Cartilage Free Captain

I just woke up from a two hour nap after a chemo treatment today. When I went to bed nothing had changed. When I woke up, David Ornstein had dropped a bombshell report in The Athletic — according to the Ornacle, Spurs are in negotiations with Manchester City for the transfer of both Savinho AND Egypt striker Omar Marmoush.

Ornstein’s report does not discuss finances and notes that the talks are still underway (but “progressing”), however Sky Sports’ Matt Law suggests the pair might cost Spurs £140m combined. Previous reports had Savinho, whose transfer fee last summer was around €50m, costing upwards of £85m, a figure that might include escalators.

Well, that maybe explains why Savinho’s negotiations have been taking so long despite the Brazilian winger supposedly desperate to come join Spurs. This is something of a bombshell, but upon reflection and assuming it gets done it doesn’t feel like a particularly good deal. I assumed Marmoush was a youngish player, but in truth he’s 27 years old and hasn’t shown the production he promised at City since he joined. He was prolific at Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga but has only scored 10 goals in 37 appearances as Erling Haaland’s primary backup.

I know we don’t put a ton of stock on World Cup performances (good or bad) as it’s not always an accurate predictor of how a player will do in club competition, but it’s worth noting that Marmoush was AWFUL in this summer’s North American tournament. He started all three group games and the penalty shootout win over Australia in the R16 for Egypt this summer and didn’t record a single goal or assist with 11 shots. He was actually benched for Egypt’s controversial R16 loss to Argentina despite not being injured, coming in as an 80th minute substitute for Mohamed Zico.

That said, Marmoush can play up top or as a left wing and it makes you wonder if Spurs are looking at him as an alternate to Cody Gakpo, who at the moment doesn’t look likely to leave Liverpool. It also makes me wonder if this signing suggests there’s a future move this summer for Richarlison, who has been linked with a return to Everton and interest in Saudi Arabia.

I don’t know, y’all. Money isn’t real and I’ve stopped worrying about it since Spurs are in absolutely no FFP/SCR danger, but I can’t quite get it out of my head that this is another Tottenham “Premier League only” overpay for an aging and flawed player that might improve Spurs marginally but won’t be a good signing long term. I still love the Savinho signing and think he could be a transformational signing for us. I don’t get the same feeling about Marmoush, mostly due to his age but also his relative lack of performance in the Premier League. That lack of performance is very likely why he could be available for us to sign (if he were crushing it there’s no way City would ever let him go), but it comes with a few warning klaxons as well. In the same Athletic piece, Jay Harris suggests adding Savinho and Marmoush would make Tottenham top four contenders this season. That might be true, but I guess I have my eye more firmly on three years from now than this season.

Am I crazy? I might be! Marmoush joined City with a lot of fanfare and has a proven goal scoring record in Germany. But he’s aging and hasn’t really shown that same level of scoring at one of the best teams in the Premier League since joining. Are there sub effects here? Maybe. Is he an underrated pickup? Possibly. Is he perhaps not as good as what we think he is considering the financial outlay?

That’s what I’m worried about.

The injury bug that has plagued Tottenham Hotspur the past two seasons seems to be leaking out into the summer, with new signing Mateus Fernandes dealing with a calf injury in preseason that has resulted in him barely playing in Spurs’ five preseason friendlies. In addition, James Maddison has been handled with kid gloves while he works his way back from the ACL injury that caused him to miss nearly all of last season, while Destiny Udogie did not play a single minute of preseason while he comes back from some muscular injuries

But there’s good news — according to Sam Tabateu in The Standard, all three are back in training and are available for selection by Roberto De Zerbi for this Saturday’s season opener at Brentford.

