Football London

The Thomas Frank era has begun at Tottenham Hotspur with the new head coach meeting plenty of people behind of the scenes at the club.

The Dane, who replaced Ange Postecoglou this month, was at the club's Hotspur Way training complex from Tuesday after his post-season holidays and began meeting various people around Spurs. On Wednesday evening, Tottenham put out the first interview with Frank in which he outlined his plans for the club and spoke about various topics.

There was plenty to glean from the nine-minute interview which went up on the club's website and YouTube channel and was clipped up across their social media accounts.

Here are five things we took away from Frank's first address to the Spurs fans and the public in general.

Great communicator

This is no surprise. We expected that when we eventually heard from the new Spurs head coach it would be an interview that would tick all the boxes. Frank was honest about the ups and downs that are to come but also promised the kind of football the supporters will want to see. Postecoglou could always get his message across and Frank will have no trouble in doing the same to either his players or the supporters.

"The intention is to play aggressive front-footed football and I know the ethos and the history of the club is massive on attacking football, and I think there's so much attacking talent in the squad. I'm very excited about that," he said.

"They've clearly shown over the last two seasons that the ability to score goals is fantastic, and I'm very, very in on that. I love a team that is scoring goals, very, very big on principles. What we do on the final third, in terms of creating chances, and putting balls in the box, playing in behind and stuff like that, I think it's key. So just want to build on that attacking football, we already have here in the club."

Frank has already made a positive impression on staff within Hotspur Way in the time he's had at the Enfield training ground so far. He has a warm and inquisitive personality and has been looking to understand how it all works there and what everyone he meets in the building does as any new manager would.

With 800 people working within the club the 51-year-old might not get around to everyone but he needs to help build the same kind of togetherness he had at Brentford but on a larger scale.

Players met

The Dane has already met at least a couple of Tottenham players as on Tuesday he took a trip into the club gym and found some of the players going through rehabilitation on long-term injuries.

The Spurs vice-captain James Maddison and defender Radu Dragusin were both shown meeting their new head coach, calling him 'gaffer' as expected, and Frank was shown asking how the England midfielder was getting on.

"Yeah [working hard]. Had a little break with the family. Had a nice check-up with the specialist yesterday," he said.

Frank then asked if everything was ok to which Maddison replied: "Yeah, yeah. It was good. Positive to be fair. All about schedule stuff."

You would imagine someone like Maddison, as a vice-captain of the team, might have had a longer chat with his new boss at some point this week.

Spurs' other long-term injury absence, Dejan Kulusevski, appears to be on his honeymoon after marrying his partner Eldina, but will meet his fellow Scandinavian in the near future.

Son and those not mentioned

Much will be made of the fact that when Frank steered the interview towards talented senior players he liked in the Tottenham squad he did not mention the club's captain and most famous player Son Heung-min.

"When I say talented, it's not only the young players, it's also some of the more experienced players. How can we get the best out of them. Let's say Dominic Solanke, a big fan of him, in terms of his abilities. I'm sure we'll make him score a lot of goals," said the new head coach.

"How can we play with Bentancur, you know, Maddison, how can we get that, but of course the younger ones as well. I think it's all players that we need to develop and make perform on the highest level. But of course Bergvall, Archie Gray, Odobert, Udogie, all of them, I think have a high ceiling. There's others I haven't mentioned, it's the whole squad and I'm looking forward to it."

There of course could have been parts of the interview that did not make it into the final edit, but it would seem unlikely to chop out any mention of Son, especially ahead of this summer's lucrative tour to Hong Kong and the skipper's homeland of South Korea.

It could also be pointed out that the likes of Cristian Romero, Kulusevski, Micky van de Ven, Guglielmo Vicario, Pedro Porro and Yves Bissouma were among those senior players not mentioned as well, but with Son he's just too big a name. With just 12 months left on his contract and the captain believed to be open to a move this summer, perhaps Frank was wary of speaking about someone whose future is in doubt being a key component only to lose him later this summer as Postecoglou found with Kane. The Dane will be asked plenty about Son in the weeks ahead anyway, especially when Spurs get to Korea.

