London Evening Standard

Tottenham are closing in on their second summer signing with Kota Takai set to join in a deal worth around £5million.

The highly-rated Japanese defender is set to join Thomas Frank's senior squad and will compete for first-team minutes next season rather than be sent out on loan.

Takai's current club, Kawasaki Frontale, have now confirmed the plan for the player's exit and subsequent move to the Premier League, suggesting that the 20-year-old could be at Hotspur Way next week.

A club statement read: "We would like to inform you that Kota Takai will be leaving the team at the end of the activity on Saturday, July 5 in order to complete the necessary procedures and preparations for a transfer to an overseas club.

"We will notify you further regarding future plans as soon as they are officially decided.

"After the match against Kashima Antlers in the 23rd round of the J1 League on Saturday, July 5, Kota Takai will be giving a speech to the supporters.

Eze have moved to the top of Spurs’ shortlist ahead of Bryan Mbeumo and Antoine Semenyo

Major statement: Tottenham are looking to bolster their attack by signing Eberechi Eze

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Sam Tabuteau

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Tottenham are turning their attention to Crystal Palace midfielder Eberechi Eze as Thomas Frank looks to make a statement signing this summer.

Eze, who is believed to have a £68m release clause, guided Crystal Palace to the first piece of major silverware in the club’s history last season, scoring in the FA Cup final as Oliver Glasner’s side upset Manchester City at Wembley in May.

Eze's release clause has attracted a number of potential suitors, including long-term admirers Tottenham, to the 26-year-old's availability, and the lure of Champions League football at Spurs could be enough to convince Eze to join, with Palace still unsure whether they'll be granted access to the Europa League following their FA Cup win.

Tottenham looked at Eze last summer but never submitted a firm bid according to Palace chairman Steve Parish. They now, however, look set to return for the England international, with Frank keen to make a statement of intent after arriving from Brentford.

Spurs are in the market for a winger this summer, with Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo and Brentford's Bryan Mbeumo on their list of attacking options.

The Europa League winners have, however, been touted a fee in the region of £70m for Semenyo, with Bournemouth keen not to lose any more key players, while Mbeumo favours a move to Manchester United, who submitted a second bid of around £60m for the Brentford forward on Monday night.

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It makes Eze's release clause all the more enticing for Spurs as they look towards life without talismanic forward Heung Min-Son, who has one year left on his current deal.

Heung-min Son has entered the final year of his contract at Tottenham

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Spurs looking for attacking reinforcements

With Europa League-winning winger Brennan Johnson Tottenham's top scorer in the Premier League last season with 11 goals, Frank will be keen to address a misfiring frontline.

This will mean relying on striker Dominic Solanke to find fitness after an injury-hit first season at the club. But it will also mean injecting some creativity into a team that looked devoid of ideas for much of last term.

Frank was the beneficiary of Mikkel Damsgaard's renaissance last season, with the Danish midfielder producing 10 assists for a Brentford team that scored more goals than Tottenham despite operating at different ends of the financial spectrum, and he'll see Eze as the sort of versatile threat out wide and centrally that could elevate Tottenham's attack.

Tottenham already have options at left wing. But with Son's future uncertain, Richarlison struggling for fitness, and Wilson Odobert, Mathys Tel - who signed permanently from Bayern Munich last week - and Mikey Moore all between 17 and 20 years old, there's room for Eze, who mainly plays as a number 10, to come in and make an impact.

Priorities may lie elsewhere, with Johnson the only senior option on the right wing. But Tottenham are long-term admirers of Eze and will view his release clause as an opportunity to sign one of the Premier League's most exciting players for a fraction of his market value.

Eberechi Eze starred as Crystal Palace won their first major piece of silverware

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Eze centrepiece of history-making Palace side

Despite a slow start to the season, scoring just twice in the league in the first half of the campaign, Eze, like Palace, came to the fore in 2025, with the midfielder putting up 14 goals and 11 assists in all competitions for the Eagles by the end of the season.

