Football London

Tottenham defender Luka Vuskovic will not be available to feature for Hamburg this weekend in their Bundesliga clash at Stuttgart

Hamburg boss Merlin Polzin has confirmed Tottenham loanee Luka Vuskovic has picked up a knee issue.

The Croatia international has been a key figure for HSV since moving on loan to Germany at the start of the season.

However, he is set to sit out of this weekend's trip to Stuttgart due to what's been described as 'knee contusion'.

There is good news for Spurs though as the problem is not though to be serious and there's hope he could be ready to return against Werder Bremen on April 18.

Polzin said during a press conference on Friday: "Luka has a bruised knee and will therefore miss the upcoming match.

"He's doing everything he can to take care of himself and be ready to play. But he's not available, so it's about preparing the other guys well and giving them the confidence they need to perform well."

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Vuskovic is set for a well-earned rest after also featuring twice for Croatia during their recent international friendlies in the United States against Colombia and Brazil.

The 19-year-old centre-back scored in the 2-1 triumph over Colombia and is now pushing to secure a starting berth for his country at this summer's World Cup finals.

Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic has already confirmed Vuskovic will be part of his squad while Tottenham are expected to make a decision on the player's future following the tournament.

The teenager recently confirmed he expects to head back to Spurs this summer for pre-season despite widespread transfer interest in his signature.

He told German media: "After this season, I’ll be a Tottenham player again. I have a contract there until 2030."

Barcelona are monitoring Vuskovic, though you would expect new Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi to cast an eye over the Croat during pre-season given he has excelled in the Bundesliga with HSV this season.

Vuskovic has already said on record that he'd be interested in returning to Hamburg on loan for another season if the Europa League winners cannot provide him with assurances over minutes.

His brother Mario is due to return from a doping ban later in the year and re-signing on loan would offer Vuskovic the chance to play alongside his sibling at club level.

Roberto De Zerbi is speaking to the media for the first time as Tottenham boss on Friday afternoon ahead of his debut in the dugout at Sunderland this weekend.

The Italian will take charge of his Spurs team for the first time on Sunday afternoon when the north London side make the trip to the Stadium of Light with the hope of recording their first Premier League win in 2026. The new boss wants to keep Tottenham in the Premier League at the end of their final seven matches of the campaign.

First De Zerbi will take his seat in the press conference room at Hotspur Way on Friday, speaking to the media about what lies ahead, including the latest injury news, particularly that setback for Mohammed Kudus. football.london will be bringing you a live blog from the press conference below, then a full transcript afterwards with everything the 46-year-old said in the main broadcast section and also later on what he said in the embargoed section for the daily newspapers.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold is among those putting the questions to De Zerbi. Scroll down for the latest updates from the Italian's first press conference at Hotspur Way.

Tottenham Hotspur will have to make significant cuts if they're relegated from the Premier League, and Roberto De Zerbi is under pressure to deliver top-flight status.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has claimed Tottenham Hotspur will need to make £130million in savings if they're relegated from the Premier League. The Lilywhites are in grave danger of falling into the Championship, with just a point, and a sizeable goal difference, separating them from West Ham in the bottom three.

In fact, the Hammers could leapfrog Spurs when they face Wolves on Friday night. If Nuno Espirito Santo's side leave Molineux with three points, Tottenham won't have the chance to climb out of the drop zone until Sunday afternoon, when they take on Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

With hundreds of millions on the line, Roberto De Zerbi has been tasked with keeping the Lilywhites in the English top-flight. According to Maguire, Tottenham could lose as much as £275million if they're relegated from the Premier League.

Speaking recently on The Sports Agents podcast, the football accountancy expert said: "I reckon it’s going to be somewhere in the region of £250million to £275million compared to the current season.

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"That's taking into consideration the fact that Spurs have the second highest yield in terms of how much they extract per fan, per match. It's a very sophisticated operation they have… Then, of course, there won’t be the participation in Europe next season."