It's also worth noting that Frank spoke about trying to find a place in his team for Bentancur, who also has a year left on his deal. That would suggest a new contract could well be incoming as expected for the Uruguayan.

The hierarchy

New Tottenham CEO Vinai Venkatesham has been shown giving Frank a tour around the training ground, a relative newcomer himself, and the incoming head coach spoke about his dealings with the former Arsenal man, chairman Daniel Levy and technical director Johan Lange, who he knows well from working together years ago in Denmark.

"They've done a very, very good process. I would say Daniel Levy and Vinai and Johan Lange. I've had very good conversations and meetings with them, where we discussed everything in depth, details about club structure, processes, and of course I came with my view on things and how I saw it and my ideas and the way I want to do things and how I try to build a team and the club, and of course it's not, it's not just me," he said.

"I think it's very important to say, yes, the head coach is an important person, but if I don't have good people around me, it's impossible. You can't do anything alone in my opinion. If you want to do something quick, you can go alone, if you want to do something big or achieve something big, you go together. So it's definitely a thing about doing things together. Me, staff and players.

"I think the alignment is key from top to bottom, and of course it starts from Daniel and Vinai and Johan and me, and the more the four of us can be aligned, just like a unit and like unbreakable unit, the stronger we will be, and there will be ups and downs. I think right now it's a fairy tale. Everyone is happy. The sun is shining. It's fantastic, but we haven't played one game yet.

"Hopefully we win a lot. We'll work very hard every single day to make sure we create as many magic moments for the fans, and put them together and hopefully at the end of the season there will be a very good season, but the alignment in terms of structure, processes, transfers, squad, playing style, culture, all that is is key."

Venkatesham adds a new layer in between the manager and the chairman, which could be a positive thing for Frank, as will his long-standing relationship with Lange. With the average shelf life for Spurs managers being between 18 months and two years, the new man will need all the help he can get to beat that average with strong connections above.

Classy touch

With the kind of person Frank is, there was always likely to be a mention of Postecoglou's work and if you're replacing someone who has just won the club's first trophy in 17 years, it would be difficult not to. However, the Dane's words on his predecessor showed real warmth and understanding while looking to a future building on what the Australian had started.

"Huge congratulations to the club, to the team. Huge congratulations to Ange," he said. "He will 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, so I'm going in on the foundation that Ange has built and his coaching staff, and I'm very humble about that and I'll do my very best to continue the great work they put in.

"But the feeling and the excitement and the joy and the happiness you could see in the fans' faces and the pictures you saw was wow. So hopefully we can create more of those moments, that will be the ultimate dream to do that and hey no one can say they're not winners, the team and the players are winners. Now we need to do our best to become serial winners in the future."

Rio Ferdinand has labelled Bryan Mbeumo's Premier League record "ridiculous", as the Brentford star looks set to leave his club this summer amid links to Tottenham and Manchester United.

However, Ferdinand has also cautioned that the Cameroonian will need to adapt to a significant increase in pressure. United had an initial £55million bid rejected for the 25 year old earlier this month, but negotiations between the two clubs are said to be ongoing.

Mbeumo has expressed his desire to join United amid interest from Tottenham. His impressive form in the Premier League, where he scored 20 goals in the 2024/25 season, has made him a top target for the Red Devils.

Ferdinand, a huge admirer of Mbeumo, believes the attacker's proven track record in the Premier League would enable him to make an instant impact if he does arrive at Old Trafford. Nonetheless, the former defender has warned Mbeumo that he will need to cope with heightened expectations in Manchester.

"Mbeumo wants to come, I know it," Ferdinand said on his show, Rio Ferdinand Presents. "His stats over the last three seasons in the Premier League are up there, by the way. Goals and assists, goal chances, ridiculous. Again, another proven Premier League player," reports the Manchester Evening News.