Now, there are some qualifications here. Both Fernandes and Maddison started in the second Hoffenheim friendly at Hotspur Way but only played 45 minutes. They’ve both been back in full training for a couple of weeks now. Udogie hasn’t played at all. As good as the news is that they’re available for selection, it would be mildly surprising if either Fernandes or Maddison started on Saturday, and astonishing if we see Udogie in anything but as a late cameo. That said, it gives De Zerbi more options, and as the club’s transfer plans have seemingly stalled the past few weeks we’ll take all the good news we can get.

There isn’t, however, any word on Micky van de Ven, who himself hasn’t played in preseason. Nobody has made any public statement on what’s going on with Micky, nor on Domonic Solanke, whom we at Carty Free Towers assume died and/or returned to his home planet.

Spurs are reportedly still working on offensive transfers including Savinho and Cody Gakpo. Registration for participation in this weekend’s matches are due this Friday at noon, but even if Spurs were to make a signing today it’s unlikely either would play vs. Brentford.

Player options are good, and hopefully we see one or more of Fernandes, Maddison, and Udogie get some minutes under their belt this weekend.

Good morning everyone! The Premier League is around the corner- get hyped!

As we do every year, the hoddle headquarters is looking at the kits around the Premier League this season. So in the buildup to Matchday 1, we’ll be looking at the Premier League kits - the best! and the worst!

Today we’re checking out the home kits on offer. Let’s dig in:

This might be the third year in a row I’ve put a Palace kit among the best in the league. But how could I not this year. Just look at that sash - look at it! Hoddle Headquarters loves a sash kit, so it automatically enters the best-of territory. Love the colours as well. Everything about this is tops.

I don’t care how you spin it. Nothing will ever look good with that Vitality shirt sponsor bang in the centre of the chest. It’s big, it’s pink and it’s an eyesore. And it doesn’t match with the red or black at all, doubly so when you throw some of the gold piping in there.

Popped collar aside, this is a class kit.

This’ll look quite nice for Sunderland’s first European campagin five decades. From the club: “The iconic red and white stripes are augmented with a subtle jacquard ‘S’ fashioned in the style of the handles of the FA Cup. The contemporary club crest sits within a sewn-on shield mirroring the design of crest used in 1937, while the sign-off on the back neck recreates the crest itself.”

Already points deducted for just being Chelsea, but the kit doesn’t help.

The whole “Chelsea” crest where usually the shirt sponsor is reminds me of that well-written chant of theirs. How does it go again? Oh that’s right - “Chelsea, Chelsea Chelsea”. This shirt is about as inspired as that.

Here we go, back to one of the great ones. This home kit from Coventry is inspired by the 1987 FA Cup team. I absolutely love the jacquard sky blue vertical stripe, which really pops with the white. A superbly done kit.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Danger Zone, by Kenny Loggins

And now for your links:

Alasdair Gold: “Praise for ‘magic’ Tottenham wonderkid as Radu Dragusin makes instant impact in Italy”

The Telegraph: “Brentford players involved in punch-up with racist van driver named”

The Independent: “Premier League referee audio to be broadcast live for first time this season”

BBC: “Musiala collapses during match for second time”

Another one out the door! Today, Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur have both announced that Spurs’ #1 keeper from the past three seasons, Guglielmo Vicaro, has joined the Old Lady on a season long loan with a purchase option.

Vic, Tottenham’s starting keeper until his injury displaced him for Toni Kinski late last season, had been agitating for a return to Italy this summer, and though it took most of the transfer window Juventus have finally obliged. Vicario joins on loan for what has been reported as a purchase option in the amount of £8.6m. Subsequent reporting has suggested that the loan has an up front loan fee with the option itself costing only about €2m, which while still low still feels like a better deal than when the loan + option was first announced. Juventus spends more up front and then only has a small fee to make it permanent, which will make it less likely that they decide to back out of the deal entirely next summer.

Vic is a good keeper, but time displayed some of the holes in his game, especially his passing out of the back and general distribution. But on his day he’s a fantastic shot stopper. Kinsky has big shoes to fill, but he’ll be given the chance to do that.

