Cartilage Free Captain

We celebrate yesterday’s announcement of Koto Takai’s arrival at Spurs by resetting the clock on our hoddle hero. While Micky van de Ven’s reign as hoddle hero is over for now, he will forever be a hero in our hearts.

Hoddle Headquarters will announce a new hoddle hero shortly, but first - today’s hoddle:

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Could there be a Tottenham Hotspur reunion at FC Como?

According to one report from Fabrizio Romano, the Italian club are interest in former Spurs centreback Davinson Sanchez.

As you can see in the tweet, Big Dave is right now characterized as an “option on the shortlist”, with Celta Vigo centreback Carl Starfelt also being considered by the club.

Sanchez left Spurs in 2023 for Galatarasay, with whom he won the Turkish Super League in 2024 and 2025 - congrats Davo!.

There’s still a lot to go through for Davinson Sancez to make the move, but if he does he would be joining our beloved Dele.

Dele signed an 18-month contract with the Serie A club in January, and made his first and only appearance (a rather forgettable one) against AC Milan on 15 March. It was his first match in over two years.

Considering manager Cesc Fabregas had previously said Dele was unlikely to make his debut for the club until later in the season, I hope his and our patience is rewarded with some more time on the pitch. But what’s most important, obviously, is Dele’s health.

Who doesn’t love a good reunion story? And in a location as beautiful as Como? That’s the dream.

Fitzie’s track of the day: The Changeling, by The Doors

And now for your links:

Jay Harris ($$): “Brentford contacted Ange Postecoglou about replacing Thomas Frank after Tottenham exit”

Matt Law: “Thomas Frank faces Champions League squad headache at Tottenham”

Alasdair Gold: “Awkward Veliz, a new face and one Tottenham star returns early - Inside Thomas Frank training”

The Independent: “New football watchdog set to be established as MPs back independent regulator”

Move over, BIG WILLY LANKS, because Tottenham Hotspur appear to be working on signing another player with a memeable name. According to L’Equipe, Tottenham and Burnley have restarted negotiations over 23-year-old central defender Maxime Estève.

That’s right — MAXIMUM STEVE. BRING ME MAXIMUM STEVE!!

The report is short, and notes that Tottenham made a €24m approach for Estève back in January. I remember this because it happened on transfer deadline day and, y’know, MAXIMUM STEVE. You tend to remember things like that. I also remember that a Burnley beat writer almost immediately rubbished this. But now that report is getting new credence from L’Equipe, so what is even reality? I don’t know, and neither do you. We are through the looking glass, people!

The difference between then and now is that Spurs now have Champions League football, whereas in January they did not. All else is the same — Good ol’ Steve is a young, French, ball-playing defender who can pass the crap out of the ball and has experience playing in a possession football system — first under Vincent Kompany and then RAF Captain Scott Parker. With Thomas Frank likely to deploy some flavor of possession ball at Spurs this season, that would make him an attractive target. He’s also a left footed defender, and we need another one of those.

Hey, here’s a story I missed yesterday. Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed new head coach Thomas Frank’s assistant coaches, listing the full coaching staff on their website.

First of all, I love that photo. While it’s not entirely clear why Johan Lange is in a photo of Frank’s assistant coaches and not, y’know, Frank himself, the fact that Frank is wearing black pants and a white shirt while everyone else is wearing training gear just makes me giggle for no good reason. It’s like Lange was so busy looking at Wyscout videos that he didn’t get the memo from the comms team.

Anyway, much of this is info that we knew already. Justin Cochrane will serve as Frank’s top first team assistant, along with Chris Haslam, Andreas Georgson, and Joe Newton. Interestingly (and gratifyingly), Ange Postecoglou’s chief deputy Matt Wells is also staying on as a first team assistant under Frank.

The club also confirmed roles for Fabian Otte (goalkeeper coach), who joins of late from Liverpool replacing the departing Rob Burch, and Cameron Campbell (strength/conditioning coach), from RB Leipzig. Tottenham academy coaches Stuart Lewis and Dean Brill have also been promoted — Lewis will serve in a role that helps academy grads transition to the first team, while Brill will be an assistant to goalkeeper coach Otte.

