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Tottenham are preparing for a crucial Champions League game vs Monaco, but Thomas Frank will be without Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie.

Tottenham Hotspur’s attention now turns to UEFA Champions League action, where they will take on AS Monaco on Wednesday night.

It is a trip to France, and with it being an away tie, Thomas Frank might fancy his chances given Spurs’ dismal home record.

The Dane watched his Tottenham team fall to yet another home defeat at the weekend, with Aston Villa beating his side at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium 2-1, despite Spurs taking an early lead.

Coming into the clash against AS Moncao, Frank will be hoping that the fitness of his squad improves, as he has a few injury concerns to contend with.

The Dane’s 22-man Champions League squad is set to be tested for the first time this campaign, with almost ten first-team players expected to miss Wednesday night’s clash.

Cristian Romero remains a doubt, with Frank revealing that it is touch-and-go with the centre-back.

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Destiny Udogie is also nursing an irritation to his knee, and it remains to be seen whether the full-back will be fit enough to feature against the French side.

Dominic Solanke is still out, while unregistered players James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Radu Dragusin, Yves Bissouma, Mathys Tel, and Takai cannot render any services to the Dane.

Kevin Danso is fit and could come in for Romero, but Ben Davies remains sidelined following an injury during the international break.

Frank has now provided an injury update on his squad ahead of Wednesday’s encounter. On Cristian Romero, he said (Football London): “It’s an adductor strain. We will assess it more this week before we confirm any timeframe.” When asked if fans should be worried, he added: “No, I don’t think so, it’s a strain.”

On Destiny Udogie, he said: “No [he has not travelled], the latest is that he got that knee irritation after international duty. We are assessing and working very hard to get on top of it. We’ll know more day by day.”

Tottenham are locked in a tightly fought contest to sign an experienced forward in January, and it has now emerged that the Lilywhites have moved to the front of the queue in the transfer race.

Spurs Web has relayed several reports over recent weeks suggesting that Tottenham want to add a number nine to their squad in the summer.

This comes amidst suggestions that Spurs are ready to cash in on Richarlison, with the Lilywhites thought to have dropped their asking price for the Brazilian.

It has emerged recently that Tottenham are one of several Premier League clubs eyeing a move for Dusan Vlahovic, who is allegedly looking for an exit route from Juventus.

Tottenham are Dusan Vlahovic’s preferred destination

Some sources have claimed that Spurs and Chelsea are the clubs at the front of the queue to land Vlahovic.

However, it has now been revealed by former Everton CEO Keith Wyness, who remains well connected with industry sources, that the Serbian is leaning towards a switch to N17.

When asked about the race for the Juve star’s signature, Wyness told Football Insider: “Spurs are the team that I’m hearing he’s leaning towards, and I think that could be something that makes sense.

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“If you look at what Spurs have got right now, there’s still that sort of striker position where they are lacking real experience. I think he might be the right sort of fit for them.

“There’s a long time to go yet, but I think in terms of January, it could possibly get done. Vlahovic is edging towards Spurs, and that’s where I’m thinking he may just fit.”

Spurs can land Vlahovic on the cheap

The 25-year-old is in the final year of his contract at Juve, and is thus able to sign a pre-contract agreement with clubs outside the Serie A starting from January.

Unsurprisingly, it has been reported that the Bianconeri are keen to cash in on the former Fiorentina man in the upcoming transfer window.

Tottenham’s head of scouting, Rob Mackenzie, has revealed something very interesting about how the club’s transfer market strategy has evolved over the last two years.

Since Daniel Levy’s exit, we have seen numerous reports that ENIC are ready to change Tottenham’s transfer strategy and go after ready-made players.

Several outlets have suggested that Spurs are ready to target elite signings over the next few transfer windows in an effort to close the gap with the best sides in the Premier League.

It was even claimed last week that the new Tottenham leadership are ready to do away with the self-imposed wage cap so that they can go toe-to-toe with other sides for big-name signings.

Rob Mackenzie admits Tottenham were in a transitional phase over the last two years

Under Ange Postecoglou, the Lilywhites targeted talented young players who had a high ceiling but were not yet the finished product.

The club have had some success with that approach, with the likes of Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray and even Micky van de Ven developing impressively.

Mackenzie has now admitted that it was a deliberate strategy since the feeling at N17 was that they had to transition their squad after the exit of some experienced players, but explained that the club’s approach has now evolved.

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He told Training Ground Guru: “When I had the privilege to rejoin Tottenham Hotspur just short two years ago, there were a whole host of things from a strategic perspective that would enhance our ability to be successful moving forward.