The price of the brick keeps going up. According to the Times of London, Tottenham Hotspur’s pursuit of Brazilian winger Savinho could cost them as much as £85m. This particular transfer saga has now gone on for a year after Spurs expressed their interest and came close to signing Savinho last summer before City pulled the plug on negotiations.

The new £85m figure comes as almost a throwaway line in an article about City’s overall transfer business and their continued attempt to refresh the squad under new head coach Enzo Maresco.

City are in talks with Tottenham Hotspur over the potential sale of Savinho for £85million while Nico González’s situation is being monitored by several interested parties. The club also lost two of their top earners over the summer after Bernardo Silva and John Stones left for Real Madrid and Inter Milan respectively on free transfers.

I swear I can remember a time when the price for Savinho was rumored to be around £60m-65m. The delay in coming to an agreement appears to be mostly on the City side of negotiations — there are reports that Maresca has been delaying deciding whether Savinho is in his plans or not; meanwhile it’s been clear for a while now that Savinho is of great interest to Spurs and is one of Roberto De Zerbi’s top transfer targets, which no doubt has inflated the price. (This is why you don’t tip your hand in negotiations.)

Meanwhile, rarely has a player made it so clear that he wants to leave and join Tottenham Hotspur. His social media has included commenting on and befriending numerous Spurs player accounts, and he’s refused to train a couple of times now (though City has attributed this, plus his absence from the Community Shield squad, as “illness).

Do I think this transfer will eventually get done? Yes, probably. Will it get done in time for Brentford? Almost certainly not — Spurs will need to register their players by Wednesday in order to have them available to play in the season opener on Saturday, and even if a deal gets done today that only leaves 2-3 days of training before traveling to the Gtech Stadium.

It’s looking more and more like Tottenham’s forward line on Saturday will include Mathys Tel, Richarlison, and Mikey Moore.

Good morning everyone. Before we get to the hoddle proper, I’d just like to share a brief quote from one Warren Zevon: “Enjoy every sandwich.”

This is your the latest edition of Fitzie’s Film and TV Reviews, where your hoddler-in-chief reviews all things seen on the big and small screen.

Today’s entry is actually a favour for you all: I watched the Jose Mourinho documentary so you don’t have to.

For those wondering about any Tottenham connection, it is little. Mourinho’s time at the club is only reduced to a familiar clause (along the lines of I took Tottenham to a cup final but didn’t get to coach it) and two snapshots in a montage. Even Fenerbahce received more air time than that.

The three-part documentary is less about Jose Mourinho the man and more about Jose Mourinho the legend (as in the collection of stories accumulated during his career).

It’s filled with A-level stars like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sir Alex Ferguson, Frank Lampard and others. And Mourinho is a gifted storyteller, which makes a documentary in theory the perfect arena for his to craft his story.

But because this is about Mourinho the legend, we learn remarkably little. In fact, the documentary focuses much of his time at two clubs: Inter and Chelsea. The stories are mostly repeats of what’s already been said. Perhaps the only new dimension was how his relationship with Roman Abramovich deteriorated, and how he framed this through the lens of who football belongs to (perhaps this explains his thoughts on Daniel Levy).

And while the documentary revisits a moment in which he lashed out over a former Chelsea team doctor (Eva Carneiro) for tending to Eden Hazard during a match, it appears to do little to seek out Carneiro’s side other than a quick snipped of her attending court and a subsequent news headline.

Mourinho makes clear in the third act he doesn’t want to share large parts of his life, which is fine. But if so, then why bother with this project at all? There are a few glimpses where some of these are revealed such as how he viewed his playing career in the context of being a football manager, as well as his relationship with his family, yet the documentary fails to dig deeper into these dynamics.

Perhaps that’s what makes Mourinho the manager he is. In the opening of the series we hear how the tunnel is the last time he thinks about his family before stepping onto the pitch. Perhaps this was the same exercise, where the personal elements that built up this legend were pushed aside for the same stories we’ve heard for years now.