And there’s more! In news announced by Alasdair Gold at Football.London, Spurs have overhauled the medical team... again, one year after doing so for Ange Postecoglou. Gold writes that Spurs director of performance services Adam Brett and head of sports science Nick Davies have both left the club and will be replaced. The relationship was reportedly “contentious” at times between the medical staff and Ange Postecoglou, especially in the midst of their awful injury crisis in the middle of last season. Spurs fans love to criticize the medical team whenever a player gets injured and for the most part I think those criticisms are unfair, but it’s clear there was a disconnect there and a lot of room for improvement.

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Alejo Veliz is returning home. Two years after the Argentine striker joined Tottenham Hotspur, Veliz is returning to the club that originally sold him, returning to Rosario Central on a season long loan, according to Football.London’s Alasdair Gold.

According to Gold, the loan is a straight and “dry” loan that does not include a purchase option or obligation, meaning he’ll return to Tottenham a year from now. The 21-year old Veliz has made 8 senior appearances for Spurs, scoring one goal, but spent the season on loan at Sevilla and Espanyol last season.

I think it’s pretty clear at this point that Veliz is not going to make it at Tottenham. His stature and ability as a target man made us in Carty Free Towers affectionately nickname him “Big Lumpus” and we all hoped there would be something in his game that we could hang our hat on, but it’s not looking likely now, is it?

I’m sure that returning to Rosario Central is a lovely and sentimental choice for Alejo, but it’s unlikely to help prepare him to become a Premier League level striker. That’s not to say that he can’t be a good professional football player, but it really feels like he’s just not at the level required. Thomas Frank was said to want to take a look at all his players before making a decision about loans, and it’s pretty telling that after a couple days of preseason training he’s already said Veliz is not in his plans.

Normally, that’s okay. I’ve always thought that Spurs should be signing a couple of out-of-nowhere players who show promise at small clubs and who could become amazing. Brighton have feasted on players like this. Sometimes they work out. Often they don’t. But Spurs must have seen something in Veliz, because they spent £13m on him back in 2023 and signed him to a long term contract; he still has four years remaining on that deal. That takes him out of the range of “lottery ticket” and into the range of “bad talent identification.”

Hope I’m wrong and he turns a corner and becomes at least serviceable. If nothing else, I’m sure he’ll enjoy spending a season back home among familiar surroundings.

It’s like a new signing - in fact, it is an actual new signing! Tottenham Hotspur have announced their first new signing of the summer (because Vuskovic, Danso, and Tel don’t count): Kota Takai from J1 League club Kawasaki Frontale.

This transfer has been a few weeks in the making, and not exactly a shining example of Johan Lange moving in secrecy, as we have come to expect. Numerous legitimate reports had declared this was happening with Kawasaki Frontale themselves announcing via a statement last week that Takai was heading offshore to sign with another club.

Kota Takai is a talented, young center back, skilled on the ball and aggressive in defense. Stylistically, he almost brings to mind Cristian Romero; albeit much, much more inexperienced and less physically developed. He does though come with a level of pedigree, earning the J1 League Young Player of the Year award in 2024, and securing four caps thus far for Japan’s national team - no mean feat for a player of his age.

At only 20 years of age, time is on Takai’s side, and Spurs will be hoping this will be yet another young signing that can develop into a quality player for the first team. Whether this will be as depth for the senior squad this season, or further in the future with a loan planned for 2025/26, remains to be seen.

It’s a new signing - let the gif party commence!

Sport can be cruel somestimes. And, sometimes, it delivers that lesson more than once a day.

Monday was such a day.

First we look at Grigor Dimitrov, the 34-year-old Bulgarian who was once touted as Roger Federer’s heir to the World No. 1. Dimitrov’s career never shaped like many expected (largely because of the Big Four).

On Monday he had a chance to do something incredible: Take down World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the fourth round at Wimbledon.

It was a dominant display by Dimitrov, whose serve and sharp angles troubled Sinner on the grass - a surface he has never been comfortable with.

Dimitrov fought to take the first two sets of the match against Italian. And then, at 1-2 in the third set, sport delivered its first cruel lesson.

After serving an ace to level the set at 2-2, Dimitrov immediately grabbed his right pectoral muscle and fell on the floor. Sinner and the medical staff rushed to his attention before treating him on the sideline.