"This is what I like, [playing] in the Premier League. There isn't no adjustment business. The only thing there will be [is an] adjustment because of the size of the club.

"They don't have to do that when they go to Arsenal. There isn't that pressure, the badge isn't as heavy. It's heavy, but it's not as heavy."

Thomas Frank will have to get used to receiving injury news at Tottenham and he got a positive update from one of his players to start his time at the club.

While being introduced to people around the club's Hotspur Way complex on Tuesday, the new Spurs head coach met midfielder James Maddison in the gym at the Enfield training ground. The England international missed the end of the season and the Europa League final after being forced off with a knee problem midway through the second half of the semi-final first leg win over Bodo/Glimt in May.

The 28-year-old, who managed 23 direct goal involvements in 45 matches last season, was initially expected to return during pre-season from the ligament injury.

The Tottenham vice-captain met Frank on Tuesday for the first time since the Dane was appointed to replace Ange Postecoglou and delivered his own update on how his recovery is going.

"Yeah [working hard]. Had a little break with the family. Had a nice check-up with the specialist yesterday," he said.

Frank then asked if everything was ok to which Maddison replied: "Yeah, yeah. It was good. Positive to be fair. All about schedule stuff."

Both Maddison and Radu Dragusin, also working in the gym, predictably referred to the new head coach as 'gaffer' on their initial meetings and the midfielder was mentioned by Frank in his first club interview when talking about his squad.

"I think it's a very talented squad. I think it's a very good squad. So yeah, very excited about starting working with them and, of course, you know, when you follow the Premier League, you see the other teams, of course I've seen Tottenham, I've seen some fantastic performances from the team over the last years, and I'm very excited about that," said the 51-year-old.

"I think there's big, big potential in it, but of course I'm looking from the outside, so I'm looking forward to get to know them, to be around them, to feel them, to understand them, to work with them on a training pitch, and that's where you really get the big understanding, and understand the relationships between players and how you can get the best out of them.

"Of course, I got an idea already, you know, my head is spinning, how can we play, who can I put them together and all that."

He added: "When I say talented, it's not only the young players, it's also some of the more experienced players. How can we get the best out of them. Let's say Dominic Solanke, a big fan of him, in terms of his abilities. I'm sure we'll make him score a lot of goals.

"How can we play with Bentancur, you know, Maddison, how can we get that, but of course the younger ones as well. I think it's all players that we need to develop and make perform on the highest level. But of course Bergvall, Archie Gray, Odobert, Udogie, all of them, I think have a high ceiling. There's others I haven't mentioned, it's the whole squad and I'm looking forward to it."

Thomas Frank has finally given his first interview as Tottenham Hotspur head coach.

The Dane was appointed as Ange Postecoglou's successor on Thursday, June 12. But Spurs supporters had to wait for six days to hear from their new boss.

Frank had undoubtedly been on holiday, given the timing of the appointment less than a month after the 2024/25 Premier League season had ended. But the 51-year-old is now in the building at Hotspur Way and raring to get stuck in to the new challenge having arrived from London rivals Brentford.

Tottenham posted the full interview with the new boss on their official website on Wednesday evening, with Frank opening up on a number of things including his playing style, his excitement at the opportunity and working with chairman Daniel Levy, new CEO Vinai Venkatesham and technical director Johan Lange.

You can read every word Frank said in that interview here.

When asked about working with the Spurs hierarchy, Frank made one reference to transfers, without being pushed. The summer transfer window is in full flow, but Spurs have only completed the signing of Mathys Tel on a permanent deal so far, and that was a reasonably simple deal to get done with the Frenchman spending the 2024/25 season on loan with Spurs having an option to buy him at the end of it.

Frank said: "Hopefully we win a lot. We'll work very hard every single day to make sure we create as many magic moments for the fans, and put them together and hopefully at the end of the season there will be a very good season, but the alignment in terms of structure, processes, transfers, squad, playing style, culture, all that is is key."

