Football London

Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly held initial discussions with Brentford regarding a potential deal to sign Bryan Mbeumo.

Spurs appointing Thomas Frank as the club's new head coach a week after relieving Ange Postecoglou of his duties is said to have made the forward more intrigued in a move, offering Tottenham encouragement. Manchester United have reputedly been the player's preferred destination.

They made a £55million move for Mbeumo soon after the summer transfer window opened. Brentford, though, turned down that offer as they value the Cameroon international at over £60million, albeit talks are purportedly continuing between the two Premier League clubs.

Sky Sports have reported the expectation is Man United will make another bid for the player. Brentford reputedly rejected their opening offer before Spurs started talks to hire Frank, purportedly paying a £10million release clause in the coach's contract.

Mbeumo has no such clause in his deal but notably has not agreed on new terms since a four-year extension in January 2022. As such, that contract expires next summer, albeit Brentford can add on an additional year due to their club option in the deal.

While still in charge of the west London, Frank acknowledged they would be open to selling for a substantial fee. "Of course, if the right price - and that's going to be expensive - is coming, then I'm sure the club will be open for it," he said, speaking to Sky earlier this year.

Mbeumo, however, is not the only forward Tottenham are reportedly admirers of. Sky have reported that the club intensified their interest in Antoine Semenyo the week they sacked Postecoglou. Man United are, too, credited with an interest in the Ghana international.

It won't be too long until Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal side are back at the club's training base ahead of the 2025/26 campaign. A huge season for the Gunners, what the club do ahead of the big kick-off could prove key to what happens come May.

At present, Arsenal have three pre-season games in the calendar as they embark on a tour of Singapore and Hong Kong in July. AC Milan are up first for Arsenal at the National Stadium in Singapore on Wednesday, July 23, before they then face Newcastle United at the same venue four days later.

The Gunners' final match in Asia is a North London Derby showdown against Tottenham at Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong on Thursday, July 31. The game against their fierce rivals will allow Arteta to get an early glimpse of Thomas Frank's Tottenham side.

Frank was confirmed as Ange Postecoglou's successor on Thursday evening, penning a three-year contract at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium until the summer of 2028. Following his remarkable work at Brentford, it was always going to be a matter of time before the 51-year-old made the step up and took on a bigger role.

Frank's Brentford team proved to be a tricky opponent for Arsenal, most notably winning 2-0 at the Gtech Community Stadium on their Premier League debut back in August 2021. Arteta's record may stand at six wins, two draws and one defeat in his meetings with the Dane but four of those victories were only by a single goal.

Back in April, the sides did play out a 1-1 draw after Yoane Wissa's 74th-minute strike cancelled out Thomas Partey's goal. As things stand right now, the North London Derby in Hong Kong will be Frank's first game as Tottenham head coach.

However, Spurs do have a couple of free weekends in the calendar prior to their Far East tour and another friendly or two could possibly be added before the derby clash. The game will certainly give Arteta an early indication of what his Arsenal team will be coming up against during the 2025/26 season.

Next campaign's fixtures are due to be released at 9am on Wednesday, June 18, with fans of both clubs immediately going to scan down the fixtures and find out when the first North London Derby of the season is. Arteta did have the upper hand over Postecoglou, Frank's predecessor, after winning three and drawing one of their four meetings over the past two campaigns.

The Spaniard will be looking to keep it that way as he embarks on yet another rivalry following more changes in the Tottenham managerial hotseat. Arteta already knows what he's going to face coming up against a Frank team but this time there will be a bit of extra needle given he is now in charge of their local rivals.

In what is an important summer for Arsenal, Arteta will be targeting a North London Derby win in Hong Kong and hoping it is a sign of things to come against Frank in 2025/26 and beyond.

Daniel Levy has not been quoted in either statement confirming Ange Postecoglou's sacking and Thomas Frank's subsequent appointment, but he has seemingly delivered a behind-the-scenes message to Cristian Romero.

Late on Thursday evening, Spurs confirmed that Frank would be the club's new head coach having signed a three-year contract with talks advancing very quickly after it was announced on Friday that Postecoglou had been relieved of his duties.