The roars of Centre Court quickly descended into stunned silence, with Roger Federer looking on as Dimitrov fought back tears. Sinner would be by his side.

Dimitrov ultimately was forced to retire, marking this the fifth consecutive Grand Slam where he had to pull out mid-match because of an injury. He would need his left arm to support his right to shake the umpire’s hand.

In another sport on the continent, Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen was forced to pull out of the Tour de France after a nasty crash on Stage 3.

From the video it appears that another cycle had collided with Philipsen, who was wearing the green jersey, who then tumbled over his bike while riding at approximately 61kph (according to the video).

Alpecin-Deceuninck boss Philip Roodhooft described the cyclist’s condition as a “broken collarbone, devastated, a lot of pain”.

In an instagram post, the team said a preliminary diagnosis found that he also suffered at least one broken rib - maybe two - and will require surgery.

It’s a horrible and nearly unimaginable way for Philipsen to exit the Tour. He is one of the most prolific sprint cyclists out there. He was expected to feature heavily feature again this year after winning three stages last year.

It’s hard to find positives when cruelty strikes like this. The only one I can muster (“It could’ve been a lot worse”), feels hollow. And the strange thing is, sport will continue to carry on because that’s the nature of sport.

Sinner will be back on the court Wednesday and the tournament will crown a men’s champion Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Tour de France continues with Stage 4 on Tuesday.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Lucinda, by Suzanne Vega

And now for your links:

The Athletic ($$): “Fabian Otte among five new appointments to Thomas Frank’s Tottenham staff”

Alasdair Gold: “Tottenham will have familiar feeling after Cristian Romero latest transfer update”

The Guardian: “Putellas at the double as rampant Spain hit rain-soaked Belgium for six at Euro 2025”

A surprise Tottenham Hotspur Women transfer? Sure seems that way! Spurs Women announced on their social media channels that they have finalized the permanent transfer of goalkeeper Becky Spencer to Chelsea. According to the BBC, Spencer is signing on a one year contract.

Spencer, 34, has been a fixture between the sticks for Spurs since the club promoted to the top flight a few years ago, and for most of her tenure she’s been a very competent keeper — she’s certainly had some monster games for Spurs in goal. But Spencer saw her involvement at Spurs decline over the past few seasons. Tottenham brought in Lize Kop from Liverpool to serve as first choice keeper and have Eleanor Heeps behind her. Last spring, Chelsea signed Spencer on an emergency loan to serve as cover when they had an injury crisis with three months to go in the season. Now it looks like they’ve made that move permanent.

The writing was more or less on the wall for Spencer at Tottenham after last season. She was starting to show her age and her reflexes weren’t what they once were, so it’s not a complete surprise that Spurs have decided to let her go. I honestly don’t know what her contract situation was at Spurs Women but it seems like a distinct possibility that Spurs may have just made a small amount of money for the sale of a 34-year old keeper.

Tottenham Hotspur have a bit of a central midfield problem. Their two most senior players, Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma, both have only one year remaining on their contracts and both are in their late twenties. As such, Spurs are likely looking to move one (or both) on, with Bissouma indicated as the most likely mover.

Thus far, links to possible destinations have been relatively quiet through the summer, but a number of tenuous links have begun to filter through for the Malian, with Juventus and Lille mooted as possible destinations:

Intriguingly, Dean Jones writing for GiveMeSport labels the links to Juve an “Exclusive”; however, the Italian media actually first indicated the possibility of a transfer to Turin via La Gazetta Dello Sport a couple of days ago. This could mean Jones has a different source to the Italian rags; it could also mean the whole thing is junk. It does seem like there is a little bit of smoke here, though, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the different reports originate from different places.

Both pieces have a couple of interesting takeaways. The Italian story indicates the Juventus interest is being driven specifically by their GM, Damien Comolli, Spurs’ former Director of Football. It’s this history that Gazetta ponders could aid negotiations, claiming that Comolli has an excellent relationship with Daniel Levy from his time at the club, and that he hopes he can perhaps secure Bissouma for less than Spurs’ suggested valuation of €15-20 million. It then goes on to note a couple of potential complications in any deal, with Juventus’ squad limitations meaning a Bissouma signing could possibly scupper further overseas signings, as well as competing interest from other (English) clubs.

