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Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly very keen on signing a young Argentine international, but a fresh report explains why the Lilywhites have to pay over the odds to land the player this summer.

Spurs have signed some extremely talented young players over the last two years and the North London club are seemingly about to continue with the same policy, with one Serie A starlet catching their eye.

It was first reported at the start of March that Tottenham’s scouts had been mightily impressed by Nico Paz, who has blossomed at Como since joining from Real Madrid last summer.

However, it later emerged that Real Madrid have a buy-back clause on Paz and have told the attacking midfielder they plan on activating the option in the summer of 2026.

Tottenham have to spend big to sign Nico Paz

GiveMeSport have now also reported on Spurs’ interest in the Argentine international, but they say that the Lilywhites are one of just several clubs who are interested in acquiring the 20-year-old’s services this summer.

The outlet claims that the midfielder’s tactical understanding, combined with his vision and passing range, are what attract Tottenham Hotspur, who are looking to upgrade in the middle of the park this summer.

However, they too point to Madrid’s buy-back clause and add that Spurs will have to spend a lot more than Los Blancos if they wish to bring the player to N17 this summer.

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Two other Premier League clubs also want Nico Paz

A report in TBR Football claimed last month that Tottenham have been joined in the race for Paz by both Man United and Liverpool.

However, the outlet explained that the youngster’s representatives had told the three Premier League clubs that a summer switch is not on the cards as his client wants to eventually end up back at Real Madrid.

Amidst the speculation linking Cristian Romero with a move to Atletico Madrid, Paul Robinson has now given very interesting advice on what Spurs must look to do if the La Liga club push ahead with a move for the centre-back.

Over the last few weeks, a number of sources have claimed that Romero is ready to join Atletico Madrid in the summer after recently speaking with Diego Simeone regarding the possibility.

Some reports have suggested that, after their inability to convince the centre-back to sign a new deal, Tottenham are now ready to listen to offers for Romero.

In fact, a few days ago, one outlet even asserted that Spurs are ‘likely’ to lose Romero this summer and are already exploring the market for potential replacements.

Paul Robinson says Tottenham should not worry about losing Cristian Romero

Paul Robinson opined that while his first preference would be to keep the Argentine at the club, the Spurs vice-captain has not performed to the expected standard this season.

The former Tottenham number told Daniel Levy to accept any big offer that comes in for the former Juventus man and use the funds to strengthen other areas of the squad.

When asked about the speculation on Romero’s future, Robinson told Football Insider: “A new manager is going to come into Tottenham next season if they aren’t in Europe – if they haven’t won the Europa League – and is going to have new ideas.

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“Restructured squad aside, I’d look at that as a new manager coming in and say; Romero [and] Van de Ven? Yes, they would be my first-choice centre-half partnership.

“You get a big offer in for one of those two [and] you think; ‘okay maybe I can use that in other areas, I can buy a top quality young centre-half and also use the money to strengthen my squad elsewhere’.

“Romero, I think he’s had a poor season – [if] I’m a new manager coming in and somebody offers me a big offer for Cristian Romero, I’m taking it, and I’m using it to buy another centre half and strengthen the squad elsewhere. I wouldn’t be too concerned if anybody left this summer, in all honesty.”

How much do Tottenham want for Romero?

One Spanish outlet claimed last week that Spurs have asked Atletico Madrid to pay €80m (£68.6m) for Romero.

However, the report explained that the La Liga giants will try their best to bring the price down to around €40m-€50m (£34.3m-£42.8m).

Romero has two years left on his contract at Tottenham and it remains to be seen if he agitates for an exit this summer if Diego Simeone’s men do push ahead with an offer.

Tottenham Hotspur have received a major blow in their rumoured pursuit of a Premier League midfielder, with Manchester City now deemed the most likely destination for the player this summer.

Most Spurs fans will agree that reinforcements in the middle of the park have to be one of the club’s priorities this summer, with Yves Bissouma expected to leave Tottenham after what has been a disappointing campaign for the Mali international.