The only difference is that these same stories were presented in a glossy Netflix doc, and makes me question what the point was in doing this at all.

Fitzie’s track of the day (dedicated in loving memory to Richard): Wildflowers, by Tom Petty

Jay Harris: “It is essential Spurs avoid another season of injury woe. This is how they are trying to do it”

Alasdair Gold: “The uncomfortable Guglielmo Vicario incident and what went wrong at Tottenham”

Yahoo Sports: “Eva Carneiro fires back at Jose Mourinho and John Terry after Netflix revisits Chelsea controversy”

The Guardian: “Premier League to allow audio of conversations between players and referees”

Well, we’re five days from the start of the new Premier League season, so it’s high time I get this up, huh? Those of you who have been around this site for a while know that we love a good prediction. With the new Premier League season scheduled to kick off this Friday with Arsenal vs. Coventry, it’s time for our annual Community Premier League Predictions poll. Will Arsenal (eww) repeat as champions (eww eww eww)? Will Manchester City crumble under a new manager and a minor rebuild? Will Tottenham regain their place in the European qualification spots? If not, who? Who will make top four? Who will be relegated?

Here at Cartilage Free Captain, we have our opinions on what the table will look like when it’s all said and done, and we’ll be sharing those opinions a little later. But we’re also very interested to know what YOU think as well. (Assuming you’re not an internet bot. Are you a bot? Don’t take the poll.)

Yeah, we know that the transfer window doesn’t close until a few weeks after the season starts again this year. We know that Premier League teams, including Tottenham, could look different before everything is said and done. That’s fine. That’s part of the fun! And it’ll be even more hilarious when we’re all wrong.

Like in recent seasons, we are again adding a few additional questions to make the poll more fun. After you’ve finished ranking the table, click through, since we have some other fun prediction questions for you to decide on. I’ll be back towards the end of the week to take a look at the Carty Free Community Table Rankings.

If you are viewing this article on a mobile phone via AMP, the survey itself may not embed in the article. If that happens, click on this direct link to take the survey and join in on the fun.

This summer has been one of will-he-or-won’t-he regarding Richarlison, Tottenham Hotspur’s leading scorer from last season. His five year contract, signed when he joined Spurs from Everton in 2022, expires in 2027, and he’s been linked away from the club for what feels like forever. Richy loves Spurs but has had a tumultuous time in North London — winning an Europa League title, but struggling with injuries and having to play for five different Spurs managers in his three years at the club.

Everton have been making overtures about potentially making a bid to re-sign Richy this summer, though nothing has (yet) come about it. There are rumors that he could exit this summer, be it to Everton, to Saudi Arabia, or back to Brazil, leaving at the time of this article’s posting one senior recognized striker at the club in Dominic Solanke, who is apparently dealing with an injury that’s kept him out of all of Spurs’ friendlies.

However, there is a wrinkle — according to Alasdair Gold in Football.London, Spurs have a clause in Richy’s contract where they can choose to extend his contract a further year to June of 2028, which gives them some flexibility to either demand some concessions if they choose to sell him this summer, or kick the can down the road a year. This was a specialty of Fabio Paratici when he was our co-Sporting Director, and a bunch of Tottenham’s players have this extension clause in their contracts. Apparently that includes Richarlison.

As of right now, Richarlison is almost certainly going to be Spurs’ starting forward in this weekend’s season opener at Brentford. It’s either that or play with a false nine like what we saw in Spurs’ second friendly vs. Hoffenheim last weekend. Even if Spurs were to sign a new striker early this week, it’s unlikely they’ll complete the deal and be ready and fit to play this Saturday.