Eze's performances en route to a historic FA Cup win will go down in Palace folklore, with the former QPR man scoring in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final as they lifted the FA Cup against all odds.

Five goals in his final five league games, including a brace against Tottenham, helped Palace secure a 12th-placed finish, and it was that momentum that he carried with him into the showpiece Wembley final, finishing from Daniel Munoz's low cross to break the deadlock against the run of play.

Eze's quality has never been in question, and with his Palace legacy now established having made history at Wembley, he may feel the time is right for a new challenge.

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Mbeumo, who hit 20 Premier League goals this season, is widely expected to move in the second summer transfer window, with United submitting an opening offer worth £45million plus £10m in add-ons at the start of June.

United are reportedly now readying a second bid for the Cameroon international, but their pursuit of Mbeumo could be complicated by the fact that former Brentford boss Thomas Frank has joined Tottenham.

Spurs, who beat United in the Europa League final last month, are in the market for a new winger and have identified Mbeumo, who remains open to joining Tottenham, as a potential target alongside Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo.

Brentford will be glad to entertain a bidding war between the two teams, who both endured difficult domestic campaigns, and are in a strong bargaining position with the club holding the option to extend Mbeumo's contract, which expires in June 2026, by an additional year.

Brentford want to hold out for a fee close to the £62.5m United paid for Wolves forward Matheus Cunha earlier in the summer. Most importantly, however, they want strong payment terms, which would mean maximising the fee received up front.

That could cause problems for United, who had wanted to pay for Cunha over five years before eventually meeting Wolves' terms of three instalments over two seasons.

United's initial reluctance suggests they are not in a strong position to meet Brentford's terms, and that could open the door for Tottenham to move for Mbeumo.

Frank was the man who brought Mbeumo to England as a teenager in 2019, and the pair enjoy a close relationship, having helped take Brentford from the Championship to the Premier League before enjoying four successive seasons in the top-flight.

Mbeumo also knows Frank's backroom staff members at Spurs, Justin Cochrane (first-team assistant coach), Chris Haslam (head of performance and first-team assistant coach) and Joe Newton (first-team analyst), from his time at Brentford.

During the 2021-22 season, Brentford's first in the Premier League, Mbeumo underperformed his expected goals (xG), scoring just four times from an xG of 9.3.

Cochrane came to the club the following season, working closely with Brentford's attackers, and this season Mbeumo outperformed his xG, scoring 20 times from an xG of just 12.3. Without Cochrane's intervention, there is an argument to say that Mbeumo may not have become the player he is today.

Mbeumo looked set to hit new heights in the 2023-24 season after grabbing seven goals and four assists by early December, but an ankle injury sidelined him for the next four months of the campaign. That form was to be an early indication of what was to come.

The pair struck up an enviable partnership, hitting 39 goals between them in the league, but where Mbeumo stood out was in his ability to take charge of games, opening the scoring in 10 of Brentford's 38 top-flight matches.

A deeply competitive individual, Mbeumo was often seen as quite erratic during his early days at Brentford. Now, with the help of Wissa, who he said has helped him to control his emotions better, Mbeumo has been able to channel his competitive edge into something more productive.

United remain confident of wrapping up a deal for Mbeumo and are still frontrunners for his signature. Brentford, though, are prepared to wait for favourable terms before sanctioning a sale and Tottenham are ready to come in should their rivals struggle to agree a price.

Manchester United have reportedly improved their bid for Bryan Mbeumo, who is said to be leaning towards a move to Tottenham.

United saw an opening bid of £45million, plus £10m in add-ons, rejected by the Bees earlier in June, with the west London club looking for closer to £70m to sell the 25-year-old.

Thomas Frank's move across London to Tottenham saw Spurs enter the race for a player who scored 20 goals in the Premier League last season.

Journalist Duncan Castles reports on Thursday that United have now moved to wrap up a deal for Mbeumo by offering a deal worth in excess of £60m.