Over recent weeks, various outlets have said that Tottenham had set their sights on an ambitious move for Morgan Gibbs-White, who is expected to be available for around £50m this summer if Nottingham Forest fail to tie him down to a new contract.

However, last week, it emerged that Man City had entered the race for Gibbs-White, and there has now been an update on the Premier League champions’ efforts to take the Forest man to the Etihad Stadium.

Man City now leading the race to sign Morgan Gibbs-White

The Daily Mail have now become the latest outlet to report on Man City’s interest in Gibbs-White, with the report claiming that Pep Guardiola’s men are now favourites to land the midfielder.

The report says that City have identified the 25-year-old as a potential replacement for Kevin De Bruyne, who will depart the Etihad Stadium this summer.

While Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz is City’s dream acquisition, the Germany international is also wanted by Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, making the pursuit complicated.

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The Premier League giants are thus expected to push ahead with a move for Gibbs-White, who is also said to be on the wishlist of both Liverpool and Man Utd, thus further complicating Tottenham Hotspur’s pursuit.

Do Spurs have a chance of attracting Morgan Gibbs-White?

Gibbs-White is undoubtedly the calibre of player that Tottenham need to be competing for if they are to close the gap with the top sides in the Premier League.

Many will wonder why the Englishman will swap the City Ground for N17 this summer, given the trajectory of the two clubs, but Spurs may just have an outside chance of persuading him.

If Forest fail to finish in the top five and secure Champions League qualification while Tottenham win entry into the tournament via the Europa League, they just might be able to turn the midfielder’s head.

However, it will not be easy as Gibbs-White is seemingly not short of options to choose from.

Kyle Walker has revealed that the North London derby against Arsenal was not the most passionate fixture during his Tottenham days – and it wasn’t Chelsea either.

During the course of a 38-game league season, Tottenham Hotspur have a fair few big games to look forward to.

The London derbies are just a few of those, to say the least. In fact, because of the number of London clubs in the Premier League, Spurs are bound to play a handful of derbies each campaign.

The sworn enemy has always been Arsenal, but one former Tottenham player believes that the clash against another London rival was even fiercer.

Kyle Walker says Tottenham vs West Ham was fiercer than Arsenal

Kyle Walker, who spent eight seasons at Tottenham before moving to Manchester City, where he’s since won everything there is to win in club football, has been speaking about his time at Spurs.

The full-back has revealed that Tottenham vs West Ham felt like a bigger derby to him than the more traditional Tottenham vs Arsenal showdown.

Speaking on BBC Sports, he said: “As daft as it sounds, I felt like Tottenham vs West Ham felt more passionate than Tottenham vs Arsenal for me when I was playing. It just felt more.”

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Tottenham have already locked horns with West Ham this season, and the Lilywhites came out on top with a 4-1 win – a clash that saw tensions rise as Mohammed Kudus saw red for raising his hands to both Micky van de Ven and Pape Matar Sarr.

Spurs and West Ham set for fiery London derby clash

Currently, this season, the two London-based clubs have endured disappointing campaigns. At the moment, West Ham find themselves in 17th place, just a point behind Spurs, who are 16th.

With the reverse fixture still to come at the London Stadium, there’s every reason to expect another fierce contest, especially with West Ham desperate to pick up points and get one over their rivals.

Thomas Soucek also sent a warning to Spurs months ago ahead of the upcoming clash on 4 May 2025.

The midfielder said: “We know that the season is tough, but we want to finish as high as possible. We know we can challenge some big teams.

“Manchester United and Tottenham are around us. Even for West Ham fans, it is a big derby with Tottenham, so we want to be better than them.”

Tottenham Hotspur will be confident of overcoming Bodo/Glimt and progressing to the Europa League semifinal, but their opponents have just been handed a boost ahead of their showdown with the Premier League side.

Spurs fans were delighted to learn that the club will be facing Bodo/Glimt in the semifinal after a hard-fought win over one of the tournament favourites, Eintracht Frankfurt, in the quarterfinal.

While Tottenham Hotspur go into the semifinal clash as massive favourites, they certainly cannot take their opponents lightly, given the major scalps they have had in the tournament so far.