“At that time, with Ange (Postecoglou) as the Head Coach, we were definitely in a period of transition in terms of some of the more experienced players leaving. So how do you regenerate a squad from an energy perspective, an enthusiasm perspective, a strategic perspective?

“Within that summer and in January, we signed players who would assist with our mid to long-term sustainability as a football club. With qualification for the Champions League secured by virtue of winning last season’s Europa League, Tottenham’s transfer strategy shifted this summer.

“It’s about getting a balance and complementing what you already have. We were fortunate enough to have signed those young talents who not only can contribute now but also in the future.

“Then it felt natural [to] say, well if we’ve hopefully done a solid role in recruiting some of the most exciting talents across Europe and beyond, then actually from a short-term competitiveness perspective… it felt natural to enhance the 11 in as many ways as possible and give Thomas Frank and his staff different options across different areas of the pitch.

“Because winning games is the most important thing. Any Spurs fan who was in Bilbao (will know) that winning things is the holy grail. Moving forward, we’ll look to enhance in both areas, kind of balance them both off.”

Spurs are happy with their summer business

Mackenzie also explained that Tottenham’s recruitment had to evolve to match Thomas Frank’s tactical approach.

He insisted that the North London club’s summer window was a successful one and that there is alignment across the club on their recruitment decisions.

Mackenzie continued: “For example, if I predominantly have offensive-minded full-backs, because predominantly that is how we play, sometimes it’s the request that I want someone a bit more defensive-minded, a bit more well-balanced, because this game model will be fluid, it will change.

“If then within a game I want to affect that and I want to change it, that’s how I can do it. Having players within a squad who are capable of complementing each other and leading to you being able to win games in different ways, that is also still vitally important.

“Very objectively, I think we had a successful transfer window in the summer and we’ve brought in players capable of influencing our 11 and enhancing our performance in the Premier League. In the players that we agreed to sign – as a collective and obviously led by Thomas (Frank) – they are all playing regularly and contributing to our 11. For me, that is the best indicator that there is agreement and alignment.”

We have compared Tottenham Hotspur’s next five Premier League fixtures with those of their big six rivals to see how they stack up.

It is back to the drawing board for Thomas Frank and his Tottenham Hotspur side, who have now slipped into sixth place in the Premier League table.

This leaves Tottenham a point behind the top four and five away from bitter rivals Arsenal, who currently sit at the top of the table.

Frank will certainly be looking to avoid any further slip-ups as the gap between sixth and 12th is remarkably slim, with just three points separating Spurs from Everton.

The next two to three weeks are set to be decisive, as Tottenham face a congested fixture list that includes six matches before the November international break, across all competitions.

Tottenham’s next five Premier League fixtures compared to Big Six rivals

Following the latest 2-1 defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to Aston Villa, Spurs Web has taken a look at Tottenham’s upcoming Premier League fixtures compared to their top-six rivals.

Arsenal’s next five fixtures

Manchester City’s next five fixtures

Liverpool’s next five fixtures

Chelsea’s next five fixtures

Manchester United’s next five fixtures

Gabby Agbonlahor has given his honest opinion of what the atmosphere was like at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against Aston Villa on Sunday.

Ahead of the game, Thomas Frank spoke about the need for Tottenham to make their home ground a fortress, but it has been anything but so far this season.

In fact, Spurs have the fourth-worst home record in the Premier League so far this season, with only the three teams currently in the relegation zone having worse records in their stadiums.

Thomas Frank has defended Tottenham’s performances at home, and the pressure is mounting on the Dane to fix things, but the finger has now been pointed at the Spurs fans.

Tottenham fans told they did nothing for the players

Agbonlahor was in North London to watch his beloved Aston Villa side emerge with a 2-1 win, and the former England striker was not impressed with what he saw from Tottenham Hotspur fans.

He compared the atmosphere at the stadium to a kid’s party, insisting that the players did not get any reaction from the fans despite their efforts to get the crowd going.

Agbonlahor told talkSPORT about Sunday’s game: “The atmosphere was that poor and silent. It was like a kid’s party. It was a strange atmosphere. I have been to Manchester City games at the Etihad Stadium, very quiet, but this was silent, mate.

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“The fact that the players kept on throwing their arms up to the fans whenever they did something to get something from them, but nothing was coming at all.”

Spurs fans should be doing more to get behind the team

It is fair for Tottenham fans to suggest that the team’s performance was partly the reason for the dead atmosphere.