It remains to be seen how Brentford will respond to the bid, but Castles, speaking on ‘The Transfers Podcast’ reports that the Bees will do everything in their power to see their £70m asking price met.

Spurs, Newcastle and Aston Villa are all interested, and United are moving quickly to beat stiff competition for the forward, who is expected to leave.

Mbeumo has previously been thought to prefer a move to United over rival bidders, but Castles adds that he is now of the understanding that it is Spurs who could now be the more attractive option.

Tottenham have been fined £75,000 after homophobic chanting was heard from a section of their fans during the Premier League match against Manchester United last year.

Spurs were charged by the Football Association (FA) with two breaches of FA Rule E21 in relation to crowd control misconduct during their 3-0 win at Old Trafford on September 29, 2024.

It had been alleged that they “failed to ensure its spectators and or supporters (and anyone purporting to be supporters or followers) conduct themselves in an orderly fashion and don’t use words or otherwise behave in an improper, offensive, abusive, indecent, or insulting way with either an express or implied reference to sexual orientation”.

Tottenham admitted both charges and were initially fined £150,000 in addition to an independent regulatory commission issuing a warning and providing an action plan, though that was later reduced to £75,000 on appeal.

Spurs were quick to condemn the homophobic chanting at Old Trafford after the game in September and vowed to take the strongest possible action against anyone identified as having taken part.

“The club is aware of abhorrent homophobic chanting from sections of our away support at Old Trafford today,” they said in a statement.

“The club will be working closely with the Police and stewards to identify anyone instigating or joining in with the chanting - we shall take the strongest possible action in accordance with our Sanctions and Banning Policy.

“We shall be continuing our work with our LGBTQ+ supporters’ association, Proud Lilywhites, to ensure a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans on matchdays.

“We are justly proud of our superb and loyal support, home and away. However, we all have a responsibility to act as ambassadors of Tottenham Hotspur and discrimination of any kind has no place at our club.”

The Dane swapped West London for North last week, putting pen to paper on a three-year deal, and will lead Spurs in their pursuit of a second title in as many seasons after they clinched the Europa League last year.

His predecessor, Ange Postecoglou, was often criticised for his stubborn commitment to an all-action offensive style, but, speaking after signing, Frank committed to doing the very same.

“The intention is to play aggressive front-footed football,” he declared in his first interview since signing. “I know the ethos and the history of the club is massive on attacking football, and I think there is a lot of attacking talent in the squad. I am very excited about that.

“They have clearly shown over the last two seasons, their ability to score goals is fantastic. I am very in on that. I love a team that is scoring goals, very, very big on principles. I want to build on that.”

While rumours abound that Frank Spurs are looking to sign attacking reinforcements, namely Brentford’s 20-goal winger Bryan Mbeumo, Frank gushed over his new squad, saying it has limitless potential to develop.

He went on: “Dominic Solanke, I am a big fan of him in terms of his abilities, I am sure we will make him score a lot of goals.

“[Rodrigo] Bentancur, [James] Maddison, of course, the younger ones as well, it is all players we need to develop and make perform at the highest level. [Lucas] Bergvall, Archie Gray, [Wilson] Odobert, [Destiny] Udogie, all of them have a high ceiling. You could mention the whole squad.

“It is always about winning. We need to make the team win on a Saturday, and a Tuesday, and a Saturday, and on Wednesday, but we also need to develop the individual players. That is down to me and my staff, and the players, how we work together on a day-to-day basis.”

Frank seems set to import his direct tactics from Brentford to N17, specifying that he expected his players to give their all in a high-risk style of play.

“I always say this one-liner, ‘if you don’t take risks, you also take risks.’ You need to play forward. If you don’t risk the ball, you can’t create anything. I am a big believer in that.

“The players need to be brave when we play, and they need to trust themselves. I will do my very best to install that trust.

“For me, if they lose the ball by trying, it is never a problem for me. But if they don’t work hard, I struggle more with that. If they do everything they can and lose the ball, it is no problem, but if they don’t work hard, that is my non-negotiable.”

