Football London

Ange Postecoglou had plenty of questions to answer at his press conference on Thursday ahead of Tottenham's trip to Aston Villa on Friday night in the Premier League.

Spurs travel to Villa Park five days before the Europa League final where Postecoglou's side will face Manchester United on May 21 in Bilbao. That means the Australian must decide whether to use key players to keep them tuned up otherwise they will not have played a match in almost two weeks by the time the final comes around but that also brings with it the risk of injuries.

One player who will definitely miss the final in Spain is Dejan Kulusevski after the Swede required surgery to his right patella following an injury in the Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace on Sunday. Postecoglou provided further updates on the Swede and on the rest of the team's fitness.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Postecoglou. Here's the full transcript from the press conference at Hotspur Way.

What's the latest Dejan Kulusevski update?

Disappointing news. Initially we thought it wasn’t too serious. The medical team were worried structurally about how the knee was but it blew up the day after and we knew there was an issue there. He has had surgery and it will put him out for at least a few months.

Will he be fit for the start of next season?

We will see. To be honest, I have only got basic information at the moment in terms of recovery but it will certainly put him out for a while.

More bad luck?

It’s just reflective and consistent with everything else that has happened this season. I have said a few times that we just haven’t had a smooth run of things. Every time we look like getting to a place where we look in decent shape, squad wise or personnel wise, invariably we have been hit. The last few weeks, again, it’s just circumstance that it has happened in the one area of the park.

Any chance Lucas Bergvall has made a miracle recovery?

No, it is still the same sort of timeframe. He was never a long-term one but he has literally just got out of the boot and taken his first tentative steps on the grass but he won’t be available.

Is the integrity of the Premier League a consideration tomorrow night because of the battle for top five?

We are certainly going to go out there and try to win the game tomorrow and put out a team that hopefully gets the job done. I’m not sure about the integrity. There have been times this year when we have had to field weakened teams because of injury. Does that affect the integrity? People are thinking there is some sort of competitive balance that exists that doesn’t exist over the course of the season. I would be very surprised if people were questioning our integrity to try to win a game tomorrow.

Villa are guaranteed a place in Europe but have plenty to play for, you said after Palace you were not happy with the performance of your players - what do you want to see from them tomorrow?

Look, we understand the challenging situation we’re in and particularly the players. When you’re making seven or eight changes in a team line-up, throwing players together, it is very difficult for them but even in that context I thought the group could have performed better on the day collectively and individually. That is the challenge for the players, to try to seize the opportunity that is before them. There is a game tomorrow where we obviously want to try to perform well and pick up a result, but also it’s an opportunity for them to put their name forward for the big game the following week. As we’ve already seen in the past couple of weeks, as much as you would like to think there is an ideal starting line-up, things happen and players need to be ready for that. Tomorrow night is an opportunity for those guys to put their hand up.

How has this latest injury affected morale in the squad as it's happened plenty of times this season?

Look, I guess because it’s been a constant with us during the year, we’ve kind of become almost accustomed to it. It would probably be a bigger issue if we had a smooth run all year and got hit with injuries now and deal with missing key players, but we’ve pretty much been without key players all season. There hasn’t been a time where we had a three or four week spell with our strongest line-up, so the boys are getting on with it. They’re disappointed for the people involved and Deki being the latest one because he had a fantastic first part of the year for us and was just working his way back into it. At the same time as I keep saying to the group all along, you can’t pick and choose when these opportunities come along. There could be other years where we don’t have these disruptions and injuries, but we don’t get to a final. The reality of it is now the opportunity is there and whatever happens between now and then, we’ve got to make sure we’re ready for it.

In terms of Son, can he start tomorrow?

“He'll definitely play tomorrow. Whether we start him or not, we’ll have a look at, but he reacted well to playing the other day. There were no issues with his foot, he’s trained well and it makes sense for him to get more match-minutes. It could be as a starter and if not, he’ll definitely play at least half a game tomorrow.

Just away from the club momentarily, I wondered what you made of Josh Keeley and Jamie Donley getting through the play-off final last night?

Yeah, I watched the game last night, it was a cracking game and super pleased for both of them. You know, when players go on loan, obviously the key for it is for them to get match minutes and development, I think both of those guys have, but it's even better if they're part of something that could be special for them in terms of success.