And the next deal may see someone already at the club put pen to paper on a new contract.

There have been talks in recent weeks of midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur signing a new deal, with his current contract due to expire in 2026.

When talking about the squad he is inheriting, Frank made reference to a number of players specifically, with Bentancur one he was very quick to mention, suggesting he is a big fan of the Uruguayan.

"How can we get the best out of them," he asked. "Let's say Dominic Solanke, a big fan of him, in terms of his abilities. I'm sure we'll make him score a lot of goals.

"How can we play with Bentancur, you know, [James] Maddison, how can we get that, but of course the younger ones as well. I think it's all players that we need to develop and make perform on the highest level. But of course [Lucas] Bergvall, Archie Gray, [Wilson] Odobert, [Destiny] Udogie, all of them, I think have a high ceiling. There's others I haven't mentioned, it's the whole squad and I'm looking forward to it."

Mentioning Bentancur after Solanke hints that Frank wants to build his midfield around the Uruguayan and that a new contract being agreed is imperative.

Daniel Levy has come out with some grand statements this week and all eyes are on how the Tottenham chairman ensures they come to pass.

In the week that his new head coach Thomas Frank begins work at Hotspur Way after replacing the Europa League-winning Ange Postecoglou, so Levy has been speaking in an interview alongside new Tottenham CEO Vinai Venkatesham and has explained what he expects from the club as it needs to challenge on all fronts.

"We've won a European trophy. It's not enough," said the 63-year-old. "It's what we haven't done that's 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."

Our Spurs correspondents Alasdair Gold and Rob Guest have been discussing the chairman's interview in the latest episode of their podcast Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham and whether it's a masterstroke from the man at the top with supposedly very "broad shoulders" in taking all of the pressure off Frank as it is now Levy who must provide a squad capable of doing all of the above, or whether it was something blurted out in a passionate monologue.

In the podcast, the duo also give their take on the first appearance of Venkatesham, as well as going through the newly-released Premier League fixtures and what they mean for Frank's opening months at the helm and later in the campaign once the Champions League fixtures and domestic cups are factored in.

You can listen to the latest episode of the podcast by heading right here or you can watch the show on YouTube by going right here.

West Ham United star Mohammed Kudus is the latest attacker being linked with a summer transfer to Tottenham. Bryan Mbeumo, Antoine Semenyo, Tyler Dibling, Jack Grealish and Arnaud Kalimuendo are other names that could join Thomas Frank in north London.

The permanent return of Mathys Tel was confirmed last week with Spurs able to negotiate his fee down to £30million. Though Tottenham have hit one of their man transfer aims by signing a winger, further attacking decisions are expected.

Mbeumo joining Manchester United from Brentford appeared to be the most likely outcome. at least until Frank was appointed at Spurs. Ruben Amorim's side are still leading the race for the £70million-rated Cameroonian, but there is a chance he changes his mind and wants to reunite with Frank and play Champions League football.

Bournemouth's Semenyo is the main alternative while, as deals for Dibling and Grealish remain unlikely, Kudus has seemingly jumped up the shortlist. According to The Guardian, Daniel Levy is prepared to bite the bullet in attempt to bring him to Spurs.

They have also stated that a £50million bid is being prepared with the aim of testing the waters. The Ghana regular has an £85million release clause in his contract.

As so much goes into transfers, that low-ball offer from Spurs is likely being done to gauge important information and see if the player is open to moving. Of the names mentioned, Kudus is the one garnering the most excitement despite his inconsistent returns during the 2024/25 season.

He managed just the nine goal contributions from 35 appearances in all competitions, but some of his individual displays were mesmerising. In terms of potential, the 24-year-old has bags of it which made it no surprise Arsenal, Chelsea and Brighton all wanted to sign him from Ajax before the Hammers swooped in.

Realistically, West Ham will not accept a bid worth £50million but equally, there is almost no chance Tottenham pay his £85million release clause in full.

