

The death toll currently stands at 214 but a lot of people remain missing, with search operations currently underway (Guardian).

Thousands of volunteers have been helping in the clean-up, and with search and rescue, with Pedro Porro admitting that he would be doing the same if not for his football commitments.

Pedro Porro’s admission about the flood

Porro described the scenes back in his home country as heartbreaking and dedicated Tottenham’s win over Aston Villa to the people of Valencia. He also revealed that he would donate a part of his salary to the victims of the disaster and the rehabilitation efforts.

Porro said (via The Standard): “For a Spaniard, today, for all Spaniards, it’s a sad day. I think we’ve had three, four, five days of terrible suffering, especially.

“I can’t even imagine what it’s like for everyone involved in Valencia. And, as I posted on social media, I want to dedicate this victory to them.

MORE SPURS STORIES

“There’s a sense of helplessness. Helplessness about not being there, because I know what it’s like to be ‘in the mud’, as you say. I’d be the first one there to help, to show up but I’m in London, I have competitions, [so] I can’t.

“I’d say it’s [a feeling of] helplessness because I’d like to help, but I’ve already spoken to my agents, and I’m going to donate part of my salary to cover whatever they need, to buy shovels, food, especially. Anything they need.”

Porro now confident about his own game

Porro also spoke about his own development since his move to Tottenham, admitting that he feels a lot more confident about his role in Ange Postecoglou‘s system.

When asked about the progress he has made, the right-back said: “Above all, [I feel] very confident, also because it’s not my first season.

“I already played last season in a back four, so I’m more used to it, correcting what I’m not doing well, taking advantage of what I’m doing right,” he said when asked about his progress in English football.

“And that’s also helped me get back into the national team. Yes, really, [I feel] confident and ready to keep going.”

James Maddison reveals what Ange Postecoglou said during the half-time interval on Sunday, which inspired Tottenham to blow Aston Villa out of the water in the second period.

The game followed the usual pattern

Tottenham have made it a habit of going a goal down at home before coming back to win resoundingly, and the same script unfolded against Villa.

Unai Emery’s men kept things tight in the first period, restricting Spurs to a few chances, but they were unable to cope with the home side’s intensity in the second-half and buckled under the pressure.

It was the sort of result that sent a clear message out to the rest of the Premier League and saw Tottenham move to within two points of fourth place.

Ange Postecoglou’s half-time message

Maddison explained that Postecoglou was extremely calm in the interval and insisted that Spurs could blow Villa away if they kept their heads and played their football.

The attacking midfielder pointed out that the Lilywhites have shown that they can put three or four goals past sides in quick succession if things click for them.

Maddison told The Mirror about the 4-1 win: “We turned the screw and they couldn’t live with our intensity. But that’s why the manager at half-time, he stayed so calm because he knows that we have got a chance to blow teams away in quick periods.

MORE SPURS STORIES

“Even at 1-0 down, he’s just like, ‘Get your heads up’. We know we can go and score four goals in a half against any team because that is what we do with our intensity. Thankfully that’s exactly what we did. And we blew them away.”

Reason for Spurs’ improved second-half displays

It is certainly not a coincidence that Tottenham‘s record in the second half of matches is considerably better than their record in the first 45 minutes.

While opposition teams are able to close down the space and prevent Spurs from having too much joy for 45 minutes, they are unable to match the North London side’s intensity for 90 minutes and eventually buckle in the latter stage of matches.

That is exactly what happened to Villa, with three of Tottenham’s four goals coming in the 75th minute or later.

Argentine journalist Gaston Edul has provided an update on the injury to Cristian Romero, and it is good news for Spurs fans.

Major concerns when Romero hobbled off against Villa

Romero is not one to go off unless he has a serious problem, which is why some Tottenham fans would have been concerned when he asked to be taken off against Villa after injuring his toe.

The situation was particularly concerning, given that his centre-back partner, Micky van de Ven, is already sidelined with a hamstring problem and is not expected to be fit until the end of the international break.

However, it sounds like Tottenham have some good news regarding Romero, whose injury is not as bad as initially feared.

Romero injury update

Gaston Edul has taken to social media to reveal that the 26-year-old has injured the ligaments in his right toe. However, thankfully, there is not thought to be any fracture.

The injury is thus milder than many feared, with the player expected to be back in action in a week or ten days.

That means that Romero could be included in the Argentina squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay and Peru.

MORE SPURS STORIES

One worry for Ange Postecoglou

This means that Cristian Romero will almost certainly miss the Spurs clashes against Galatasaray and Ipswich Town through injury, but the timing of the international break will be a worry for Postecoglou.

We know that the centre-back will be desperate to play for his country even if he is not 100 per cent fit.

TyC Sports provide an update on Cristian Romero’s injury, with the outlet explaining why things are not looking positive for the Argentine.

Several injury concerns for Ange Postecoglou

Micky van de Ven joined Wilson Odobert and Djed Spence on the treatment table last week after picking up a hamstring problem in the Carabao Cup win over Manchester City.

Another couple of players were added to the injured list in Tottenham’s 4-1 win over Aston Villa, with Richarlison limping off with a hamstring problem while Cristian Romero was also forced off the pitch.

The Tottenham vice-captain seemed to injure his foot while going in for a challenge with Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers.

Things not looking positive for Cristian Romero

TyC Sports have now provided an update on Romero’s fitness ahead of Argentina’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay and Peru over the coming weeks.

They say that the Tottenham man’s injury has ‘set off alarm bells’ at the national team, with some fearing that he may have sustained a ‘bone injury’ on his right toe.

The 26-year-old is expected to undergo tests soon to confirm the extent of the damage but the publication adds that the ‘outlook is not encouraging’ for the centre-back.

MORE SPURS STORIES

A serious injury will be a major blow for Spurs

With Micky van de Ven already out injured, it would be a significant blow for Ange Postecoglou to also lose his other starting centre-back.

However, the one thing that works to Tottenham’s advantage is the timing of the international break.

Dane Scarlett is in quite the purple patch right now, and this hot streak may have come at exactly the right time for the Spurs starlet as he looks to keep his career on track this season.

Five goal contributions in five games for Dane Scarlett

Scarlett joined Oxford United on loan this summer, and there were high hopes that this move could be the one to take the striker to the next level.

He endured a difficult start to the campaign, though, which saw him register just 59 minutes of football across five substitute appearances in the league. The 20-year-old failed to score a goal in that time.

However, since his injury-time header against West Brom on October 19, Scarlett has been in rampant form for his club and has now been rewarded with ample opportunities to show what he can do in the second tier.

He scored three days later in the draw with Derby, and scored again this past weekend against Swansea. Scarlett also notched a goal and an assist for England Under-21s in a European Championship qualifier on October 15, which ultimately looks like it may have been the boost he needed to get going this term.

That makes it five goal contributions in his last five games for club and country, and Scarlett appears to be thriving now.

Make or break for Scarlett this season

It sounds a little dramatic, perhaps, but this is a really important season for Scarlett and one that will very likely define his career.

MORE SPURS STORIES

His previous loan spells at Portsmouth, and especially Ipswich last year, have been far from successful. As such, Scarlett’s development has been hampered, and it would be fair to say that Will Lankshear has now jumped ahead of him in the pecking order at Spurs.

Making it at the very top level is not easy, and if Scarlett were to come out of this season with little to no progress once more, there’s a high probability he would have been cast aside by Tottenham.