I think that helps as well in terms of their own self-belief and and being part of something successful. So yeah, super pleased with them, it'll be a great occasion and hopefully they get through.

Can you see them both having a long term future with Spurs?

I think with all these things, they're for the off-season when guys come back. Right now our focus is fairly on what's happening in the next two weeks.

We haven't seen Timo Werner for a while, it was February when he was last in a squad....

He's injured, mate. He's injured. He's got a hamstring injury.

In terms of Dejan, how gutted are you for him, especially given the journey he's had this season and how key he's been as well?

Yeah, gutted for him, gutted for Lucas and gutted for Madders and Radu, because, say all four of those, it's not like - knock on wood because we've had enough of those - but it's not like a muscle injury or anything. It's just circumstance, stuff that probably happens in every football game, but it doesn't have the damage that it did and unfortunately for them it came at the wrong time of the year.

So, yeah, gutted for Deki because like I said I thought there was real growth in him this year. We integrated him into a new position which I think he was really getting to grips with and really making an impact and I think he's grown as a player this year, he captained his country and and then sort of got hit with a foot injury which set him back but then typical him he worked hard at rehab and was really important for us away at Bodo and started looking like he was getting back to himself, which would have been great for us, so for him to get another setback is is disappointing. But mentally he's a very strong guy and I'm sure he'll use this as a catalyst to come back stronger.

If you type in that surgery online, which is never a good thing, and it comes up at six to 12 months, I presume you don't expect it to be as long as that?

No, it wouldn't be anywhere near 12 months, but again me putting a timeframe on wouldn't be right because he only had the surgery yesterday. We'll get some more information and a lot of that just depends on how players progress, but it's fair to say months, but how many months I wouldn't speculate at the moment.

You used three players that started in Bodo against Palace, will you use the other seven outfield players or will there be one or two you try to protect?

Yeah, we'll see, we'll see, we've got training today and it's a bit of a balancing act. We obviously tried to navigate that last week by protecting a few, which we had to, and it still didn't work out. We still lost a player, so I'll sort of take all that into consideration over the next few hours.

Ange Postecoglou has revealed that Timo Werner has been missing for Tottenham due to a hamstring injury. The German returned to Spurs on a season-long loan deal last summer but the 2024/25 campaign has proved to be an extremely frustrating one for the attacker.

The 29-year-old has been restricted to 27 appearances in all competitions for the north London club this season, with the player only starting four times in the Premier League. Werner did feature regularly in the Europa League league phase in the first half of the season but was then cut from the squad for the knockout rounds.

Since returning in February from a hamstring injury sustained in the FA Cup third round tie at Tamworth at the beginning of the year, the former Chelsea man has only made the matchday squad on one occasion. Werner did play eight minutes of the 1-0 defeat against Manchester City but since then has not been included in the last nine Premier League matchday squads.

Amid question marks over his absence with academy ace Damola Ajayi recently making the 20-man matchday party in the draw at West Ham, Postecoglou has opened up on why Werner has been missing.

"He's injured, mate. He's injured. He's got a hamstring injury," the 59-year-old told football.london.

Tottenham's next Premier League game comes on Friday when they travel to Aston Villa. The fixture in the Midlands presents Postecoglou with another opportunity to increase Son Heung-min's minutes after making his comeback from a foot injury last weekend in the defeat against Crystal Palace.

"He'll definitely play tomorrow," said the Australian on Son. "Whether he'll start or not we'll see. He reacted well to Sunday and it makes sense to get him more match minutes whether it's starting or playing half of the game."

Manchester United are preparing for a huge week as they look ahead to the Europa League final against Tottenham at San Mames. But first of all, there's a Premier League clash against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to prepare for.

Ruben Amorim's side have been in dire straights in the league, sitting 16th in the table on 39 points - just one point and one place above Spurs. In what has been a terrible year on the pitch for United, the squad have managed to find some salvation in Europe with a thrilling quarter-final comeback win against Lyon in extra-time followed by a 7-1 demolition against Athletic Club in the semi-final.

With Chelsea hoping to secure a place in the top five and qualification for next season's Champions League, they will be hoping United may rest some key personnel ahead of the European final against Spurs. However, with United's injury situation they may not be able to rotate as much as they would have hoped.