Almost every Tottenham player posted heartfelt messages in the aftermath of the news with James Maddison, Son Heung-min and Yves Bissouma making their feelings perfectly clear.

The absence of a social media post from Romero was intriguing especially considering their strong bond and how the duo's respective future's appeared intertwined. However, a message from the Argentine did arrive and it came just an hour after a statement on Frank was released.

He said: "Ange, thank you for these two incredible seasons. You're a fantastic coach, but above all, a great person who deserves the best.

"From day one you paved the way despite the many obstacles that always existed and always will exist. Beyond everything, we won a trophy and went down in the history of this beautiful club, which is the only thing that matters. I wish you the best because you deserve the best, and thank you for everything."

With Postecoglou now gone, it is more than likely he will be joined by Romero in sealing an exit. Atletico Madrid are interested in signing the centre-back but are only prepared to pay £38.3million (€45m) which is less than what Spurs forked out to sign him from Atalanta.

Unsurprisingly, any official proposal in that region is unlikely to be accepted with Tottenham desperate to keep him. The latest update on his future has come from Marca via Sport Witness with Levy working to persuade him to sign a new contract at the club.

His current deal expires in 2027 and therefore this summer could be the best time to sell unless he does pen fresh terms. While that happening does look highly unlikely, a conversation between him and Frank could change his stance with Son Heung-min's future also a hotly debated topic.

The club captain sees his contract expire next summer and having finally won a trophy, there is a real chance he leaves before the 2025/26 season. Champions League football could be one bargaining chip in convincing both to stay, though.

However, Julian Alvarez is one of six Argentine international's in the Atletico squad that could convince Romero to join.

Antonio Conte told his staff not to get involved with celebrations at Tottenham over finishing fourth in the Premier League during his time there as he reminded the coaches that they are used to more.

While this week has been all about the arrival of Thomas Frank at Spurs and the sacking of Ange Postecoglou after the Australian won the club's first trophy in 17 years, Conte was the manager before them both and has been speaking about his experiences at the north London side. The departure of Postecoglou after winning the Europa League, the club's first European title in 41 years, has opened a debate among many supporters over whether Tottenham are more interested in finishing in the top four than winning silverware.

Conte has since joined the list of recent managers who have all gone on and bagged a trophy after leaving Spurs as he won Serie A with Napoli last month. In an interview with Sky Italia this week, translated by Sports Witness, Conte admitted that he wanted his staff to refrain from joining in with the wild celebrations over finishing fourth at Tottenham.

"It was a difficult year at Tottenham. I arrived in November with them ninth in the standings and we ended up in the Champions League, overtaking Arsenal and you know the rivalry between the two clubs. For them, going to the Champions League was like winning the Premier League," he said.

"On the last day, the Champions League entry was celebrated in the dressing room. I called my staff and told them: we don’t get used to these celebrations. You don’t celebrate these things. We are used to celebrating other things. OK, great feat, but at the same time we understand what kind of celebration it is."

Before the end of the following campaign, Conte was gone and he admitted that the deaths of three close friends and his own health problems had made him re-evaluate his priorities.

"The following year a few things happened, Gian Piero Ventrone died of leukaemia in 15 days and it was a terrible blow on an emotional and psychological level and it wasn’t easy," he said. "Then Gianluca Vialli also passed away, with whom I had met the month before at a restaurant with my wife. I had seen him very calm, he was even fine, but during that dinner I understood that something was wrong. You notice it when someone is enjoying something, he had drunk, eaten and after a month he passed away.

"Sinisa [Mihajlovic’s] story also had an impact. A series of pains that made me rethink some priorities. I had my family far away, in Italy, while I was in a hotel. My wife had always made an effort for me. So I asked myself: how much is it worth sacrificing family and friends for this knowing that from one day to the next you find yourself facing tragedies of this kind and no longer being there? This made me change some priorities.

"Then I also had a problem and I had to urgently have gallbladder surgery and I was at risk of getting pancreatitis. In short, that period made me think a lot about the priorities."