Even if Tottenham were to cut spending on wages by a third, they'd still boast a record wage bill in the Championship. Maguire continued: "Spurs have already got a very high wage bill by the standards, even of the Premier League.

"It's well over £200 million. And if that was reduced by a third, it would still be by far the record wage bill for the Championship."

In order to balance the books, Maguire reckons Tottenham would need to make £130million in savings. He added: "Spurs this season, even if they finish in the bottom three, are likely to be in receipt of £120million to £130million pounds of broadcast income.

"They've also been in the Champions League. I think you can add £50million pounds to that, so that's £175million. Next season, that's going to drop to around about £45million. So, somewhere the club has got to make £130million worth of savings."

Last week, De Zerbi outlined his plan to keep Spurs in the Premier League. In an interview with club media, the Italian said: "I'm very happy and very proud to be here. I consider Tottenham one of the most important clubs in the world, so I'm very happy.

"I have a big responsibility, it's a big challenge and I'm looking forward to start and to work with the players and to win some games. I watched a lot of games, especially in the last period. I know very well the players.

"I love football, so I watch many, many games per week. I know everything. I know it's a tough moment for Tottenham, I know very well it's a tough moment. It's a difficult moment for everyone at Tottenham.

"I think we have the right qualities to come out from this moment. I believe in the players. I think we have to remember who we are and who the players are, because we have very big players and we have to work on their confidence and the qualities of them.

"They have to show what they are and what they are used to playing."

Turning his attention to the clash in the North East, the Spurs gaffer said: "I think we have to be focused just on the Sunderland game. I don't want to listen to people speaking about the schedule or the Brighton game or the Wolverhampton game.

"Game by game, we have to prepare the players to win the game and to be focused just on the game. We have to play with courage. We have to play with the qualities of the players, because if I accepted this challenge, it's because I have a big confidence in the players and the history of Tottenham football is a very clear style of play.

"We are lucky, I am lucky, because I have big players with big talent and my work is to help the players to show their qualities."

Roberto De Zerbi has signed a long-term contract with Tottenham Hotspur as he looks to steer the club from the grips of relegation and will lean on the club's current captain to do so

Roberto De Zerbi believes that Cristian Romero could be "the most important player" in his squad, as he wastes no time in building a bond with Tottenham Hotspur.

The Italian signed a long-term contract with the Lilywhites last month as a replacement to Igor Tudor - who lasted just 44 days at the helm at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Croatian was unable to pick up the pieces left in the wake of Thomas Frank's sacking in February, as Spurs stare down the barrel of a relegation battle in the latter stages of the season.

At the time of writing, the club are 17th in the Premier League standings, just one point clear of the drop zone with seven games to go.

Fans in north London will hope that De Zerbi will be able to inspire his first-team to avoid Championship football for 2026/27, but has very limited time to do so.

However, the 46-year-old has wasted very little time in outlining the players who will be instrumental to his plans over the next couple of months - starting with club captain, Romero.

Speaking with NBC Sports, De Zerbi said of the centre-half: "I think Cuti is crucial for us, crucial for Tottenham as a club. He is the captain, he is maybe the most important player in our squad, and to achieve our goal, we need the best of Romero."

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Elsewhere, the head coach also hinted that Richarlison will be a major part of Spurs late fightback in the English top flight. He added: "Richarlison can play in different positions.

"He’s a good guy, he’s a clean guy, he’s a honest guy. I like him, as a player, as a mentality, as an attitude. In the same position, we can play with different players, but I think, to achieve our target, we need Richarlison in the best way possible."

A seasoned manager who knows the trials and tribulations of the Premier League, De Zerbi enjoyed a largely successful coaching spell with Brighton between 2022 and 2024 before moving on to Marseille.

He left the Ligue 1 giants via mutual consent in February following an exit from the Champions League, as he now looks for a fresh start in the capital.

His first test will see him travel with the Lilywhites to the Stadium of Light to take on a tough-to-break-down Sunderland AFC.