Bodo/Glimt beat both Porto and Braga in the league phase to finish ninth in the table before eliminating FC Twente, Olympiacos and Lazio in the knockout stage to set up a semi-final showdown against the Premier League side.

Bodo/Glimt handed fixture boost ahead of Tottenham clash

Football.London have now revealed that the Norwegian side have had a fixture rearranged in their Eliteserien schedule, thus ensuring they have sufficient time to prepare thoroughly for the Tottenham clash.

Bodo/Glimt’s away game at Fredrikstad, which was due to be played on Thursday, May 1, has now been moved to Wednesday, July 16.

That means that Tottenham’s opponents will have a full week to prepare ahead of their second leg at home against Spurs, which is scheduled to be played on May 8.

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The outcome of the second leg could be crucial in deciding the tie and Bodo/Glimt boast of an excellent record at home in the Europa League, thus making matters complicated for Ange Postecoglou’s side.

What does Tottenham’s schedule look like?

In stark contrast, Spurs have an unforgiving schedule and will be involved in some high-intensity games in the days preceding and following their two semifinal clashes.

Tottenham travel to Anfield just a few days before their first leg against Bodo/Glimt and they also have a derby against West Ham at the London Stadium sandwiched between the two semifinal clashes.

Spurs are also scheduled to play Crystal Palace just a day after the second leg, and one would expect Postecoglou to rest all of his key men for those Premier League clashes.

Tottenham Hotspur have just been handed a major blow in their pursuit of Kingsley Coman, with a report claiming that Arsenal are likely to beat their North London rivals to the player’s signature.

Given the business that the Lilywhites and Bayern Munich have done over the last couple of years, there was some optimism among Spurs fans when it was first reported that Tottenham are plotting a move to sign Kingsley Coman.

However, despite the relationship that the Premier League side have with the Bundesliga giants, it appears that they are not the favourites to land the Frenchman.

It emerged last week that Arsenal have shown the most serious interest in Coman, and now a fresh update has suggested that Ange Postecoglou’s men have their work cut out to win the race for the winger.

Tottenham are unlikely to beat Arsenal to Kingsley Coman

Football Insider have now revealed that while Tottenham have indeed expressed an interest in Coman, Arsenal are currently ahead of their local rivals in the race for the Bayern man.

It is explained that the Gunners weighed up a move for the winger in January and have retained their interest in the player ahead of the summer window.

The report says that Spurs are now ‘unlikely’ to beat their arch-rivals to Coman, who is expected to opt for a move to the Emirates over the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer.

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The outlet adds that an exit from the Allianz Arena now looks inevitable for the 28-year-old, with Arsenal ‘well-paced to sign him’.

Two factors may prevent Spurs from landing Coman

Coman would understandably feel that he has a much better chance of competing for major honours at Arsenal than Spurs.

Tottenham would likely have to win the Europa League and secure Champions League qualification to stand any chance of turning the Bayern man’s head.

Guglielmo Vicario has reflected on the various things that have gone wrong at Tottenham this season and admitted that he is very proud of the adversities that he and his teammates have overcome to get to a European semifinal.

Leading up to the second leg in Eintracht Frankfurt, the script had seemingly been written for yet another away loss for Tottenham Hotspur and the subsequent dismantling of the coaching setup.

It had been reported that Ange Postecoglou could have been sacked by Friday if Spurs had been knocked out of the Europa League.

What we instead saw was a performance full of grit and character by the players, who were evidently still playing for their manager, and they are now a two-legged semifinal with Bodo/Glimt away from reaching a European final.

Guglielmo Vicario is proud but admits the job is not yet done

One could see from the celebration of the players and the coaching staff after the final whistle at the Deutsche Bank Park just what the result meant to everyone at Tottenham.

Vicario, who was at the thick of those celebrations, admitted that his belief in Postecoglou has never wavered and remarked that reaching a semifinal is particularly special after the struggles that everyone at Hotspur Way has been through this season.

However, the Italian is not merely content with reaching the final four and is very much dreaming of getting his hands on the trophy in Bilbao.