If a compromise can be met between those two values, it is absolutely a deal worth pursuing but only if Kudus wants the move. Though he has only been at Spurs' rivals for two seasons, he may not want to seal that switch across London.

He also has history with Tottenham after his side's 4-1 defeat last year when he was sent off after an altercation with Micky van de Ven.

Back looking on to the financial needed, in comparison to the likes of Grealish and Mbeumo, it is unlikely Kudus' wage demands will be a huge problem.

He currently earns in the region of £90,000-per-week and though he would likely expect an increase, it is unlikely to be something that breaks the club's wage structure. If Mbeumo were to join, however, he would likely want to become Spurs' highest-paid player.

Tottenham and Jack Grealish are almost synonymous with transfer windows.

There have been plenty of transfer windows in the past where Grealish has been linked with a move to Spurs, with 2018 when he came close to making the move to north London from Aston Villa.

Tottenham were keen on signing the then 22-year-old, but missed their opportunity when haggling over the transfer fee. Spurs looked set to sign him but when the deal took too long to complete and Villa got new investment, there was no longer an opportunity.

Grealish would make the move to Manchester City three years later for a whopping £100million and he has gone on to win every piece of silverware going with the Citizens.

City boss Pep Guardiola has effectively told Grealish to find a new club, with the 29-year-old not part of the squad for the Club World Cup in the United States of America.

Speaking about his omission, Guardiola said: "He had a conversation with the club and decided the best [thing was to miss the tournament]. Jack is an exceptional player but he didn’t [play a lot this season]. We decided he has to play.

"We decided don’t come here. What happens I don’t know but if he doesn’t [leave] he is a player for Man City and he will be back."

Spurs are the favourites with the bookmakers to sign Grealish this summer as Thomas Frank looks to make his mark on the squad having replaced Ange Postecoglou at the helm.

But Grealish's past admission gives Frank something of a transfer dilemma when it comes to making a decision over signing him.

Speaking way back in 2020, Grealish said: "I love that No 10 role. I'll play anywhere, off the left or right, but that No.10 [is my favourite]."

Tottenham already have a number of options when it comes to the ten role. James Maddison wears the No.10 shirt and primarily played there under Postecoglou, with Dejan Kulusevski also impressive when playing in that role. Do Spurs really need a third option there?

Grealish admitted he could play off the left or right too, but captain Son Heung-min is the preferred choice on the left, although there are question marks over his future in N17, with the South Korean more open than ever before to leaving the club where he has spent the last ten years.

Spurs have already completed the permanent signing of Mathys Tel, following a successful loan period, with the young Frenchman also playing off the left or right, with Brennan Johnson, Richarlison, Wilson Odobert and Mikey Moore all available in those positions too. As is Kulusevski.

Having signed Tel, Grealish might not be the best use of funds, but Frank will want strength in depth to challenge on all fronts next season and Grealish is a talent.

Thomas Frank has spoken for the first time since being appointed Tottenham head coach and he notably failed to mention Son Heung-min or Cristian Romero, both linked to an exit, when discussing the senior players he can help to get the best out of.

Half of Tottenham's leadership group under former head coach Ange Postecoglou may not be at the club for the 2025/26 season with Romero strongly linked to Atletico Madrid, while Son could move to Turkiye or Saudi Arabia with just one year remaining on his contract.

Alongside that, who would be taking charge of the group was unclear until Friday, June 6 when it was announced Postecoglou had been relieved of his duties. Just a few days on from that, Frank was confirmed as his replacement with weeks of meetings having taken place prior to that.

Despite confirmation of his arrival coming some time ago, Frank's first interview in charge of the Lilywhites has just finally dropped. The Dane spoke on a number of topics, including the squad that will be at his disposal and what he expects of them.

He said: "I'm a big believer in this one liner that; 'If you don't take risks, you also take risks'. So I think it's important that we take risks. A risk for example is if we play man-to-man in some situations. Risk is you need to play forward. If you don't risk the ball, you can't create anything.