Thomas Frank will have no doubts about what he is walking into at Tottenham Hotspur and the two main player situations that immediately face him.

The Dane is swapping the relative comforts of Brentford where he spent the past six years building his surroundings to exactly what he wanted them to be, to a club in Spurs where drama is always lurking around the corner. Frank has made it clear previously that when he did eventually leave the Bees he would be doing his due diligence into whatever club approached him next.

His research into Tottenham would have been two-fold - what is the running of the north London club like and why have so many managers been sacked there, including the one that just won a trophy, and secondly what is the squad situation like and what is happening with the best players.

With the latter scenario, the two key stars in question are captain Son Heung-min and his World Cup-winning vice-captain Cristian Romero. football.london reported earlier this week that Son is more open to leaving the club this summer than ever before after finally achieving his goal in lifting a trophy with Tottenham with interest from the Saudi Pro League and MLS.

Son, who has one year left on his contract, is unlikely to publicly make his feelings known. The same cannot be said for Romero, who has two years to go on his deal and while he rarely does interviews with English media, will often give incendiary ones to the Argentinean press.

Such moments often feel very specifically timed and that was certainly the case with the post everyone was waiting for from the 27-year-old about his former Spurs head coach Ange Postecoglou. The Australian and the Argentinean had huge mutual respect for each other and were constantly backing each other publicly. The duo could be seen sharing a long, warm embrace in the background on the stage during Tottenham's Europa League winning celebrations after their parade through N17.

So everyone knew Romero would eventually join the wave of disappointed Spurs players saying their heartfelt farewells to Postecoglou. It was just a case of when. As the days passed since last Friday's sacking announcement, it seemed more and more likely that the centre-back was waiting until he had finished his international duty with Argentina.

Few expected him to wait until just 56 minutes after the club had announced Frank as Postecoglou's successor before throwing his social media grenade into the room and closing the door.

"Ange, thank you for these two incredible seasons. You’re a fantastic coach, but above all, a great person who deserves the best," he wrote. "From day one you paved the way despite the many obstacles that always existed and always will exist.

"Beyond everything, we won a trophy and went down in the history of this beautiful club, which is the only thing that matters. I wish you the best because you deserve the best, and thank you for everything."

Now it could just be incredible coincidence that Romero or his social media advisors had decided to go with his message then or scheduled the post for 9.12pm in the UK on a Thursday night or 5.12pm in Argentina.

The message itself had plenty to dissect, including the trophy being the only thing that should matter as well as that line "from day one you paved the way despite the many obstacles that always existed and always will exist". That can be taken any number of ways and perhaps that is the smartest thing about the message to ensure it can be defended.

For it could be aimed at the critics of the club, the narrative around Spurs, or the medical side of things - remember Romero pointedly thanked the Argentina staff for helping him with his injury struggles this season. It could also be aimed at the Tottenham hierarchy, for the World Cup and two-time Copa America winner has had his say on the club before, namely back in December when he stood up for Postecoglou in an interview back home.

"You have to realise that something is going wrong, hopefully, they realise it," he said then. "The last few years, it's always the same: first, the players, then the coaching staff changes, and it's always the same people responsible. Hopefully, they realise who the true responsible ones are, and we move forward because it's a beautiful club that, with the structure it has, could easily be competing for the title every year."

Romero has made no secret of his desire to play in La Liga with Atletico Madrid interested in his services. Whether his social media activity, on top of his struggles with availability last season, help push him towards the exit door or cause Spurs to dig in over a big fee that many clubs will not be able to afford, remains to be seen.

On his day, as was evident during the Europa League's latter stages after which he was named player of the tournament, Romero can be a top drawer defender and one that his team-mates at club and international level look up to. Tottenham have to weigh up his importance to the club against the fear of losing him for nothing in two years' time.

If he is to stay then for Frank, there will be a relationship to build there, trying to earn the respect of a man who was so clearly committed to his predecessor.

From Romero's side, whether intentionally or not, the timing of the post was disrespectful to Frank. It was not a great gesture towards the man who could yet manage the Argentine next season. There had been six days to post about Postecoglou beforehand and instead the message came almost immediately after Frank's appointment.