Honestly, I still don’t know what Spurs will end up doing with Richy this summer, but whatever it is they better decide quickly. If they sign a new striker, I can potentially see him leaving (assuming he actually wants to) but considering we aren’t exactly close to signing a new striker anytime soon, I have my doubts as to whether that will happen. And going into Brentford without our top scorer (and our one healthy natural striker) feels incredibly foolish. If Spurs don’t end up signing a new striker, I can totally see an option where they extend Richy for a year and we go through all of this again next summer.

So let’s put a pin in this for now.

Cue the aghast sounds from Tottenham Hotspur’s fan base. According to Nizaar Kinsella at the BBC, Tottenham Hotspur and Juventus have come to an agreement for the transfer of goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario. The deal is apparently a season-long loan with a purchase option — not obligation — in the amount of €8.6m (£7.3).

I’m not wild about this deal and here’s why: Vicario has two years left on his initial five year contract when he signed for Spurs for £16.25m in 2023. While the loan almost certainly has a loan fee and the option of £7.3m would represent at minimum Spurs breaking even from an accounting standpoint on what they paid for Vicario, the loan gives Juventus a convenient excuse to back out of the deal by crying poverty, or at minimum an opening to renegotiate the option to something even lower. If Juve backs out of the deal suddenly Spurs are left next summer with a disgruntled Italian keeper in the last year of his contract and a significantly reduced transfer value. It sucks.

I was hoping for an obligation — get Juventus on the hook to pay SOMETHING real at the beginning of next summer for a player that Roberto De Zerbi clearly does not have in his plans. But I guess it’s better than nothing — Googly Elmo gets to return to his homeland and since Spurs aren’t in Europe they can pretend he doesn’t exist for a year. But while Spurs have been undoubtedly much better this summer at getting unwanted players out the door for whatever price they can manage, I can’t say I’m happy with this particular deal.

Good morning!

It’s hard to believe four years had passed since I last saw Yard Act perform at the Black Cat. The post-punk Leeds outfit came out of the Covid-era with a banger of a debut album. It was clear that they had something to say.

The odd thing is that, in their third record, You’re Gonna Need a Little Music, James Smith has a little bit of a different message: “I’ve done absolutely nothing since I last saw you four years ago / Ah, how you doing, yeah, I’m still chipping away / But I’ve got absolutely nothing / Absolutely nothing new to say”

This is the sort of imposter syndrome Yard Act tackle in their most recent project. The quartet are exploring new styles and adopting different references from disco house to Blur and Muse to create a far more varied sound.

That all creates for a deeper, richer backlog of tracks to dig into when they hit the stage. And, four years on from first seeing them, they returned to Black Cat with as much ferocity as ever.

Over the course of roughly 80 minutes Yard Act played a setlist with their hard-hitting debut tracks, the newer material and some more pop-driven hits from Where’s My Utopia (e.g.: We Make Hits).

Yard Act are a band that don’t seem to be afraid to say what’s on their mind, even if one of those things might be “I have nothing new to say”. The funny thing is, it appears there’s still a lot out there.

What I struggled to understand was how Yard Act couldn’t sell out the Black Cat, which has a capacity of about 700 or so people. So, four years on, are Yard Act bigger or just the same? Looking at other venues plus the attention they’ve been receiving from Rolling Stone and elsewhere (I imagine they’re getting pretty big in the UK indie punk circuit), you have to believe this must have something more to do with DC.

All that’s to say is I hoped they had graduated from this venue by now - say to 9:30 Club. Yard Act deserve a venue like that. Hopefully it’ll be an option the next time they visit the US.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Empty Pledges, by Yard Act

And now for your links:

The Athletic ($$): “Why Djed Spence’s transfer to Inter for £25m makes sense for all parties”

BBC: “Villa close in on Suzuki with Martinez future in doubt”

ESPN: “Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney reaffirm Wrexham’s Premier League target”

Vogue: “Inside Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez’s Intimate Wedding Day in Portugal”

The Guardian: “‘We’re really good. I don’t mean that arrogantly’: Yard Act on bullying, imposter syndrome and their heavy new sound”