Here we look at United's injury struggles...

Leny Yoro

Yoro limped out of Sunday's defeat to West Ham with a foot injury and although he missed the open training session on Wednesday, he was at Carrington and did a session in the gym.

It was the centre-back's second foot injury of the year, having broken a metatarsal during pre-season which saw him ruled out for months. Ruben Amorim seems hopeful that the defender will be able to play some part against Tottenham, but it is unlikely he will be able to face Chelsea.

Matthijs de Ligt

De Ligt hasn't played since going off injured in the 4-3 defeat at Brentford, which was his first start after returning from another injury. Amorim initially ruled him out of the second leg of the Europa League semi-final second leg against Athletic Bilbao and the weekend game against the Hammers, but said it was a minor injury and would be assessed on a daily basis.

Whether he makes it back in time for the Europa League final remains to be seen, but it looks very unlikely that he would be risked against Chelsea even if he is fit enough for a place in the squad.

Diogo Dalot

Dalot is hoping to be back fit for the Europa League final against Tottenham, but will likely miss the Premier League clash against Chelsea. The wing-back has been out with a calf injury for nearly a month now.

The Portuguese international did interviews as part of the club's media day on Wednesday and stated: "I'm feeling good. So, feeling better every day. At this stage, we go day by day to see how it goes but so far so good."

Meanwhile, Amorim confirmed Dalot is doing all he can to prove his fitness, having taken part in an individual training session earlier in the day.

"Dalot is trying really bad. I don’t want to risk Dalot, when you start getting one injury, a second injury is a big thing," said Amorim. "We cannot have these kind of problems in our squad. He’s working really hard to get in the final."

Lisandro Martinez

United have been without the Argentina international for some time following confirmation that he had suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury. The 27-year-old was stretchered off the field at Old Trafford during their Premier League clash against Crystal Palace at the start of February, and is expected to miss more time before returning to action.

Ayden Heaven

The former Arsenal youngster has been out of action since the middle of March, suffering an injury in a heavy challenge in the Premier League clash against Leicester.

He has not yet returned to action, having been fit enough for a place on the bench against Newcastle United in April. However, he suffered a "small setback" after that clash, and like Yoro and Dalot is aiming to try and return before the Europa League final.

Joshua Zirkzee

The attacker picked up a hamstring injury just as he seemed to be hitting a purple patch of form for United. He pulled up during the Premier League clash against Newcastle United in April, and Amorim confirmed his season is over.

Toby Collyer

The young midfielder has played in patches for the first team but has been out injured for the last six weeks. He was back in training for United's open session on Wednesday, and will likely be part of the squad travelling to face Chelsea.

Ange Postecoglou has revealed that Dejan Kulusevski will be out for "at least a few months" with the knee injury he picked up against Crystal Palace last weekend. Spurs were dealt a cruel blow one week before the Europa League final following the news on Wednesday that the Swede had to undergo surgery on the injury.

"We can confirm that Dejan Kulusevski suffered an injury to his right patella in our Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace last weekend," read a statement on the club's official website. "Following further specialist consultation, the midfielder has undergone surgery today (Wednesday) and will commence his rehabilitation with our medical staff immediately."

Speaking ahead of Friday's Premier League encounter against Aston Villa, Postecoglou opened up on Kulusevski's injury after previously admitting that they initially thought it was just a knock.

"Disappointing news. Initially we thought it wasn’t too serious," explained the 59-year-old. "The medical team were worried structurally about how the knee was but it blew up the day after and we knew there was an issue there. He has had surgery and it will put him out for at least a few months."

Pressed on whether he'll be back for the start of next season, he said: "We will see. To be honest, I have only got basic information at the moment in terms of recovery but it will certainly put him out for a while."

Kulusevski has joined fellow countryman Lucas Bergvall in the treatment after the youngster recently sustained an ankle issue in training. Amid hope from Spurs fans that Bergvall could push for a return for next Wednesday's final, Postecoglou has indicated that the teenager will "likely be a while" even though he's now out of his protective boot and taking his first steps back on the grass.

"No, it's still the same sort of timeframe," he admitted. "He was never a long-term one but he has literally just got out of the boot and taken his first tentative steps on the grass but he won’t be available."

Now missing some key players for the final, Postecoglou has revealed he is "gutted" for those set to miss out.

