Cartilage Free Captain

Take this with a grain of salt, but according to a new report from Ben Jacobs, Tottenham Hotspur are currently in “advanced negotiations” for a stadium naming rights deal for the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Talks are taking place with two companies from Saudi Arabia, one affiliated with the Saudi sovereign wealth fund (PIF) and one not, and there are American companies also in the frame.

Tottenham have not had a sponsor for the stadium since the building opened in 2018, which has struck many as unusual. Chairman Daniel Levy has always maintained that he has been holding out for a spectacular price and would not compromise on the naming rights’ valuation. In the meantime, naming the best and newest stadium in London the “Tottenham Hotspur Stadium” has no doubt been a boon to the club’s overall recognition in the UK and the world.

It’s important to note the “nothing is advanced” part of this tweet, because I can recall a number of these kinds of reports in the past. That said, Tottenham’s spending spree in the transfer market this week has prompted a lot of speculation that Spurs are either closing in on, or has already secured, additional external financial backing, with the stadium rights deal part of that process. Nothing as of yet has been confirmed or even solidly sourced.

I’ll be honest, the idea of the stadium securing naming rights with a Saudi company, whether or not they’re backed by the PIF, makes me rather queasy. That said, I know the game. Business is business, and there was always a very high probability that the stadium would eventually sport the name of a very gross company or entity. Doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.

For now I’m not going to get pre-upset about this, both for the above reasons and because it doesn’t feel based on this tweet that anything will be announced soon. But that day has been coming for a long time now, and we should be prepared for it if and when it does.

Yesterday, the big football news was that of Tottenham Hotspur meeting the £60m release clause for Nottingham Forest attacking midfielder and England international Morgan Gibbs-White. MGW was set to have a physical at Hotspur Way this morning.

Now according to a Sky Sports reporter, that transfer may be, at least temporarily, on hold after Forest have accused Tottenham of an “illegal approach” for the player.

So I’m just a country Tottenham blogger, but this feels weird to me. It’s not clear what exactly Forest are accusing Spurs of. Until more information comes to light, it sounds as if it’s one of two possibilities —

Forest didn’t give permission to Spurs to enter into negotiations for MGW’s transfer fee, or

Forest are accusing Spurs of “tapping up” Gibbs-White over personal terms by negotiating with his people before they submitted a bid

The first option would be patently ridiculous — bro has a release clause in his contract! By definition that would mean any club can meet that clause, pay the fee, and come to terms with MGW for a transfer! As for the second point, while I guess “tapping up” is technically still illegal in English football, literally every club does it now — you won’t have to search long in order to find numerous examples of “personal terms agreed” reports before a transfer fee is finalized. It’s literally extremely common business in today’s football market.

Now, maybe there’s something else going on, but like Rob Dorsett tweets, this is likely a delay tactic and not actually something they can prevent Spurs from doing. Which is annoying, but ultimately I’m not(tingham) too worried about it. “Consulting their lawyers” is such a hilarious way of putting out that they’re not pleased with losing Elanga and Gibbs-White in the same window

Nottingham Forest is not mad. Please don’t put in the newspaper that they got mad.

It’s been a veritable flood of transfer movement over the last couple of days for Tottenham Hotspur; but do you know who’s not moving?

Cristian Romero, that’s who.

That’s according to The Athletic, where Jack Pitt-Brooke has said in no uncertain terms that Atletico Madrid are no longer pursuing the Argentine:

Get in, lads.

There were hints of this earlier in the week, with Fabrizio Romano suggesting minimal contact between the clubs, and it appears Spurs’ price tag has scared off the Spanish club. Rumors had been going around that Madrid were willing to pay around €55 million to secure the services of Romero, who has only two years remaining on his contract; but even with his deal running down, that’s a pretty rubbish offer for somebody who is, frankly, one of the best ball-playing center backs in the world. They don’t grow on trees, you know.