Frank confident his predecessor will be remember as a “legend” at the club

Warm words: Thomas Frank was full of praise for the job Ange Postecoglou did at Spurs

Tottenham Hotspur

Matt Verri

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Thomas Frank sent a classy message to Ange Postecoglou in his first interview as Tottenham boss.

The Dane has taken charge at Spurs after Postecoglou was sacked, despite leading the club to Europa League glory and a first piece of silverware since 2008.

Postecoglou remained hugely popular with the Spurs players but Daniel Levy and the club opted to part ways with the Australian due to the club’s domestic struggles.

Frank has left Brentford to replace Postecoglou in north London and, speaking for the first time since that move, paid tribute to the work of his predecessor.

“Huge congratulations to the club, to the team,” Frank said as he discussed the Europa League victory.

“Huge congratulations to Ange. He’ll forever be a legend in Tottenham and congratulations to him for that.

“I think it’s very important to understand that we all stand on the shoulders of others. I’m going in on the foundations that Ange built and his coaching staff, and I’m very humble about that.

“I’ll do my very best to continue the great work that he put in.”

Frank’s challenge will be to bring some more consistency to Spurs, who lost 22 Premier League matches last season and finished 17th in the table.

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He must juggle Champions League football with the demand for better domestic displays, but Frank made it clear his focus is on delivering more silverware.

“The feeling and the excitement and the joy and the happiness you could see in the fans’ face and the pictures you saw... wow,” Frank said.

“So hopefully we can create more of those moments, that would be the ultimate dream to do that and build on that.

“Hey, no-one can say they’re not winners. The team and the players are winners, now we need to see if we can become serial winners in the future.”

Frank also emphasised the need for Spurs to improve on their performances on home soil next season.

Under Postecoglou, only six of 19 Premier League matches were won at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last season. Ipswich and Southampton were the only teams to concede more goals on home soil.

“We’re going on a journey together and on a journey there are ups and downs,” Frank said. “It’s how we get through these ups and downs together.

“But of course the connection from the team to the fans, from me to the fans, is going to be crucial.

“And a very important thing is to make our home like a fortress. That can only be the fans and us together, that needs to be an ongoing relationship. I want our home to be very, very difficult to come to.”

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Both club and coach will be determined to significantly improve on the 2024/25 domestic campaign, which saw Spurs finish a scarcely believable 17th in the league, just above the relegation zone, with only 38 points and 22 defeats. Ange Postecoglou won the Europa League, ending Spurs’ 17-year trophy drought, but was still sacked.

Frank has since taken over, having been lured from his role at Brentford to replace the Australian at the helm. Spurs have made the Mathys Tel loan move permanent and are targeting Bryan Mbeumo to further strengthen their attack.

Spurs’ first real test comes in their second game as Frank will be tasked to continue the club’s fine record against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. It is part of an otherwise kind opening run for them as they settle into the new campaign. They travel to West Ham in September, and host them in January.

A tough November sees Spurs host Chelsea and Manchester United before the first north London derby, away at Arsenal. The Gunners come to N17 in February.

Frank welcomes former team Brentford to town in early December, before his first return to west London coming just weeks later in the club’s final game of 2025.

Daniel Levy has outlined his commitment to helping Tottenham go on to achieve more success after their long trophy drought finally came to an end.

Spurs had gone 17 years without winning any major silverware until they beat Manchester United 1-0 in the Europa League final in Bilbao last month.

Such a memorable triumph was not enough to prevent a managerial change in north London this summer, with Ange Postecoglou paying the price for overseeing the worst Premier League campaign in the club’s history as he was sacked only a fortnight later and replaced by long-time Brentford boss Thomas Frank.

Levy has now publicly addressed the collective board decision to move on from Postecoglou and hire Frank for the first time in an interview with Tottenham’s in-house media team, in which he spoke alongside new club CEO Vinai Venkatesham.