Perhaps that was the point, to ensure a difficult situation that needs sorting in his favour. The irony is that Frank is a players' coach. Those who work with him adore him. The 51-year-old is a very different character to Postecoglou but one that Romero will quickly warm to if he wants to.

At the least, this will serve as an immediate window into what happens at Tottenham for Frank. He has jumped from the frying pan into the fire and it will not get any easier.

Brentford director of football Phil Giles has paid tribute to Thomas Frank for helping "transform the club" after his switch to Tottenham was confirmed on Thursday evening. The Dane replaces Ange Postecoglou in the Spurs hotseat, signing a contract in N17 until the summer of 2028.

Arriving at Brentford in December 2016 before becoming head coach just under two years later, the 51-year-old guided the Bees to the Premier League in 2021 and established them as a top-flight side. Duly coming to the attention of many due to his tactical nous and ability to obtain impressive results, Spurs turned to Frank as they clearly believe he can take the football club forward.

That's exactly what he did in his time in west London, with Giles stating he was "instrumental in implementing the culture that has seen Brentford go from strength to strength". Following his decision to take on the Tottenham job, the Bees, who will undoubtedly be disappointed to lose such a good manager in Frank, released a classy statement hailing him for his integral role in their incredible rise in recent years.

“It has been a pleasure working alongside Thomas," Giles told Brentford's official website. "From the moment he replaced Dean Smith, he understood what we were trying to build and his wisdom, coaching ability and emotional intelligence have helped transform the club.

“There have been so many special moments with Thomas and nobody will ever forget the day at Wembley for the play-off final or that emotional first Premier League game against Arsenal.

“But it’s not just what you see on the pitch. He forged a special connection with our fans, helped develop and improve players, and was instrumental in implementing the culture that has seen Brentford go from strength to strength.

“However, just as when a player leaves, it provides an opportunity for someone else to come in and make their own impact.

“We will never forget Thomas, but now it is time to thank him and take the next steps in our journey with a new leader who we believe can be just as successful and influential.”

One of Thomas Frank's non-negotiable rules is going to need to be heeded by his Tottenham Hotspur players in the months ahead otherwise they will face problems, with Yves Bissouma falling foul of it under Ange Postecoglou.

The Dane has taken over from the Australian as the new Spurs head coach and will bring his Premier League experience after establishing Brentford as a top flight team, to the bigger stage with Tottenham, who will compete in the Champions League next season.

During an appearance on the High Performance Podcast earlier this season, Frank was asked what his three non-negotiable behaviours are for him and the people around him and he said "hard work", "respect" and "be on time". The final one of those was something that Bissouma famously fell foul of under Postecoglou.

“I said ‘you can be a leader in this group’. I already knew of his ability, and the way he was training, I could see he got a lift with that," said the Australian last season. “He was late the next morning, and I said ‘to be a leader means to be on time’, and he has been good since then.

"So, there is always lessons to be learned, but I think with him and all the other players, it is about creating an environment and framework to say, ‘well you should not have any excuses’. I am not going to allow you to have any excuses, and not be the best you can be. In that context, the rest is up to them."

Bissouma later admitted: "That day I had a little problem with my car. I had a flat tyre and there was a lot of traffic, too. It’s not an excuse, every player knows you have to be on time. I arrived late, he caught me. I said sorry and I told him why.

"He said, ‘If you want to be a leader or a big player you need to be on time and respect all the details of the club’. It’s about respect, that’s really important. We fixed it. I told him and the players I was sorry. And now I’m always the first at training."

Bissouma's future has been the subject of plenty of speculation as he reaches the final 12 months of his contract at Tottenham and he will certainly need to ensure he makes it to everything Frank does on time if he plans to stay.

Tottenham have work to do in the summer transfer window now Thomas Frank has been announced as the new head coach in N17.

Frank has been confirmed as the new Tottenham Hotspur head coach, replacing Ange Postecoglou, with Spurs agreeing on a compensation package with Brentford to secure their manager and a number of the Bees' backroom staff too.