The new Tottenham boss is set to take charge of his first game and one of his former players have been raving about his coaching

One of new Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi's former players has hailed him as "one of the best coaches in the world" and claims he dazzled him with his methods.

The Italian will hold his first press conference as Spurs boss on Friday afternoon ahead of his debut in the dugout for the north London club at Sunderland on Sunday. The Tottenham players have already been impressed by his methods and one of his former players during his spell at Shakhtar Donetsk, midfielder Artem Bondarenko, said De Zerbi will be perfect for the Premier League outfit.

"He was a maestro for me. I had just arrived in the first team and, I must admit, if he didn't teach me everything, he taught me almost everything! I am convinced that even now that he is at Tottenham, he will do very well, for me, he is one of the best coaches in the world," he told Flashscore.

"He taught me many things, he showed me, first and foremost, how to hit the ball with my left foot and, every time, he made me learn something new. I was dazzled by his methods, not only by the way he approached me. He was wonderful. He taught me so much."

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So did the 25-year-old Ukrainian pick up any Italian words from the head coach? "Tutto bene! The other phrases or expressions, however, I cannot say. They are all swear words!" he said with a laugh.

Tottenham Hotspur have provided an update on midfielder Mohammed Kudus who has been out injured since January

Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed that Mohammed Kudus has suffered a setback in his return from injury. The midfielder has been out of action since January after injuring his calf during Spurs' 1-1 draw at home to Sunderland.

It was hoped that the extended break would have given Kudus more time to get closer to a return after so long out. But he was not in the background of photos or footage from Roberto de Zerbi's first session as Tottenham Hotspur head coach - leading to fears that he had suffered a setback.

And those concerns have been realised after Spurs confirmed on Thursday evening that the former Ajax star faces a further period out, with no time frame for his return.

A club statement said: "We can confirm that Mohammed Kudus has suffered a setback in his return from injury.

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"The Ghana international forward suffered a significant quad injury during our Premier League fixture against Sunderland in January.

"He had returned to team training during the past week, however he will now require further specialist review and, potentially, surgery. We will provide any relevant further updates in due course."

Spurs' former interim head coach Igor Tudor had provided a positive update on the attacker before his departure.

The 47-year-old said: "So we have this big three weeks after the game on Sunday. He will probably do some part of the things with the squad maybe 10 days [after the break].

"I don’t know I’m not sure. We need to check but he is progressing very well. Already a little bit with the ball."

The 25-year-old had provided nine goal involvements in 24 Premier League and Champions League matches for Spurs before his injury.

However, news of his injury setback is another blow to Tottenham as they look to avoid a disastrous relegation from the Premier League. De Zerbi's team currently sit 17th in the top-flight table - just a point clear of the bottom three.

And Spurs could find themselves in the relegation zone by the time they kick off at Sunderland on Sunday, with the team directly below them, West Ham, kicking off at home to bottom-of-the-table Wolves on Friday night.

The new Tottenham head coach will be speaking to the media on Friday and he will have plenty of topics to discuss after his appointment

Roberto De Zerbi will hold his first press conference as Tottenham Hotspur head coach on Friday afternoon and he will face plenty of questions.

The Italian will step into the dugout on Sunday for the first time as Spurs boss when the north London side make the trip to Sunderland with the aim of recording their first Premier League victory in 2026. First though the 46-year-old must take a different seat in the press conference room at Hotspur Way on Friday afternoon before he sets out on the task of keeping the club in the Premier League through their final seven matches of the campaign.

De Zerbi will be speaking to the media at 1.30pm on Friday and football.london will be bringing you a live blog from the press conference, a full transcript afterwards with everything the new man said in the main broadcast section and also what he said in the embargoed section for the daily newspapers.

Here are five main topics that will likely form the core of the questions put to the Italian at Tottenham's Enfield-based training complex.

Kudus and injuries

One of the key foundations for De Zerbi's chances of succeeding in the coming seven games could be to get some of the club's big players back in action again after months spent in the treatment room.