Levy has come in for increasing criticism from frustrated Spurs fans amid protests against both him and the ownership this season, though the top-flight’s longest-serving chairman - having first taken up the role in 2001 - is now hoping to take the club to Premier League and Champions League success in future after a pivotal hurdle was finally cleared in Bilbao.

“I’ve got very broad shoulders, failure is not an option,” he said. “The desire [is] to succeed. Because it’s so difficult I want to succeed even more.

“The pressure and disappointment of not winning over a number of years, I just wanted it so desperately. Not just for me, my family, but all the fans around the world.

“We deserve some luck, and that last seven or so minutes [of the Europa League final] was horrific. It felt like hours. So when that final whistle went, that was just an amazing experience.

“And you saw the outpouring of emotion with the parade, it was just incredible. We’ve won a European trophy, but it’s not enough.

“It’s what we haven’t done that is more important. We need to win the league. We want to win the Premier League, we want to win the Champions League. We want to win.”

Levy also said: “We’re very proud of the stadium, but we need to make sure we win on the pitch. There’s no point in having a wonderful stadium if you haven’t got a wonderful team and winning.

“The reason we do all these other events is to provide additional financial resources to the club, which in turn goes back into the team. Everything is about the team. Everything.”

Daniel Levy has explained why Tottenham appointed Vinai Venkatesham as their new CEO this summer, with the former Arsenal stalwart outlining his vision for the club to reach “another level”.

Standard Sport first revealed back in April that Spurs were hiring Venkatesham in a newly-created role as part of a summer boardroom shake-up.

The arrival of Venkatesham - also courted by Newcastle - was seen as a coup for Tottenham after he previously spent 14 years in a variety of roles at north London rivals Arsenal, including four as CEO, plus working with the British Olympic Association (BOA), on the board and executive committee of the European Club Association (ECA) and also at the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics as well as the 2017 World Athletics Championships.

“I’ve known Vinai for a number of years, without doubt he was the candidate,” chairman Levy said in a new joint-interview with Venkatesham posted on Tottenham’s official YouTube channel and website. “Sometimes when you employ somebody you don’t know if you’re going to get on, but because we’ve known each other that risk wasn’t there.

“So I’m very excited that Vinai has joined us and I think the club is going to benefit enormously from it. Vinai is a good communicator, honest, integrity, bright. He enjoys being challenged and I want to be challenged as well.”

For his part, Venkatesham - who received an OBE last year - insisted that he would not have joined Tottenham if he did not think them capable of hitting new heights in the aftermath of their Europa League triumph in Bilbao last month that finally ended a 17-year wait for a major trophy.

“I think the club has got wonderful foundations,” he said. “I’m biased, I grew up in London so I think the club is based in the greatest city in the world.

“It has an outstanding stadium and training centre, and it’s got a huge global fanbase. The foundations are brilliant, but I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think that there was another level that this football club can get to.

“We got a bit of a taste of that in Bilbao, I think everyone associated with the club wants more of that. I think there is another level this club can get to, and I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think that level was there.”

Venkatesham said his and Levy’s complementary skills made for a “really powerful partnership”, revealing that he would be taking “more of a lead day-to-day on operational matters on and off the pitch”, but insisting they would be working together with no significant decisions taken that they aren’t “completely joined at the hip on”.

“That doesn’t mean that we always agree, we often disagree and we often challenge each other. But I think that’s a good thing,” said Venkatesham, who added that Levy was a key part of him deciding to join Tottenham. “I think by working together we will get to better answers.”

Outlining his immediate priorities since starting at Tottenham, Venkatesham referenced the hiring of Thomas Frank to become new manager of the men’s team, searching for a replacement for Robert Vilahamn as women’s head coach and spending time learning what is important to fans, with meetings with the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust (THST) and Fan Advisory Board scheduled for later this month.

He also said he intends to spend as much time as possible with Tottenham’s 800 staff members to understand what the club does well and where they need to improve moving forward.