With Spurs holding firm on a valuation closer to €70 million, Pitt-Brooke in his piece indicates that Atletico Madrid now expect Romero could sign a new contract with Spurs; something that is possible, but does seem improbable if you believe what you read online (which you absolutely shouldn’t). If Cuti does agree to a new deal, he would potentially end up Spurs’ best-paid player in what would be a massive coup for the club. I think what’s more likely is he leaves next summer for a more modest fee, with Spurs arguably getting more value from keeping Romero for another season than they would by selling now for a bargain-bin price.

Good morning dear hoddlers, and welcome to another edition of ‘What are you reading right now?”. The premise is simple: Your hoddler-in-chief wants to know what the well-read commentariat is currently reading. Let’s get into it.

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I am currently flipping through two separate books from the Middle East and North Africa.

First is a novel by the Algerian novelist Yasmina Khadra, perhaps best known for his book The Swallows of Kabul.

Except I’m not reading that - I’m reading The Angels Die. I first picked up this book almost a year ago at the Foyles on Tottenham Court Road, and it’s been sitting on my bookshelf unread for far too long.

It’s about an Arab boxer from Algeria between the first and second World Wars. And, of course, it deals with the racial/religious/class divides between Arabs and Europeans during this time.

Our hero Turambo finds his way out of poverty through boxing. But can he sustain it, or will The Man come around? These kinds of stories don’t have happy endings and I’m not expecting one, but we’ll see. Fitzie is pretty close to finishing it (hopefully this weekend or the next).

Other than that, if I’m able to I’ve been carrying around a book of Persian poetry with me on the metro in Washington DC. I usually don’t read on the metro because I hate leaving chapters unfinished, but poetry is much more suitable for these short trips.

This book of poetry features three Iranian writers, led by the great Persian lyric poet Hafez. His collected works are considered to be the apex of Persian literature and I was told by one librarian in Washington that to understand Hafez is to understand the heart of Iranian culture.

This collection of poetry, called Faces of Love, also features Jahan Malek Khatun and Obayd-e Zakani, two other writers from Shiraz in the mid-fourteenth century, all of whom came from different social/economic spectrums and thus create a fascinating look into poetry from that period.

To get to the actual poetry, though, the book’s guardian Dick Davies first guides us through a 100-some page introduction of all three writers, Shiraz, and the socioeconomic and cultural conditions that shaped these writers. It’s a fascinating insight into a part of the world whose literary heroes have not been as celebrated in the west as those from Europe, the US and elsewhere.

It was a good find at the Capitol Hill bookstore.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Etazalt El Gharam, by Magida El Roumi

And now for your links:

BBC: “Why Spurs made Kudus their first signing from West Ham in 14 years”

The Athletic ($$): “Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White set for Tottenham medical”

Alasdair Gold: “Unusual Tottenham move secures Morgan Gibbs-White transfer amid £120m splurge”

The Independent: “Sheffield Wednesday and Morecambe woes show the problem with modern football”

Front Office Sports: “Gareth Bale Group Makes New Offer for Cardiff City “

Tottenham Hotspur made Mohammed Kudus their second new signing of the summer, announcing his transfer from West Ham United via their website and on social media. The 24-year-old attacking midfielder is signed on a six year contract which will keep him in Lilywhite for the bulk of his peak years. He is also the first Tottenham player signed from West Ham since Scott Parker in 2011.

Kudus joins Tottenham for what was reported to be a fee “in the region of” £55m, though the details and structure of the fee were not announced at the time of this article’s writing. There is likely to be performance-based escalators in the fee in addition to a base amount of money. News of the transfer emerged yesterday, and Kudus completed his medical at Tottenham’s training complex on Thursday.

Kudus is a prolific and successful dribbler, and while I would hesitate to compare him to the great Mousa Dembele, he has a low center of gravity and is very difficult to dispossess. This should add a new dynamic to Tottenham’s midfield that they haven’t had in a while. He’s able to play both as a winger and as a central attacking midfielder, which should give Thomas Frank some flexibility in how he’s used.