Spurs still have nine players out injured, if we're including Pape Matar Sarr, who picked up a shoulder injury on international duty with Senegal.

Before his exit, Igor Tudor had indicated that Mohammed Kudus, Rodrigo Bentancur and James Maddison were all closing in on returns to full training with the squad during or just after the long three-week break between Premier League fixtures for the north London outfit.

However, football.london reported on Thursday that Kudus has had a setback just as he was about to return from his quad tendon injury suffered in January. The extent is unknown but there have been suggestions of surgery being required and that could rule the Ghana star out of the remainder of the season and the World Cup this summer.

De Zerbi will be asked about Kudus, the progress of goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario after his hernia surgery last month as well as Bentancur and Maddison. There's no point asking the new man yet exactly why Tottenham get so many injuries and re-injuries but that will be question no doubt as the months go on.

Coaching staff

There was something a little different about the announcement of De Zerbi's backroom staff this week in that only two members of his normal group joined him on this occasion. Usually at least seven of his trusted coaches follow him from club to club but on this occasion only Marcattilio Marcattilii and Marcello Quinto have joined as fitness coach and senior professional development phase coach respectively.

Bruno Saltor and Andreas Georgson remain at Spurs as De Zerbi's assistant coaches, Cameron Campbell as individual development coach and Fabian Otte as the goalkeeping coach. They will all continue to be supported by Stuart Lewis and Dean Brill as the link for the young academy players stepping up to the first team.

De Zerbi will be asked why so few of his usual coaches have joined him and whether more are likely to arrive in the summer during a bigger coaching shake-up.

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Mason Greenwood and the Spurs fans

This is a subject that will be broached at the press conference because De Zerbi's defence of controversial footballer Mason Greenwood during their time together at Marseille caused a number of Spurs fan groups to rally against his appointment.

Supporter groups Women of the Lane, Proud Lilywhites and Spurs Reach all released statements with a 'No to De Zerbi' campaign and the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust made their feelings on the 46-year-old clear. It came from him describing Greenwood as a "good guy" that had paid a "heavy price" and added: “It saddens me what happened in his life, because I know a totally different person than the one who was described."

Ex-Manchester United forward Greenwood was charged in October 2022 with one count of attempted rape, one count of controlling and coercive behaviour and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm over allegations relating to a young women after images and videos were posted online. The Crown Prosecution Service dropped the charges in February 2023 owing to a “combination of the withdrawal of key witnesses” and due to “no realistic prospect of conviction”.

De Zerbi was asked about the subject in his club interview last week and said: "I have never wanted to downplay the issue of violence against women or violence against anyone more broadly. In my life, I have always stood up for those who are more vulnerable (people from underserved communities/protected characteristics), more fragile, I’ve consistently fought and taken a stand to be on the side of those who are most at risk.

"Those of you who know me well, will know that I am not the kind of person who makes compromises to win more games or to win an extra title. I am sorry if I offended anyone's feeling with this subject matter – I have a daughter and I’m very sensitive to these things, and I always have been. I hope that over time people will get to know me better and will understand that at that moment I didn’t mean to take a stance at that time."

Will he compromise his tactics?

As with most Tottenham managerial appointments, the new head coach brings a very different style to their predecessor and that means De Zerbi has just seven matches to implement his ways before it's too late for the relegation-threatened club.

"I think it is not the right moment to speak about my philosophy for football. I am here now at the end of the season because we have to win the games. In football, the style of play and the tactical disposition are important. There is a mentality and I would like to help the player to reach the best mentality we can show," said the Italian.

"I signed five years of contract because for me it is a big challenge and I will be the coach of Tottenham next season, no matter what.

"I love keeping the ball, I love possession, I love to create chances to score. But at the same time, I love having 11 defenders when we don't have the ball, because in this time of football, we have to attack with 11 players, with the goalkeeper as well. We have to defend with 11 players when the ball is not for us.