"I'm a big big believer that we need to be brave. The players need to be brave when we play and trust themselves. I will do my very best to instil that trust and for the players to be brave.

"For me, if they lose the ball by trying, that is never a problem for me. I can react - that is always natural. They need to do that, but if they don't work hard, I struggle more with that.

"If they do everything they can and lose the ball, no problem but working hard is my non-negotiable. But we'll need to take risks otherwise it's impossible to achieve something big.

"I think it is a very talented squad. Very excited about starting to work with them. Of course, when you follow the Premier League, you see the other teams and so I've seen some fantastic performances from them over these last years and I'm very excited about that.

"I think that there's big potential but, of course, I'm looking from the outside, so I'm looking forward to getting to know them, be around them, feel them, to understand them and work with them on the training pitch and that's really where you get the big understanding.

"You understand the relationships between players and how you can get the best out of them."

Though questions asked to him were cut out, it appeared as though he was then asked more about the players as he went on to specifically name three experienced Tottenham stars he wants to help.

"When I say talent, I don't just mean the young players, but also the more experienced in how we can get the best out of them.

"I'm a big fan of Dominic Solanke in terms of his abilities and I'm sure we'll help him score a lot of goals. How can we play with [Rodrigo] Bentancur and [James] Maddison but, of course, the younger ones as well.

"I think it's all players that we need to develop and make perform on the highest level. But of course [Lucas] Bergvall, Archie Gray, [Wilson] Odobert, [Destiny] Udogie, all of them, I think have a high ceiling. There's others I haven't mentioned, it's the whole squad and I'm looking forward to it."

Not mentioning Son or Romero, considering their respective experience, is certainly interesting - but it is worth taking with a pinch of salt. Firstly, both players are arguably at a world-class level already.

Moreover, in a setting like that, it is easy to forget names and it is also worth noting the trio actually mentioned have shown glimpses of their quality, but have struggled to deliver consistently which may have been what Frank was hinting at.

However, given the exit links surrounding the duo and their prominence as faces of the club, it could be a subtle hint that Frank has been told they may be moving elsewhere.

Thomas Frank has taken part in his first interview as the new head coach of Tottenham Hotspur and there was plenty to read into his comments.

The 51-year-old, who signed a three-year deal with Spurs, is a great communicator and that was clear from his interview with the club after arriving at Hotspur Way on Wednesday to start planning for a big season ahead, with Champions League football on the menu as well as the desire from chairman Daniel Levy for the club to compete on all fronts this season.

Frank spoke about his journey to get to Spurs, the work done by his predecessor Ange Postecoglou, his chats with Levy, new CEO Vinai Venkatesham and technical director Johan Lange and also his plans for the squad and some of the senior players, which some supporters might notice came without mention of captain Son Heung-min, who has an uncertain future at Tottenham as he reaches the final 12 months of his contract.

Here's every single word the new Spurs head coach said in his interview:

Joining Spurs

"The feeling of being the new head coach is extraordinary. I'm really looking forward to this massive challenge together with a lot of good people. I only heard good stuff about all the people here, the training ground, the players, good squad, exciting, massive club, I think massive potential, so just super, super excited."

His pathway to this job

"I think as probably every boy or girl. I just love to play football when I was running around in my hometown, probably pretty soon found out that I was never going to be a professional football player. So I started early coaching when I was 20 years old and then I've been coaching for 30+ years, first grassroots level, academy football, went into my first senior head coach job at Brondby which is a massive club in Denmark, went to England on a journey first as assistant manager and then the head coach and had an unbelievable journey in Brentford. A fantastic time with fantastic staff, players and fans."

Working with the Tottenham hierarchy

"They've done a very, very good process. I would say Daniel Levy and Vinai and Johan Lange. I've had very good conversations and meetings with them, where we discussed everything in in depth, details about club structure, processes, and of course I came with my view on things and how I saw it and my ideas and the way I want to do things and how I try to build a team and the club, and of course it's not, it's not me.