Spurs have yet to make any signings so far this summer, with the first of two transfer windows now closed, but Tottenham technical director Johan Lange is expected to be busy building a new squad for Frank when the window does reopen on Monday, June 16.

Tottenham travel out to Asia for their pre-season tour of Hong Kong and South Korea on July 27, giving the club six weeks to get deals done before then to give Frank the best possible preparation time with his new-look squad.

Here football.london takes a look at what a dream squad might look like.

Bryan Mbeumo

Bryan Mbeumo is the jewel in Brentford's crown and the Bees would be loathe to lose him, but for the right price, they will negotiate a deal.

Manchester United are keen on signing the frontman, with a £60million deal mooted. Mbeumo has worked extremely well under Frank, however and Spurs could tempt him to join his old boss in north London.

Mbeumo would be an exceptional signing for Spurs and offer added strength in depth in the forward positions, particularly with question marks over Son Heung-min's future.

Ebere Eze

It remains to be seen whether or not Tottenham will take up the option to make Mathys Tel's loan move a permanent one. That will be one for Frank to decide upon his arrival.

If they do not, however, Eberechi Eze could be the man to replace him in the squad. Spurs have been keen on the Crystal Palace man for some time and there have been reports that the player himself is keen on the move across London.

Eze can play in a number of positions and his versatility would certainly come in handy when it comes to Frank changing formations depending on Spurs' opponents.

Marc Guehi

Eze's Crystal Palace teammate Marc Guehi is also garnering interest from a number of Premier League clubs, including Tottenham.

If Cristian Romero decides to move on this summer, Spurs will look to add to the defensive line and Guehi is hugely talented with a wealth of Premier League experience behind him - and only one year remaining on his current contract.

Getting Palace to part with two of their prized assets is going to be no mean feat, however!

Morten Hjulmand

Spurs are in need of a No.6 and a countryman of Thomas Frank could be the way to go.

Hjulmand has been linked with Spurs before when leaving Lecce in Italy, but made the move to Portugal to play for Sporting CP instead.

He has continued to shine in the Primeira Liga and could look to finally make the move to the Premier League - although he does have an Arsenal tattoo!

Outgoings

According to our very own Alasdair Gold, Son Heung-min is closer to an exit from Tottenham than he has ever been before. Son has accomplished what he set out to do in winning a trophy with Spurs and now could be the perfect time to move on, with the South Korean turning 33 next month.

Cristian Romero, as mentioned above, has also been linked with a move away, with Atletico Madrid keen on signing him. Romero was staunchly behind Ange Postecoglou and openly admitted Spurs should stick together when there were rumours of the Australian being sacked. Tottenham could get big money for the Argentine and replace him with Guehi.

Mathys Tel could return to Bayern Munich, although keeping him would be preferable as he started to show his quality in patches towards the end of the season. One of the biggest question marks over another player in the squad surrounds Yves Bissouma, given his bit-part role in the team under Postecoglou, but Frank already mentioned the Malian in dispatches when he was part of what the Dane described as a "very, very good Premier League midfield".

Richarlison could be another to leave, to secure a big financial windfall to sign other players.

Dream Spurs squad

Goalkeepers: Guglielmo Vicario, Antonin Kinsky, Brandon Austin.

Defenders: Pedro Porro, Djed Spence, Destiny Udogie, Ben Davies, Radu Dragusin, Micky van de Ven, Kevin Danso, Marc Guehi .

Midfielders: Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray, Rodrigo Bentancur, James Maddison, Pape Matar Sarr, Dejan Kulusevski, Eberechi Eze , Morten Hjulmand .

Cristian Romero has labelled Ange Postecoglou as a "fantastic coach" and a "great person" as he paid tribute to the ex-Tottenham head coach following the appointment of Thomas Frank.

Spurs confirmed in a statement last Friday that Postecoglou had been relieved of his duties "following a review of performances and after significant reflection".

Postecoglou's exit came just 16 days after he guided Tottenham to their first major piece of silverware in 17 years. Spurs beat Manchester United to win the Europa League.