"I think in this moment, we have no time to work too much on more principles, but we have to know what we have to do on the pitch. We have to have a good organisation on the pitch, with the ball, without the ball. We have to consider the qualities of the players. We are lucky, I am lucky because I have big players with big talent and my work is to help the players to show their qualities."

Like Tudor before him, De Zerbi appeared to be initially saying that the main thing is results right now rather than the style of football but footage of his training sessions suggest he's trying to get the Spurs stars playing his way, including baiting the press and getting defenders to play the ball out from the back.

The new boss is likely to be quizzed on whether he will need to compromise his style for now before bringing his full methods in for next season.

Why now and will he stick around?

Another question to be asked is what made De Zerbi change his mind of waiting until the summer rather than taking on this huge situation right now with just seven games to go and Spurs potentially in the bottom three when he takes his first game on Sunday afternoon?

Was it just the mega money as one of the Premier League's top earning managers or did he get more guarantees about his power within the club going forward? Or did he simply believe he can keep Tottenham up and use this is a pre-season of sorts to hit the ground running next season?

Another question is the five-year contract for a man who spends on average around 18 months at clubs. Does De Zerbi truly believe that he will be in charge of Tottenham for years to come? We'll find out his thoughts on that and plenty more at Friday's press conference at Hotspur Way.

The Tottenham sporting director based an entire transfer window reasoning on something that has not come to pass for the north London club

Mohammed Kudus' injury setback appears to be another damning indictment of Tottenham's January transfer window business and sporting director Johan Lange's defence of the lack of arrivals.

Spurs are now on their fourth head coach in nine months with the arrival of Roberto De Zerbi and the Italian will have walked through the Hotspur Way doors to find a club with nine players currently at different stages of injury rehabilitation. His predecessors Igor Tudor, Thomas Frank and Ange Postecoglou all faced double figure absences for prolonged periods during their tenures.

Postecoglou in particular bemoaned the amount of re-injuries during his time at the club during games and training, and despite changes at the top of the medical department and sports science staff that still appears to be happening with football.london reporting on Thursday that Kudus had suffered a setback in the quad injury that has kept the Ghanaian out since January.

Spurs had the chance to reinforce their squad in the January transfer window, despite the difficulties involved in that market, but only brought through the door a midfielder in Conor Gallagher and 19-year-old left-back Souza, while selling last season's top scorer Brennan Johnson just days before Kudus first suffered his serious quad injury.

Tottenham captain Cristian Romero hit out publicly at the tiny and tired first team squad the club were working with but Lange maintained after the window closed that not reinforcing the numbers would be offset by players returning from injury.

"Of course, when we go into January, we didn't anticipate that we'll have seven injuries during the month of January. So, that of course changes things during the course of the window," said the Dane in his club interview.

"It's very important, even though that is highly frustrating with all the injuries, to remain disciplined because, A, the players are coming back and, B, if you then, can you say, go in and make a stress purchase of any football players, then yes, the immediate feeling gives you is nice, but there's no point in signing players that have not helped us in the short term, in the medium term, or even in the long term.

"So, even though that is highly frustrating with all the injuries, the majority of the players will return this season here, hopefully a few very soon. It is important as a club to remain disciplined and make sure to do our best, our ability only to sign players that can generally help the team now or in the future."

He added: "Again, it's for a number of reasons. First, a lot of our injured players, they will return in this season here, hopefully a number of them quite shortly."

Unfortunately, of the long-term players out when Lange made those comments ahead of the trip to face Manchester United in early February, Kudus, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur and Ben Davies all remain side-lined two months later and were added to a week after by Wilson Odobert. The young Frenchman suffered an ACL injury while Yves Bissouma has been in and out of availability with muscle problems.

First choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario also put off having hernia surgery for months, playing through the pain before finally needing to have the operation last month.

De Zerbi will take charge of his first Tottenham match on Sunday afternoon at Sunderland. The 46-year-old will attempt to keep the club in the top flight over the coming seven matches with a squad that has rarely been fit for purpose at a club that declared last summer that it must compete in all competitions. Spurs will be fortunate if they are even able to compete in the Premier League next season.