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Vicario told Spurs Play after the 2-1 aggregate win over Frankfurt: “I really believe in this football club, I really believe in this manager, in the way we want to play.

“Everyone suffered a lot this season. It has been a very tough one, but we are still alive and want to fight for something special. It is an important achievement. The job is not done but it’s a big win for Tottenham Hotspur, for everyone, for the boss, for us players, for the staff, for the fans. We are very proud.

“We know what we are capable of when we are really tuned in, when we work hard as a team like we showed. The achievement over two legs was deserved. We showed resilience and a desire to fight.

“We got the job done and deserved to be in the semi-final of a big European competition. It was an amazing night for us. The job is not done. Now we go to the semi-final. We face another tough opponent. But we will fight for sure.”

Could Tottenham’s name be written on the trophy?

Given that everything that can go wrong has gone wrong for Tottenham this season, reaching the semifinals of the Europa League is not an achievement that can be scoffed at.

The Spurs players may start believing their name is written on the trophy, and the performance they delivered in Frankfurt will give them confidence that they can beat anyone on their day.

Ange Postecoglou revealed that the players never stopped believing this season, even amidst extreme adversity, and the Australian now has an opportunity to make his critics eat their words by delivering the trophy he promised in his second season.

Nuno Espirito Santo has given a classy response when asked about getting one back on Tottenham Hotspur, who unceremoniously sacked him back in 2021.

Nuno Espirito Santo lasted just four months in the Spurs hot seat after taking over in the summer of 2021.

The Portuguese coach was hounded out in a way, with Tottenham fans turning on Nuno quickly by booing his substitutions and making his position untenable.

However, since then, the former Wolves boss has proven his managerial credentials at the City Ground, with Nottingham Forest now on course to qualify for the Champions League while Spurs are rooted to 15th place in the table.

Nuno Espirito Santo reacts to getting one over Tottenham

Espirito Santo’s men completed the double over Ange Postecoglou’s side with their 2-1 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The result would have undoubtedly been satisfying for the 51-year-old, given the way he was treated by some of those home fans during his short stint at N17.

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However, Nuno refused to make the result about himself, insisting that it was an honour to manage a club as big as Spurs.

When asked if it was particularly sweet to prove his former employers wrong, the Forest boss said after his side’s win: “I am not that kind of person. I was honoured to be managing Tottenham. A huge, big club. I wish them the best.”

Nuno admits Spurs were unfortunate on the night

The Forest boss admitted that the home side put his team under a lot of pressure through the 90 minutes and that it was back-to-the-walls stuff for his players.

Nuno even confessed that the Midlands side were fortunate to leave the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with all three points.

Reflecting on the win, he added: “Tottenham put us against the ropes, so it is about defending and holding on to the result. Credit to Tottenham. They created so many chances against us, and we were fortunate to get away with the result.”

Tottenham Hotspur suffer their 15th one-goal defeat in the Premier League this season, falling short once again as Nottingham Forest leave north London with a 2-1 victory.

Another league game, more costly errors, and once again, Tottenham pay the price. First-half strikes from Elliot Anderson and Chris Wood were enough to seal it for the visitors, despite a late Richarlison header that gave the hosts hope.

Ange Postecoglou made five changes to the side that started the second leg against Eintracht Frankfurt. Wilson Odobert, Richarlison, Pape Matar Sarr, Dejan Kulusevski, and Djed Spence all returned to the XI. Some fans hoped for a more youthful lineup and a rest for Micky van de Ven, but Ange had other ideas.

Let’s get into the Tottenham 1-2 Nottingham Forest match report.

First half: Tottenham Hotspur 0-2 Nottingham Forest

Confidence was flowing after progressing to the European semi-finals, and that showed early on from Tottenham. However, Forest had the first effort in the 3rd minute when Morgan Gibbs-White tested Guglielmo Vicario from distance.

Inside five minutes, came the sucker punch. A half-cleared Forest corner was flicked by Dominguez to Anderson, whose half-volley took a heavy deflection off Rodrigo Bentancur and flew past Guglielmo Vicario. 0-1

Just minutes later, Chris Wood thought he had doubled the lead as he volleyed in from an Anderson cross, having ghosted past Van de Ven. But the new VAR system intervened and ruled him offside by a shoulder.