"I think it's very important to say, yes, the head coach is an important person, but if I don't have good people around me, it's impossible. You can't do anything alone in my opinion. If you want to do something quick, you can go alone, if you want to do something big or achieve something big, you go together. So it's definitely a thing about doing things together. Me, staff and players.

"I think the alignment is key from top to bottom, and of course it starts from Daniel and Vinai and Johan and me, and the more the four of us can be aligned, just like a unit and like unbreakable unit, the stronger we will be, and there will be ups and downs. I think right now it's a fairy tale. Everyone is happy. The sun is shining. It's fantastic, but we haven't played one game yet.

"Hopefully we win a lot. We'll work very hard every single day to make sure we create as many magic moments for the fans, and put them together and hopefully at the end of the season there will be a very good season, but the alignment in terms of structure, processes, transfers, squad, playing style, culture, all that is is key."

His style of play

"I think in terms of my style of play, I'll explain it a little bit now, but I rather want to, how can you say, show it. You can talk a lot, but I think it's more what we show, what we try to do, but in a few words the intention is to play aggressive front-footed football and I know the ethos and the history of the club is massive on attacking football, and I think there's so much attacking talent in the squad. I'm very excited about that.

"They've clearly shown over the last two seasons that the ability to score goals is fantastic, and I'm very, very in on that. I love a team that is scoring goals, very, very big on principles. What we do on the final third, in terms of creating chances, and putting bowls in the box, playing in behind and stuff like that, I think it's key. So just want to build on that attacking football, we already have here in the club."

Taking risks

"I'm a big believer, I always say this one liner, if you don't take risk, you also take risk. So I think it's important that we take risks. A risk is, for example, if we play a man to man, in some situations, the risk is you need to play forward. If you don't risk the ball, you can't create anything. So I'm a big, big believer of that. We need to be brave. The players need to be brave when we play, and they need to trust themselves. So I will do my very best to install that trust and the players need to be brave. For me, if they lose the ball by trying, it's never a problem for me.

"Of course I can react, you know, it's natural, but they need to do that. But if they don't work hard, I struggle more with that. If they do everything they can and they lose the ball, or they try, no problem. But it's more if they don't work hard, that's my non-negotiable, but we need to take risk, of course, if we don't take risks, it's impossible to achieve something big."

The Spurs squad he's inheriting

"I think it's a very talented squad. I think it's a very good squad. So yeah, very excited about starting working with them and, of course, you know, when you follow the Premier League, you see the other teams, of course I've seen Tottenham, I've seen some fantastic performances from the team over the last years, and I'm very excited about that.

"I think there's big, big potential in it, but of course I'm looking from the outside, so I'm looking forward to get to know them, to be around them, to feel them, to understand them, to work with them on a training pitch, and that's where you really get the big understanding, and understand the relationships between players and how you can get the best out of them.

"Of course, I got an idea already, you know, my head is spinning, how can we play, who can I put them together and all that."

His senior and young Tottenham players

"When I say talented, it's not only the young players, it's also some of the more experienced players. How can we get the best out of them. Let's say Dominic Solanke, a big fan of him, in terms of his abilities. I'm sure we'll make him score a lot of goals.

"How can we play with Bentancur, you know, Maddison, how can we get that, but of course the younger ones as well. I think it's all players that we need to develop and make perform on the highest level. But of course Bergvall, Archie Gray, Odobert, Udogie, all of them, I think have a high ceiling. There's others I haven't mentioned, it's the whole squad and I'm looking forward to it."

Developing players

"It's always about me. You need to make the team win on a Saturday and a Tuesday, and Saturday and then on Wednesday, but it's also about developing the individual player, and that's me and my staff and the player. So how we work together, about that on a day-to-day basis, because if we lift the players' performance or develop them, the team will grow, perform better, hopefully have opportunities to win more matches."

