Cartilage Free Captain

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.

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!