The fee is substantial, and the fact that he emerged as one of Tottenham’s top targets this summer speaks to the importance Frank and the recruiting staff feel he can bring to the side. It’s a lot of money, but Kudus could also bring a lot of juice to the squad as Tottenham seek to improve on their dismal 17th placed finish from last season.

Spurs are almost certainly not done in the window — even if you factor in what will likely be an announcement of Morgan Gibbs-White tomorrow. They’ve already added Japan international central defender Kota Takai this summer, and have made the loans of Kevin Danso and Mathys Tel permanent. There’s a lot more to do, both in terms of incomings and outgoings. But this a major piece secured.

Don’t blame me, I voted for Kudus!

More news! One day after Tottenham Hotspur reached full agreement with West Ham United for the transfer of Mohammed Kudus, David Ornstein in the Athletic is reporting that Spurs are showing a concrete interest in Nottingham Forest and England midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White.

MGW has been on the wish-list of many Tottenham supporters for a while now, and Ornstein says that Thomas Frank is a big admirer of the 25-year-old. Gibbs-White is a good all-round midfielder, but is also known for his passing, something desperately needed in Spurs’ midfield. He has good vision and is creative, using his passing as a means to unlock defenses and play in attackers, and can play wide as well as centrally. He also gets up and down the pitch well and contributes defensively. He’d be considered home-grown (but not club-trained) and is currently under contract at Forest until 2027.

Gibbs-White’s green bars don’t pop on FBRef, but that I think says more about Nottingham Forest than it does about MGW. Forest, under Nuno, typically set out to score quickly and then robustly defend the rest of the match, which impacts the statistical lines of a number of their good players.

But MGW is a good player and would be a good fit at Spurs. The issue is that he’s coveted by a lot of teams and thanks to the so-called “England tax” would likely be VERY expensive. How expensive? I really don’t know, but he moved from Wolves to Forest for £42.5m in 202 and it wouldn’t surprise me if Spurs would need to spend more than what they paid for Mohammed Kudus to bring MGW in.

But as I said a few days ago about Kudus, I am still not convinced that Spurs targeting MGW is evidence of a good recruitment system. It feels like Spurs need to be targeting players who cost between £20m-40m and who are on the upswing of their talent curve, rather than paying premium pricing for guys who are English and pretty good, but very expensive. MGW is a good player, and he might make the Leap™ on a team like Spurs, but I worry about these things.

The rumor itself is pretty thin at this point, with Ornstein saying Spurs are “turning their attention” to Gibbs-White, but he’d be a pretty fantastic addition to Spurs if they can pull off the signing. I’d say the odds are long for this one unless they decide to pull out the stops, and there’s a lot of work to be done yet. It’s cool to hear of Tottenham’s interest in MGW, certainly but after Forest just sold Anthony Elanga for £55m there are now significant barriers for any club coming for for MGW. I’m a little skeptical that this would get over the line.

UPDATE: According to the Telegraph, Gibbs-White has a £60m release clause in his contract, and Tottenham are triggering it. Which perhaps explains why things seem to be moving so fast.

It’s a strange and unsettling situation at Morecambe FC.

On Wednesday, owner Jason Whittingham’s Bond Group announced a surprise “last minute bid” from an unnamed “UK buyer” to take over the club.

“This buyer will make their own statement shortly to introduce themselves and set out their plans for the club over the coming seasons,” Whittingham said in a press release.

But wait - Morecambe FC had already agreed to sell the club to Panjab Warriors.

On 6 June, Morecambe said the English Football League had given Panjab Warriors the green light to take over the club.

Panjab Warriors’ planned takeover of the club took a strange club late last month, when the Morecambe FC board of directors said the potential sale was on the brink of collapse.

In a statement, Panjab Warriors accused Morecambe FC of “being held hostage”.

“We now suspect the club is being used as leverage in unrelated personal financial matters - a move that threatens its very survival,” BBC Sport Lancashire reported the financial group as saying.