"Yeah, gutted for him, gutted for Lucas and gutted for Madders and Radu, because, say all four of those, it's not like - knock on wood because we've had enough of those - but it's not like a muscle injury or anything," said the head coach when asked about Kulusevski. "It's just circumstance, stuff that probably happens in every football game, but it doesn't have the damage that it did and unfortunately for them it came at the wrong time of the year.

"So, yeah, gutted for Deki because like I said I thought there was real growth in him this year. We integrated him into a new position which I think he was really getting to grips with and really making an impact and I think he's grown as a player this year, he captained his country and and then sort of got hit with a foot injury which set him back but then typical him he worked hard at rehab and was really important for us away at Bodo and started looking like he was getting back to himself, which would have been great for us, so for him to get another setback is is disappointing. But mentally he's a very strong guy and I'm sure he'll use this as a catalyst to come back stronger."

Ange Postecoglou is holding his press conference on Thursday afternoon ahead of Tottenham's final away Premier League fixture of the season as they make the trip to Aston Villa on Friday night.

Spurs managed to get this match brought forward from its original Sunday setting in case they made it to the Europa League final and that's exactly what has happened with Postecoglou's side meeting Manchester United on May 21 in Bilbao. That gives the Tottenham boss a dilemma with Friday's game at Villa Park over whether to use key players to keep them tuned up and sharp but risk injury or instead risk them being out of their rhythm having not played a match in almost two weeks by the time the final comes around.

One player who will miss the final in Spain is Dejan Kulusevski after the Swede suffered an injury to his right patella in the Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace on Sunday. The midfielder underwent surgery on Wednesday and Postecoglou will provide an update on exactly how long the 25-year-old will miss through his rehabilitation ahead of next season.

The Australian will also give further updates on the rest of the team's fitness and a hint as to what he is likely to do with his selection and formation for the game at Villa but also the showpiece final in Bilbao next week.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold is among those putting the questions to Postecoglou. Scroll down for the latest updates from the press conference at Hotspur Way.

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has guaranteed that next week's Europa League final against Tottenham Hotspur will be entirely different to their three other meetings this season.

This season, Ange Postecoglou's side have struggled and find themselves one place above the relegation zone in the Premier League. While Tottenham cannot be relegated, positive performances have been hard to come by except against United.

In three matches, Tottenham have been victorious three times with an aggregate scoreline of 8-3. Their most recent meeting came in February when James Maddison's goal was the difference at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

However, Spurs will be without Maddison for the Europa League final due to injury and Amorim is confident that will not be the only difference when the two teams meet for the fourth time on Wednesday night. "A final is different," the Portuguese manager told reporters prior to the Premier League clash with Chelsea.

"But this season has been really tough on everybody; the results and the changes in the staff. You can feel it.

"We are addressing that during the season, we are changing the way we play during the season, so the environment is tough. But I guarantee you when we are playing a game in the Europa League the environment is different and you can feel the excitement."

Neither United nor Spurs need reminding of the importance of the clash in Bilbao. While for both clubs it is an opportunity to end the season with major silverware, it is also a pass to the promise land of the Champions League.

The victors of the competition will be the Premier League's sixth representatives in the Champions League league phase next season. The English top flight had already been handed a fifth Champions League spot for next season thanks to their superior co-efficient ranking.

Liverpool are the only club to have guaranteed their spot in the competition next season. Arsenal need just one more point to effectively confirm their place.

A victory for Newcastle United over the Gunners on Sunday would all but confirm their spot in the Champions League while Manchester City would also be extremely close to a top-five finish with a win. The final spot will go to either Chelsea, Aston Villa or Nottingham Forest who are separated by goal difference and a point respectively.

Broadcaster TNT Sports have confirmed that Tottenham Hotspur's Europa League final against Manchester United will be made free for all supporters to watch.

Ange Postecoglou's side travel to Bilbao, Spain, next Wednesday, May 21 for a clash with their English rivals in an attempt to win the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

There is also huge significance in how season-defining this battle is for both clubs, as Man United sit 16th and Spurs 17th in the Premier League standings. Both have endured tough times and Champions League qualification as a result of winning the Europa League final would be a huge boost.