Many will argue that the crowd would have been louder had Frank’s men played with more enterprise and created more chances.

However, it is very much a chicken-and-egg situation, as the players are going to play with more confidence if the crowd is behind them.

Given that Villa did not take the lead until late on, and Spurs scored early in the game, one would certainly have expected a better showing from the supporters than we saw on Sunday.

Football finance expert Stefan Borson has one major doubt about the way Tottenham Hotspur will be run after their recent announcement regarding their new leadership structure.

Last week, Tottenham announced that Fabio Paratici and Johan Lagne will work together as sporting directors of the club.

Lange and Paratici will have different areas of focus at Spurs, with the former set to concentrate on the academy, scouting, and performance analysis, while the latter will be more involved in transfer windows, and player recruitment.

Tottenham fans are over the moon with Paratici’s return in an official role, with the Italian having a very strong record on transfers during his time as the club’s managing director.

Questions raised about Vinai Venkatesham’s role at Tottenham

Stefan Borson is not surprised by Spurs naming two sporting directors, suggesting that the responsibilities can be divided among the pair.

However, he pointed out that Tottenham also have a CEO in Vinai Venkatesham and questioned how much he would be involved in signing off on transfers.

Borson told Football Insider about Paratici and Lange’s appointment: “Well, it’s unusual, but I guess they would say that now football operations are so complex and big that you can easily have two sides of that sporting director role. Let’s say one looking at external recruitment and one looking at the operation of the club internally.

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“I don’t know if that’s how they’re going to split it, but I don’t think it’s unworkable as long as they’ve got clear division of responsibility within the sporting director remit.

“I think there is some question as to what everybody does in that mix because you’ve also got a chief executive. So, how much involvement does Vinai have in let’s say transfers and signing off transfers? This is not a situation where if you look at a club like Manchester City, where there’s multiple clubs that the chief executive is responsible for. Tottenham’s chief executive is only responsible for Tottenham Hotspur.

“It does look like there are reporting lines, that’s fine. But he’s got an element of experience on transfers and those sorts of situations himself, so you would think there’s a bit of overlap, but we’ll see.”

Spurs CEO expects disagreements between Fabio Paratici and Johan Lange

Venkatesham has said that he welcomes disagreements between Paratici and Lange in their new role, explaining that while they will have different areas of focus, it will very much be a combined effort.

The Tottenham CEO insisted that the divergent points of view of Paratici and Lange will help ensure that the club get more of their big decisions right.

Tottenham Hotspur have now reportedly moved into pole position to sign a Serie A striker who has found the back of the net four times this season.

Injury issues have limited Thomas Frank’s options up front this season, with the Dane having to make do with Richarlison and Mathys Tel for almost every game.

That is perhaps why, according to reports, Tottenham are looking to add a number nine to their squad during the January transfer window.

It emerged two weeks ago that an experienced Serie A striker has been offered to Spurs and other Premier League sides ahead of January, and it turns out the Lilywhites may have an advantage in the transfer race.

Fabio Paratici’s return puts Tottenham in pole position to sign Dusan Vlahovic

The player in question is Dusan Vlahovic, who is reportedly wanted by Tottenham and Chelsea, and is thought to be on the radar of other big clubs across Europe.

A new update in TEAMtalk has now claimed that, alongside Spurs and Chelsea, Vlahovic is also on the radar of Man United.

However, the outlet reveals that Paratici’s return to Tottenham as sporting director gives the North Londoners the upper hand over their rivals in the race for the Juventus striker.

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The Italian has good connections at his former club, and it is suggested that he can use his ties at the Bianconeri to push through a deal for the Serbian.

What is Juventus’ stance on Dusan Vlahovic?

TEAMtalk point out that the former Fiorentina man, who has scored 62 goals and provided 15 assists in 154 matches for Juve, is now into the final year of his contract.

Vlahovic can sign a pre-contract agreement with non-Italian clubs in January, but the Serie A giants are said to be keen to get a fee for him in the upcoming transfer window.

The publication alleges that an offer of around €15m (£13m) could be enough to prise Vlahovic away from the Allianz Stadium.

Tottenham Hotspur have made yet another big appointment, poaching an experienced official from the City Group.

There have been plenty of changes to the Tottenham structure since the summer, with the headline act being the departure of Daniel Levy after 24 years as Spurs chairman.

Just last week, Tottenham announced that Fabio Paratici and Johan Lange will be joining as sporting directors at the club.

Following that announcement, Spurs have now appointed another experienced official, who will be working under the pair.