The latest twist comes after Morecambe were relegated to the National League after 18 years in the Football League.

The club directors on 2 July had planned on putting the club into administration after the Bond Group (which owns the club) failed to pay staff wages in June - if the club was not sold to new owners. The directors subsequently resigned and then rejoined Morecambe FC to facilitate the sale to Panjab Warriors.

The Bond Group said on 4 July that it had agreed to a sale to Panjab Warriors with its expected completion on Monday.

That, of course, did not happen.

And if that’s not enoguh for you - there’s more.

You know things are bad when a club and its board of directors released 15 (FIFTEEN!!!) statements in less than 10 days.

On Monday, Whittingham in a statement alleged that “there has been a campaign of abuse on social media against my family members, including elderly and young.”

“All vulnerable people, including women, who they are clearly attempting to intimidate and bully,” he said.

He also accused those people of “putting off at least two potential buyers” and said those people will be investigated “even after the club is sold”.

So where does that leave Morecambe FC? Well, who the shrimp knows.

The Shrimps Trust on Wednesday said it has “not been made aware of an alternate buyer” to Panjab Warriors, adding that it’ll provide another update once it has a better understanding of what’s going on. Boy, I’d like to have an understanding myself.

All this is to say, I don’t think anyone knows what’s going on.

And this is an excruciatingly frustrating trend in non-Premier League clubs whose existence can quickly metamorphose from stable to teetering. Just look at Sheffield Wednesday, Bury, Bolton, Wigan, Derby, Portsmouth or Wimbledon.

This is one end of the football spectrum. On the other end, the winners of the Club World Cup will receive $125 million.

I don’t know what we’ll wake up to Thursday morning. I hope we wake up to a clearer picture of Morecambe’s future so its town and fans can have some semblence of hope amid a remarkable collapse.

I fear the worst.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Summertime Sadness, by Lana Del Rey

And now for your links:

Tottenham Hotspur on Youtube: “Rest of the squad return for pre-season testing! | Inside Training”

The Athletic ($$): “Why Tottenham want Kudus: Attacking versatility, take-ons and penetrative dribbling”

Football London: “Every word Thomas Frank said on new Tottenham coaches, pre-season training plans and his big wish”

The Standard: “The ‘big wish’ Tottenham have already granted Thomas Frank to take squad to ‘next level’”

Behyond Radio: ““Sign the damn paperwork” – Morecambe MP’s plea to Shrimps owner as Commons backs football Bill”

Lancaster Guardian: “Morecambe to kick off the new season at Boston United”

It’s Tottenham Hotspur News Wednesday™! David Ornstein is reporting, via The Athletic, that Spurs and West Ham have reached full agreement for the transfer of Mohammed Kudus.

£55m is a lot of money for Mohammed Kudus, but importantly it is LESS money than the £65m that West Ham were apparently demanding. Tottenham previously had a £50m bid rejected by West Ham, and it’s not clear whether “in the region of £55m” means Spurs added £5m to the bid, or if there are achievable performance-based escalators that are included.

It’s a six year contract, so Spurs are signing their new attacker for what is likely the entirety of his peak years. No word on wages yet, but considering he’s currently on £90k/wk at West Ham, we can probably safely assume that he’s getting a healthy pay bump in addition to the transfer fee.

I confess to be not overly wild about this signing, but neither do I think he’s a bad player. I think Kudus could be a very good and very important puzzle piece for Thomas Frank next season, despite joining Spurs on the heels of a rather lackuster 2024-25 campaign.

At this rate it sounds as though we might get final confirmation as soon as tomorrow afternoon in the UK. Kudus becomes Tottenham’s second new signing of the summer after Japanese central defender Kota Takai. Spurs have also made the loans of Kevin Danso and Mathys Tel permanent this summer.

Heads up! We have a new Tottenham Hotspur transfer rumor, courtesy of the BBC’s Sami Mockbel. According to Sami (who for years was the best football journalist at a very bad paper in the Daily Mail), Tottenham are in negotiations with Brentford for the transfer of 28-year old Congolese forward Yoane Wissa. The player is said to be open to leaving to come to Tottenham.