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Forest didn’t need to wait long for a second, though. From a well-worked free-kick, Anthony Elanga sent in a cross which tempted Vicario off his line, but the Italian misjudged it completely. Wood rose ahead of him and nodded into an open net. 0-2.

Despite the deficit, both Tottenham wingers looked lively. Wilson Odobert first troubled Sels with a sharp low effort, followed by another from 20 yards out that the Belgian parried away.

Mathys Tel sent in several dangerous balls from the left and later missed a good headed chance set up by Pedro Porro. Kulusevski also had a go from outside the box but could only hit it straight at the keeper.

Odobert then made a surging run down the right, cutting the ball across the face of goal, but there wasn’t Brennan Johnson to tap it home at the far post.

Tel had another golden chance from a loose Williams clearance but dragged his first-time effort wayward.

Odobert then once again delivered a cross to the back post, with both Sarr and Richarlison unmarked and Sels stranded, but somehow they got in each other’s way, and the chance was gone. Not long after, Richarlison’s another header bounced inches wide.

Half-time came with Spurs trailing 2-0. Despite an xG advantage of 1.34 to Forest’s 0.33.

Second half: Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Nottingham Forest

Ange stuck to a pre-planned change, bringing on Ben Davies and Kevin Danso for Romero and Van de Ven.

The second half started brightly again for Spurs. Tel burst through the left after linking with Spence, but lost the ball just as he was about to shoot.

Danso quickly filled in Romero’s boots and showed almost no difference in his direct forward passes. One such ball found Pape Sarr in the box, but his touch let him down. Sarr later tried a Giroud-Esque scorpion kick from a Porro cross but missed the target.

Forest’s only clear chance of the half came when Wood set up Gibbs-White on a counter, but he fired wide with just Vicario to beat.

Then came a flurry of chances and it was all Tottenham. Kulusevski’s header from a Porro corner was inch-perfect and had Sels beaten, only for Toffolo to clear it off the line acrobatically.

Moments later, Richarlison found himself 1v1 after a poor Forest clearance fell his way, but Sels closed him down superbly.

Even Danso let one fly from range but was just wide. With 10 minutes to go, Richarlison then rose for yet another Porro cross. Despite his header connecting incredibly well, Sels was somehow better, clawing it away full stretched.

Forest players themselves then, tried helping Tottenham after their struggles upfront. Johnson’s low cross left Williams with no other option but to almost turn the ball into his own net.

It took a good 87 minutes of building up pressure for it to finally pay off. Porro once again picked out Richarlison, and this time, the Brazilian made no mistake, heading in at the far post. 2-1.

In the dying moments, Tel had a shot blocked before Ben Davies unleashed a thunderbolt from distance; one that might’ve broken the net if it hadn’t flown over.

Despite five minutes of stoppage time and some gamesmanship from Forest, Spurs couldn’t find the equaliser.

FT: Spurs 1-2 Nottingham Forest

What’s next for Spurs?

It was a really good footballing performance from Spurs when you consider the build-up against a deep and stubborn Forest setup. If you look back at some of Spurs’ previous games against sides that play a low block, they often looked completely clueless in possession. In some cases, they couldn’t even create a single chance or register a shot on target.

It would be unfair to pin this one on Ange; the goals conceded were unfortunate or due to individual errors, and Matz Sels played for his life. On another day, a few of those chances go in, and Spurs are walking away with three points.

Special mention to Pedro Porro. Seven chances created on his 100th appearance. From positioning to his pace and, of course, his endless stream of pinpoint crosses. Had it not been for the wastefulness upfront, he’d have had 3 or 4 assists.

We predicted a 2-1 scoreline but got the teams wrong. At least we got Richarlison and Chris Wood as scorers right.

The result leaves Spurs 16th in the league with 18 losses. They could’ve jumped to 13th with a win.