Tottenham have announced on their official website that they have appointed Dan Lewindon as the club’s new Performance Director.

Lewindon will arrive from the City Group after serving his notice period, and he is expected to be in charge of the medical, sports science, nutrition and psychology departments across both the men’s and women’s sides at N17.

The newcomer is qualified as a physiotherapist from Nottingham University and has extensive experience in sport, having worked with the Northampton Saints rugby team, England Rugby, and the Lawn Tennis Association, before moving to football.

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He has been working as the City Group’s Director of Player Health and Performance since August 2022.

Johan Lange reacts to the new Spurs appointment

The club’s new sporting director, Johan Lange, has expressed his delight at being able to bring Lewindon on board.

The Dane referenced his vast experience across different high-performance environments as his strength and revealed that he was the clear standout candidate for the role at Hotspur Way.

Lange said: “We are delighted that Dan will be joining us as Performance Director. He was the standout candidate and brings a wealth of experience across a wide range of team and individual sports, working in high-performance environments with elite athletes.

“Dan also has a strong academic background, and his expertise will be hugely beneficial to us as we drive this area of the Club with innovative thinking. We look forward to Dan starting.”

Fabio Paratici has added the name of a striker with eight goals already this season to Tottenham’s January wishlist.

Regular readers of Spurs Web will be aware that an increasing number of reports now claim that Tottenham are looking to add a number nine to their squad during the January transfer window.

While that may come as a surprise, given that Spurs have Richarlison, Mathys Tel, Randal Kolo Muani and Dominic Solanke in their squad, the latter two have had injury issues, while Kolo Muani is only on loan.

It emerged two weeks ago that Tottenham are keeping an eye on a 21-year-old Spanish striker, and it has now been revealed who is driving the North London club’s interest in the player.

Fabio Paratici will lead Tottenham’s pursuit of Samu Aghehowa

The Tottenham target in question is Samu Aghehowa, who has found the back of the net eight times already this season on the back of scoring 27 goals in his first campaign with the Portuguese club.

TBR Football now claim that Paratici, who has returned to Tottenham as the sporting director, is a big fan of Aghehowa.

The report states that the Italian has added the former Atletico Madrid man’s name to Spurs’ January shopping list in one of his first acts as sporting director.

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The outlet suggests that the 53-year-old is now expected to lead Tottenham’s pursuit of the Porto man in the upcoming transfer window.

What is Porto’s stance on Spurs target Aghehowa?

The report confirms that the 21-year-old has a release clause of £87m in his Porto contract, which potentially poses a stumbling block for Thomas Frank’s men.

However, despite rejecting Newcastle’s advances for Aghehowa in the summer, the Portuguese club may be prepared to sell him for a fee much less than his release clause in January.

This is because Porto have reportedly run into some financial trouble and need to raise cash through player sales.

Tottenham could be without as many as ten first-team players ahead of their crucial Champions League tie against AS Monaco.

Tottenham Hotspur are currently camped outside the automatic qualification places in the Champions League league phase table.

Two matches have been played, but given how competitive the competition is, Tottenham need to start putting points on the board to avoid slipping further behind.

Last time out in Europe, Spurs were held to a 2-2 draw by Bodo/Glimt, as they had to dig deep and come from behind in the Arctic Circle.

Tottenham will now be hoping to record their second win on the international stage when they travel to France to face AS Monaco, a side that drew last time out with Manchester City.

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank battling major injury troubles

Thomas Frank, however, goes into the cup tie with several injury concerns to contend with following the latest setbacks among his defensive ranks.

Cristian Romero is nursing a minor abductor problem, while Destiny Udogie missed the clash against Aston Villa due to irritation in his knee.

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That leaves Frank short at the back, with Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies, and Takai also sidelined and unavailable for selection.

The situation could hardly have come at a worse time, as Spurs look to build momentum both domestically and in Europe.

Spurs’ Champions League squad limitations add to Frank’s headache

Frank was unable to register a full 25-man squad for the Champions League, leaving him naturally short of options for rotation.

Mathys Tel missed out on Frank’s Champions League squad, while Dejan Kulusevski, Yves Bissouma, and James Maddison were also among those left out, and given their ongoing injury problems, Frank would have still been left short.

The Dane will likely stick with the same back line he deployed against Aston Villa, with Pedro Porro, Kevin Danso, Micky van de Ven, and Djed Spence expected to form the rearguard once again.

But with options at the back few, Tottenham would be hoping that their defenders do not pick up any more injuries, as games are set to come thick and fast in the coming weeks.