So on the one hand, Wissa (along with Bryan Mbeumo, who is probably going to United) were super fun to watch under Thomas Frank at Brentford last season. He scored 19 goals and had 4 assists last season, and was putting up ABSURD xG/90 numbers — 0.65. If you go into FBRef and sort the Premier League players by xG/90, you’ll find him fifth, behind only Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah, Alexander Isak, and Diogo Jota (RIP brother). He had a monster year for Brentford, is only making £25k/wk in wages, and if you’re a “he score goals” kind of fan, that’s pretty exciting news.

That said, there are reasons to think this might not be the result of a particularly good process. For starters, Wissa is 28 (until he’s 29). Last season was the best of his career by far, and he had a pretty good situation with the Bees. This would not be a long term signing, and there are open questions as to whether he could recreate that level of production at Spurs next season, even under Frank. Brentford are very, very unlikely to want to lose both Mbeumo and Wissa in the same offseason. Yes, Wissa knows Frank and presumably wants to keep working with him, but it scares me a little that Tottenham seem to only be turning over rocks in the Premier League, rather than looking for undervalued talent on the continent.

The only way this deal would make sense to me is if it’s LITERALLY a deal, and a shockingly good one. You can fabricate a rationale in your head that, say, Wissa might be running down his contract and has given Brentford an ultimatum — sell me to Spurs (or some other club), or I’ll leave on a free transfer and you get nothing. If that’s the case, Brentford and Spurs could come to some kind of accord for a low transfer fee, maybe with some performance based escalators or something to sweeten the pot a bit.

Or maybe this is also a means of screwing over Manchester United? If Spurs buy Wissa before United can seal the deal on Mbeumo, that makes Bryan’s transfer a lot less palatable to Brentford. This possibility also opens up all kinds of fun conspiracy theory-ish behind-the-scenes shenanigans.

In the end, as fun as he was last season Yoane Wissa is not a player Spurs should be spending a ton of money on. If he costs something like £40m-50m, I’m out. But if he comes cheap, that re-frames the entire issue for me. I’m still not convinced it would be a GOOD signing, but it’s at least justifiable, especially if Frank needs a Brentford player to come in as a binky.

Let’s see what happens and what details emerge in the coming days.

One of the major story lines for Tottenham Hotspur during this summer’s transfer window is the immediate future of Cuti Romero. The Argentine central defender has quietly made it pretty clear that he’d be okay with leaving the club if an arrangement can be made, and the team most closely linked with a move for Cuti is Atletico Madrid in La Liga.

There have been plenty of rumors already about Atletico’s interest in Cuti — talks of bids, potential bids, personal terms agreed, etc. But it seems as of yet there hasn’t been any concrete happening. Here’s Fabrizio Romano.

So: no actual bids, no talk of personal agreements, nothing advanced, and Spurs don’t want to sell. Sounds about right! Cuti is not only Tottenham’s best defender, he’s one of the best defenders in European football at the moment. That’s not to say that he WON’T leave the club this summer, but if he does it won’t be anytime soon and it very likely won’t be for cheap.

Of course a lot can change during a transfer window, especially if Cuti decides to “go to the jerk mattress” over a transfer. We haven’t really seen any indication that he’s willing to go there yet, though like Fab says he’s only just returned from vacation.

What also seems clear is Tottenham are actively succession-planning. Kevin Danso is more than capable of stepping into Romero’s role (even if not quite as effectively), Spurs just signed Kota Takai and have Luka Vuskovic for the future, and have been linked with players like Nathan Collins and Maxime “MAXIMUM STEVE” Estève. That’s not only smart, it positions the club well to be able to sell someone like Cuti at a premium should they decide it’s the right time to do so.

But for now, calma calma calma. Nothing appears imminent, it’s ridiculously early, and I have a feeling all will be well.