The Tottenham fans

"First and foremost, I think it's a fantastic fanbase. I think the fans are the most important ones. It's the team, staff, me, all of us. How can we make sure we create enough magic moments with the fans, make moments they remember, they can get hopefully excited about.

"It's about that and also that we go on a journey together and on a journey, there'll be ups and downs, and 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, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium like a fortress, and that can only be the fans and us the team together. So that needs to be an ongoing relationship, ongoing situation we need to build, because I want our home to be very, very difficult to come to and that we can only do together."

Ange Postecoglou and that Europa League win

"Huge congratulations to the club, to the team. Huge congratulations to Ange. He will 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, so I'm going in on the foundation that Ange has built and his coaching staff, and I'm very humble about that and I'll do my very best to continue the great work they put in.

"But the feeling and the excitement and the joy and the happiness you could see in the fans' faces and the pictures you saw was wow. So hopefully we can create more of those moments, that will be the ultimate dream to do that and hey no one can say they're not winners, the team and the players are winners. Now we need to do our best to become serial winners in the future."

Thomas Frank will be looking to tweak his squad ahead of the new season, with Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo being linked with a move to Tottenham this summer.

After securing the permanent signature of Mathys Tel, it's unlikely Spurs will stop there when it comes to signings, with the Lilywhites set for a busy summer under new boss Frank. The likes of Bryan Mbeumo, Arnaud Kalimuendo and Jack Grealish are just some of the names being linked with Spurs, but Sky Sports have reported that Spurs are interested in Semenyo.

The Bournemouth forward has shown big improvement season after season since joining the Cherries from Bristol City in 2023, with the Ghanaian international scoring 11 times in the Premier League last season. Able to play on the left, the right, and even as a striker, the versatile forward has been linked with Manchester United and Liverpool over the last few months, with the 25-year-old looking set for a move away from the south coast this summer.

So, if Spurs were to bring Semenyo to north London, how could he fare? Let's take a look.

Tottenham's 2025/26 season simulated with Antoine Semenyo

To set up this simulation, we used Football Manager 2024 to move Semenyo to Spurs in the summer transfer window before simulating the 2025/26 season.

Semenyo was trusted to be Frank's left-winger from the very start, and his decision paid off, with the Ghanaian claiming the spot as his own ahead of Tel and Son Heung-min. The 25-year-old was a strong goalscorer for Spurs, but his creativity was also impressive, though he should've ended the season with more assists.

In 47 appearances across all competitions, Semenyo scored 17 goals for Spurs, with only Dominic Solanke (21) scoring more. He also managed seven assists, with four of those coming in the Premier League, but the forward did create 21 big chances, with only two players in the Premier League creating more.

At the end of the 2025/26 season, Football Manager 2024 put together an overall best Spurs XI, based on performances, statistics, and other metrics. This is what it looked like:

Full Spurs best XI: (4-2-3-1): Vicario; Gray, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Sarr, Bergvall; Johnson, Kulusevski, Semenyo; Solanke.

In a 4-2-3-1 set-up, Semenyo made Spurs' best XI, with the Ghanaian starting on the left alongside Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson behind Solanke. Lucas Bergvall and Pape Sarr made up the rest of the midfield, while Archie Gray beat Pedro Porro to the right-back position, with Frank taking a liking to the youngster over the Spaniard.

What was most impressive about Semenyo was his ability to win games for Spurs. The forward scored the winning goal in seven games across the Premier League season for Spurs, with those points proving valuable come the end of the campaign.

A strong start in the Champions League saw Spurs finish seventh in the League Phase to automatically qualify for the Round of 16, but a 5-2 aggregate loss to Barcelona saw them exit the competition in the first knockout round. A 1-0 defeat against Newcastle ended their Carabao Cup run in the quarter-finals, while a dramatic 4-3 loss to Arsenal saw Frank's side eliminated from the FA Cup in the semi-finals at Wembley.