However, Tottenham's form in the Premier League had been dismal. Indeed, Spurs finished 17th in the top flight, their lowest finish since 1976/77, after losing 22 of their 38 matches.

Frank emerged as the leading contender to replace Postecoglou after impressing at Brentford. On Thursday night, the 51-year-old was announced as Tottenham's new head coach.

Less than an hour after Frank was unveiled in north London, Romero took to Instagram to send a message to Postecoglou following his dismissal last week.

Romero said: "Ange, thank you for these two incredible seasons. You're a fantastic coach, but above all, a great person who deserves the best.

"From day one you paved the way despite the many obstacles that always existed and always will exist. Beyond everything, we won a trophy and went down in the history of this beautiful club, which is the only thing that matters. I wish you the best because you deserve the best, and thank you for everything."

Frank spent seven years as Brentford's head coach and guided them from a mid-table Championship side to an established Premier League outfit. This season, the Bees recorded their highest finish in 89 years, having finished 10th in the table, despite stumbling near the end of the campaign.

Praising Frank, who has signed a three-year contract at Tottenham, in an emotional statement on Brentford's club website, director of football Phil Giles said: "It has been a pleasure working alongside Thomas.

"From the moment he replaced Dean Smith, he understood what we were trying to build and his wisdom, coaching ability and emotional intelligence have helped transform the club.

"There have been so many special moments with Thomas and nobody will ever forget the day at Wembley for the play-off final or that emotional first Premier League game against Arsenal.

"But it's not just what you see on the pitch. He forged a special connection with our fans, helped develop and improve players, and was instrumental in implementing the culture that has seen Brentford go from strength to strength.

"However, just as when a player leaves, it provides an opportunity for someone else to come in and make their own impact. We will never forget Thomas, but now it is time to thank him and take the next steps in our journey with a new leader who we believe can be just as successful and influential."

Tottenham have confirmed the appointment of four new members of first-team staff after Thomas Frank was unveiled as their new head coach on Thursday night.

Spurs had been looking for a successor to Ange Postecoglou after the Australian was sacked last Friday. The north London club confirmed in a statement that Postecoglou had been relieved of his duties "following a review of performances and after significant reflection".

Postecoglou's dismissal came just 16 days after he guided Tottenham to their first major piece of silverware in 17 years. Spurs beat Manchester United to win the Europa League.

However, Tottenham's form in the Premier League flattered to deceive. In fact, Spurs finished 17th in the top flight, their lowest finish since 1976/77, after losing 22 of their 38 fixtures.

Frank had emerged as the leading contender to replace Postecoglou after impressing at Brentford. Since he joined the Bees from Brondby in October 2018, he had taken them from a mid-table Championship side to a top-ten Premier League outfit, winning 132 and drawing 77 of his 317 matches in charge.

Now, Frank has decided to leave Brentford for a new challenge with Tottenham confirming his arrival on a three-year contract. Spurs announced in a statement that four members of fhis irst-team staff are set to follow Frank to north London, including Justin Cochrane, who was his assistant at Brentford.

Alongside Cochrane, Tottenham's new first-team assistant coach, Chris Haslam is expected to arrive as head of performance and first team assistant coach while Joe Newton is joining as first team coach analyst. The final new appointment is Andreas Georgson, who Spurs say arrives from Manchester United.

Brentford, meanwhile, issued a heartfelt statement to Frank after his exit was confirmed, with director of football Phil Giles sending a special message. "It has been a pleasure working alongside Thomas," Giles said.

"From the moment he replaced Dean Smith, he understood what we were trying to build and his wisdom, coaching ability and emotional intelligence have helped transform the club.

"There have been so many special moments with Thomas and nobody will ever forget the day at Wembley for the play-off final or that emotional first Premier League game against Arsenal.

"But it's not just what you see on the pitch. He forged a special connection with our fans, helped develop and improve players, and was instrumental in implementing the culture that has seen Brentford go from strength to strength.

"However, just as when a player leaves, it provides an opportunity for someone else to come in and make their own impact.

"We will never forget Thomas, but now it is time to thank him and take the next steps in our journey with a new leader who we believe can be just as successful and influential."