GiveMeSport’s article is somewhat more circumspect about the Italian club’s interest, indicating Spurs are trying to create a market for the player (which... yeah) and that Juventus aren’t really interested in a bidding war. Jones mentions as well that Bissouma’s agents are shopping him around a few clubs, and that his former club Lille are interested on bringing Yves back to France.

All in all, there’s not much new here - but it does sound like good news for Spurs, with a number of clubs likely interested in Bissouma who at this point seems a little like the odd man out. It’s been a somewhat turbulent time at the club for the midfielder, who showed several glimpses of the heights he could achieve, but continued to be plagued by inconsistency and off-field issues. He also had a close relationship with Ange Postecoglou, so after securing a European trophy and seeing his mentor move on, it seems like the right time for a fresh start for both player and club.

For those of you trying to keep tabs on Ange Postecoglou’s whereabouts these days, I have an update: He was at Wimbledon on Saturday.

Here, take a look at the Europa League champion in all his glory:

From what I can tell, this is the second sporting event Postecoglou has attended since his departure from Tottenham. The other time was at Lord’s Cricket Ground a couple of weeks ago, but Wimbledon is so much cooler.

But what I want to know is this: Who did Postecoglou see play on Saturday? Judging from his coat and his notoriety, I think he’d have been at either Centre Court or Court No. 1. That would mean he’d watch one of these matches:

Centre Court:

Women’s singles Round 3: (8) Iga Swiatek def Danielle Collins 6-2 6-3

Men’s singles Round 3: (1) Jannik Sinner def Pedro Martinex 6-1 6-3 6-1

Men’s singles Roudn 3: (6) Novak Djokovic def Miromar Kecmanovic 6-3 6-0 6-4

Court No. 1:

Men’s singles round 3: (10) Ben Shelton def Martin Fucsovics 6-3 7-6 6-2

Women’s singles Roudn 3: (7) Mirra Andreeva def Helene Baptiste 6-1 6-3

Women’s singles Round 3: (10) Emma Navarro def (17) Barbora Krejcikova 2-6 6-3 6-4

If I had the choice, I would have preferred to have been on Centre Court that day of those two options. Of course the matches were pretty short, but Djokovic and Sinner are both playing incredible tennis, so that’s who you want to see if you’re looking for the best quality.

If you wanted drama, you should’ve gone to the outer courts. There, Lorenzo Sonego defeated Brandon Nakashima in a tight five-set match, defeating the American 10-3 in the final-set tiebreak. And 38-year-old Marin Cilic (and former US Open champion) continued his remarkable run, defeating Juame Munar in four sets.

It’s too bad Ange showed up on a day with few Aussies in action (only Daria Kasatkina). But if he happens to be back today, I bet he’d be on Centre Court watching World (11) Alex de Minaur taking on Novak Djokovic. Maybe he’ll be watching at home.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Ready or Not, by Herbie Hancock

And now for your links:

Alasdair Gold: “Thomas Frank makes Tottenham staff decision with two highly-rated coaches”

ESPN: “Mexico takes down United States to win 10th Gold Cup”

Tottenham Hotspur have big plans for Will Lankshear, but probably not quite yet. The 20 year old academy graduate and striker spent last spring on loan in the Championship with West Bromwich Albion where he made 11 appearances scoring 0 goals in a mostly reserve role.

Since that loan, former Spurs player and assistant Ryan Mason has taken charge at the Hawthornes, and predictably West Brom has now been linked with another loan for BIG WILLY LANKS. The Birmingham Mail is reporting that Lankshear is linked with another loan to the midlands club, with Mason very familiar with Lankshear and what he can bring to the Championship.

It’s the most obvious of links, but in this case it actually makes sense. Lankshear was tipped for big things by former West Brom manager Tony Mowbray, but then Mowbray got sacked and Lankshear’s loan really didn’t take off. It might this time around, though there’s admittedly not a lot of substance to this particular rumor.

According to videos out of Tottenham, Lankshear is one of the players who has already reported back for preseason training. Thomas Frank is apparently keen to get a look at all the players before approving any departures, so I wouldn’t expect a Lankshear loan for a bit yet. But it does make sense, unless Frank feels like Lankshear could make a first team impact this season with lots of competitions and matches to play.