So with great interest building in this all-English final, TNT Sports - who have shown Europa Football in the UK all season long - have confirmed that the final will be free-to-air on their Discovery+ app.

The same goes for the Conference League final between Chelsea and Real Betis on Wednesday, May 28, and the Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan on Saturday, May 31.

It is UEFA themselves who insist that their broadcast partners make the major club competition finals free for all to watch.

In this case on the Discovery+ app, normally anybody with a valid TNT Sports subscription should be able to sign in on the app either on desktop or mobile devices.

Further details of how those without subscriptions can gain access should be available closer to the date of the match.

Providing Spurs analysis for TNT on the night is confirmed to be former favourites Gareth Bale and Glenn Hoddle.

The pair will be joined by former Man United players Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand.

Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham team selection looks set to be a talking point one way or another when his side take on Aston Villa on Friday evening. As Spurs are in Europa League final action next Wednesday, the Australian will undoubtedly have one eye on the game in Bilbao and that may be clear to see when it comes to his starting XI.

Following the news that Dejan Kulusevski has had to undergo knee surgery after coming off injured in last weekend's defeat at Crystal Palace, Postecoglou may want to keep his top players on the sidelines amid the threat of new injury issues emerging. On the other hand, a number of his team do need to get minutes in the tank as they do not want to be going into the final after not playing for almost a fortnight.

So how exactly should Tottenham line up against Unai Emery's side? Our Tottenham writers at football.london have made their selection picks below.

Alasdair Gold - Tottenham Hotspur correspondent

Ange Postecoglou needs to strike a balance between ensuring no more injuries but also not having his players go almost two weeks without any match action before they take on Manchester United in Bilbao.

The likely starters next Wednesday will need tuning up but they don't need to play the full game and the Spurs boss could for instance change Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Yves Bissouma or Rodrigo Bentancur at half-time which is what he did against Forest late last month with the central defensive duo.

The midfield is a bit more challenging with so few bodies and up front Son Heung-min needs to play an hour I'd say to get his conditioning up and then Postecoglou could give Dominic Solanke and Richarlison a portion of the match each.

Ultimately the result of this game isn't as important as keeping the players fine tuned for a European final and not suffering any further injuries.

Gold's team: Vicario; Spence, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bentancur, Bissouma, Sarr; Johnson, Solanke, Son.

Rob Guest - Football writer

All Tottenham supporters will want Ange Postecoglou's key players wrapped up in cotton wool over the next week considering the Dejan Kulusevski injury news that emerged on Wednesday. In what has been such a wretched season on the injury front, Spurs cannot afford any further issues ahead of next week's Europa League final.

With that said, Postecoglou does actually need to give some of his players minutes after they didn't feature in last weekend's home defeat against Crystal Palace. Players really don't want to be going into a final having not played for two weeks and it may be a case of the boss giving them 45 minutes and switching things up at half-time.

Guglielmo Vicario may return in goal, with Djed Spence, Cristian Romero, Ben Davies and Destiny Udogie making up the backline. Micky van de Ven can then come off the bench later in the game if Postecoglou opts to top his minutes up.

This may be the game to rest Rodrigo Bentancur as he started last weekend, although Spurs are rather short in the middle as things stand. Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr start together in midfield and then Wilson Odobert is given another go as a No.10 amid the lack of options in the position right now.

Son Heung-min has to start after only just returning from injury and Brennan Johnson gets the nod on the right. It will then be a decision between Richarlison and Dominic Solanke to lead the line to begin with in the Midlands.

Guest's team: Vicario; Spence, Romero, Davies, Udogie; Bissouma, Sarr; Johnson, Odobert, Son; Richarlison.

Tottenham face one of their biggest games in recent history on Wednesday night as they take on Manchester United in San Mames in the final of the UEFA Europa League.

The Champions League final of 2019 - which was an unmitigated disaster of a match - is the only other clash in the last 30 years which surpasses Wednesday night's match for magnitude.

A diabolical Premier League campaign can be salvaged by winning the first piece of silverware in 17 years and a first European trophy in 41 long years.

The season and perhaps Ange Postecoglou's future - although there are plenty of rumours that he will depart N17 no matter what happens in Bilbao on Wednesday night - hinges on the result.

But while a trophy is the main thing on the agenda, particularly for the long-suffering Tottenham supporters, there are a number of other things in the background that rest on Spurs lifting the Europa League trophy.