The Tottenham Hotspur boss has not even taken charge of a match yet but has already found out about the club's constant injury problems

Mohammed Kudus is believed to have suffered a setback to his long-term quad injury just as he was set to return to action for Tottenham, football.london understands.

Kudus had originally suffered a serious quad tendon injury in the draw against Sunderland at home back in January but looked to be on the way back this month. Spurs' former interim head coach Igor Tudor had provided a positive update on the attacker before his departure.

"So we have this big three weeks after the game on Sunday. He will probably do some part of the things with the squad maybe 10 days [after the break]," the Croatian had told football.london. "I don’t know I’m not sure. We need to check but he is progressing very well. Already a little bit with the ball."

However, Kudus is yet to appear in any footage from training and football.london understands that the Ghana star has faced a setback with his quad although the extent is unclear. There are some suggestions that an operation may be required and if so that could potentially place the remainder of his Premier League season and World Cup participation in doubt. Ghana face England as well as Croatia and Panama in their group at the showpiece tournament this summer.

The 25-year-old's return would have been a major boost to Tottenham's new head coach Roberto De Zerbi. After signing from West Ham in a £55million deal, Kudus had provided nine goal involvements in 24 Premier League and Champions League matches for Spurs before his injury and the Italian had come close to signing him during his spell in charge of Brighton.

Kudus had not missed a single game through injury for West Ham but could potentially miss half of his first season at their north London rivals.

De Zerbi joins Spurs at a time when they have nine players out injured, including Pape Matar Sarr who picked up a shoulder injury on international duty with Senegal. The club's constant injury crises of recent seasons have hampered Tudor and Thomas Frank and Ange Postecoglou before them.

Kudus' setback comes at a time when former Ghana star Michael Essien believes the Spurs man is the country's big hope after his performances at the previous World Cup.

"If I start talking about him [Kudus], we won't finish! I think he has showcased himself to the football world. He’s one of the biggest talents, and for Ghana, he's our star. We have to protect him and give him all the love and confidence he needs," he told FIFA.com.

Spurs and England midfielder James Maddison has been working hard behind the scenes to return stronger in the summer and complete a full pre‑season

James Maddison is edging closer to recovering from the serious anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) he sustained in pre‑season. The 29‑year‑old had to be stretchered off during Tottenham's pre‑season match against Newcastle United in Seoul and has missed the majority of the Premier League campaign so far.

In his absence, Spurs have parted company with two managers, Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor, with Roberto De Zerbi now in the dugout.

Since stepping away from the pitch, Maddison has documented his rehabilitation after undergoing surgery on a cruciate knee injury.

In a new update on Instagram, the midfielder shared a video of the Spurs admin filming him as they zoomed in on the muscle in his leg.

"Admin needs to work on the angle of videoing," he wrote, followed by laughing and muscle emojis.

This comes after Spurs shared footage of Maddison training in the gym, which quickly went viral.

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Fans have been stunned by the noticeable difference in the muscle mass in his legs.

One fan replied: "You could see Maddison has lost a lot weight, especially in his leg muscles. When he is fit, he is a joy to watch. I wish him a speedy return," while a second added: "Something wrong with his legs."

A third continued: "Looking at that, it's going to be a while still. Poor guy." Another remarked: "If this is a recent piece of footage it's going to be a bit longer... The difference in his legs tell you that."

The former Leicester City man revealed how lonely he has felt at times and his battle with the mental side throughout his rehabilitation.

"It was painful," he explained. "It was difficult to accept, with a big season ahead, a World Cup year.

"But it is what it is, you have to deal with it, crack on with the rehab and smile in the face of adversity.

"I've been working hard every day, head down, grit my teeth and get through it. There have been some tough days, some dark days, lonely days.

"But I’ll get there and be back better and stronger, I have no doubt."

Despite being back on the grass in recent weeks, he is still expected to remain sidelined for the rest of the season, with the club unlikely to take any risks.