Next up: Liverpool away at Anfield on Sunday. (Gulp)

Tottenham Hotspur followed up on their impressive Europa League quarter-final victory over Eintracht Frankfurt with a flat 2-1 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest on Monday night.

Let’s take a look at the five things we learned from Tottenham 1-2 Nottingham Forest:

Tottenham are going through the motions

Tottenham Hotspur look like a side who are dead and buried in the Premier League with a European semi-final on the horizon. It’s not uncommon to see this kind of thing from players towards the end of the season. A lot of them will have one eye on the semi against Bodo/Glimt and won’t want to put their bodies on the line for mere Premier League points over the next few weeks.

That would be all well and good if it weren’t for two key details. One – Tottenham have been like this for six months. Two – If Spurs have ambitions to become a big club, future seasons will involve fighting in all competitions until the very end of the campaign. This year, fans won’t complain as long as the Lilywhites make the Europa League final, but it’s not a great habit to get into.

Boos from the Tottenham Hotspur fans

Spurs supporters were flying high after their Europa League quarter-final win over Eintracht Frankfurt. However, it doesn’t take much to lose momentum and bring things crashing back down to Earth. After all, even for dead-rubber games like tonight, fans are still paying big money to be there. They want to be entertained at the very least!

With Spurs going into the half-time break, boos were ringing around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It should serve as a reminder to Ange Postecoglou, the Spurs squad, and Daniel Levy that supporters set very high standards in N17. There is one consistent theme in football at all levels and in all scenarios – the fans at least want to feel like everyone at the club is giving 100 per cent. That simply didn’t feel like the case this evening. Remember – there is another Tottenham Hotspur protest planned soon, Mr Levy.

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Spurs need to defend better against Bodo/Glimt

You would think that Tottenham’s back four would want to get into a good rhythm going into the semi-final – maybe a couple of clean sheets under their belt to keep confidence high. After all, four of that back five (including the goalkeeper) will definitely start against Bodo/Glimt in May. Not to mention the fact that Cristian Romero was wearing the captain’s armband this evening. Have a little pride!

The first goal was excusable. Yes, Pedro Porro’s headed clearance could have been better, but it was a cruel deflection that directly led to the goal. A few minutes later, Forest had a third with some poor marking in the box, with the offside flag coming to Tottenham’s rescue. A wake-up call, right? Nope. Nuno Espirito Santo’s men had the ball in the back of the net a third time shortly after, with Guglielmo Vicario doing his best Superman impression into no-man’s land while Romero and Micky Van de Ven played Guess Who in the box. The standard simply have to be so, so much higher.

Ange Postecoglou is trying to find the fitness sweet spot

Of course, Postecoglou will want his players to keep grinding out wins in the Premier League over the coming weeks, but you also get the sense he is using it as Europa League pre-season. You know what, it’s hard to blame him either. If it results in a European trophy, within the context of this Premier League season, it is definitely worth a few more losses. Postecoglou made five changes to his starting XI against Nottingham Forest, and also made sure all four centre-backs got 45 minutes each.

The Spurs boss clearly wants to get more minutes into the legs of Kulusevski and Richarlison to build their form, while looking after important players like Lucas Bergvall and James Maddison. If everything goes as planned, Tottenham will arrive in the semi-final not only with a strong starting XI, but also a bench full of fit and firing stars too. Let’s see how that plan shakes out.

Wingers were the bright spark for Tottenham

Fortunately, there was a positive to take away from the events at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Both Mathys Tel and Wilson Odobert were real livewires for the Lilywhites. For large parts of this season, the likes of Heung-min Son and Brennan Johnson have been blunt instruments when it comes to carrying the ball and taking on their full-back opponents. Most of Johnson’s devastating work has come from arriving late at the back post, while Sonny has lived off the odd spark when drifting infield.

This evening, both Tel and Odobert took on their men for fun, showing consistent direct and dangerous wingplay. The simple fact is that you need that from at least one of your wingers on the pitch at all times – and Spurs haven’t been able to say that much this season. Had Richarlison and some of the Spurs midfielders been a little sharper, we could have been talking about a fair few assists out there for the two France U21 internationals.