A place in the Champions League

Rightly or wrongly, and it does feel like far too many pundits are having their say on this issue because United and Spurs find themselves in 16th and 17th place respectively in the Premier League table, winning the Europa League brings with it qualification to next season's Champions League.

Europe's premier club competition is where every team yearns to be, playing against the biggest teams on the continent for the biggest prize of all.

As we've mentioned above, Spurs have made the final once before in 2019 and going all the way will be high on the agenda for an ambitious chairman like Daniel Levy.

Financial gain

Speaking of Levy, winning the Europa League will lead to a huge payout.

The Europa League champions take home €8.6million, which equates to £7.2million. That's not a massive figure in the grand scheme of things, but there is more to it than that.

In this season's Champions League, every team that qualified for the league phase received a windfall of €18.62million (£15.7million).

And then there's the money you get for winning games and qualifying for the knockouts in the top tier competition, which is much more than in the Europa League.

Spurs will immediately pocket almost £23million if they lift the trophy, with the promise of more to come in the Champions League.

Transfer help

Every player wants to play in the UEFA Champions League and qualifying for the league phase will help Tottenham in the summer transfer window.

The Lilywhites will have something more to offer potential signings and as mentioned above, will actually have more money to spend on new players.

Being in the Champions League - as well as having lifted a trophy which would show prospective signings Spurs are a club that can actually do that - opens new doors and will put Tottenham on a similar level to the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United when negotiating with stars.

The 2024/25 season has already come to a conclusion for a handful of Tottenham players who spent the campaign away from the club. For those not involved in the EFL play-offs, the season ended at the beginning of the month.

Manor Solomon finished his time at Leeds United by helping the West Yorkshire club win the Championship title on the final day, Will Lankshear and West Brom missed out on the play-offs and Ashley Phillips played his part in Stoke City avoiding the drop down to League One. Yang Min-hyeok was another Spurs man to play in the Championship after joining QPR on loan at the end of January.

It proved to be a very good loan spell across the capital for the South Korean youngster and this summer he will have the opportunity to get his Tottenham career firmly up and running. Amid question marks over how the teenager would fare in the Championship, he finished his time at QPR with two goals and one assist in 14 games.

Yang wowed in his performances on the wing and he has certainly left plenty of Tottenham fans excited about what he can bring to the team in the years ahead. Confirming the arrival of the winger from Gangwon FC in late July, it wasn't until the end of December when the teenager would make the move to N17 following the end of the K League season.

Given time to adapt to his new surroundings and life under Ange Postecoglou, Yang did in fact make the matchday squad on three occasions for Tottenham prior to joining QPR. He was an unused substitute in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg win against Liverpool and also the Premier League defeats against Everton and Leicester City, though.

Following his time with QPR, this summer could be viewed as a fresh start for him at Tottenham as he bids to become a regular member of the first-team squad in the 2025/26 season. An opportunity should be there for him to pull on a Tottenham shirt for the very first time in pre-season as the head coach will want to give his players sufficient minutes and take a close look at them.

Plenty of Tottenham youngsters have been given regular pitch time in pre-season in years gone by, with Alfie Devine, Jamie Donley and Lankshear featuring heavily for the club last summer. As things stand right now, Tottenham have only confirmed one pre-season friendly, with that coming against north London rivals Arsenal in Hong Kong on Thursday, July 31.

Spurs' summer schedule should become clearer in the weeks ahead and it may prove to be the period where Yang really makes Tottenham fans sit up and take notice. The Gwangju-born player certainly has plenty of competition for a place in the team, with Son Heung-min, Wilson Odobert, Mikey Moore, Dejan Kulusevski, Brennan Johnson and Richarlison all options out wide.

It remains to be seen what will happen with Solomon after his Leeds loan success and Tottenham have to decide whether or not to sign Mathys Tel on a permanent contract. Spurs splurged £143.5million on Odobert, Dominic Solanke, Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall last summer and all eyes will be on their business in the months ahead given their disastrous Premier League campaign.

For Yang, all he can do is take his opportunity when it comes his way in pre-season and hope that is enough to become part of the first-team plans in 2025/26. The wait to make his first appearance for Tottenham may not be too far away at all now that the current campaign is coming to a close.