Football London

A decision over Ange Postecoglou's future as Tottenham Hotspur head coach is unlikely to take place this week, football.london understands.

The Australian made history at Spurs by leading the club to their first European trophy in 41 years with victory over Manchester United in the Europa League final in Bilbao. That was followed by a memorable open-top bus parade through Tottenham with the trophy in front of an estimated 220,000 supporters.

While that was Spurs' first piece of major silverware of any kind in 17 years and brought Champions League football for next season as well as a place in August's UEFA Super Cup, the club's Premier League season was horrendous with a 17th place finish and a record 22 defeats. It is that side of Tottenham's campaign that has led to doubts over Postecoglou's future at the north London outfit.

It is believed that any decision to be made by chairman Daniel Levy about the Australian is unlikely to occur this week with most staff, including Postecoglou, heading straight off on their post-season holidays after the final game of the season against Brighton. No meetings are understood to have taken place before that happened.

football.london understands that there remains a chance the 59-year-old could stay in place as head coach after ending Spurs' long trophy drought, which has brought a huge surge of gratitude from the fanbase behind Postecoglou and a feeling among many of them that he has earned the right to carry on into next season.

The Tottenham boss, who was announced with a four-year contract when he joined from Celtic in 2023, whipped the huge crowd into a frenzy after the parade on Friday by declaring that "like the best television shows, season three is better than season two."

The supporters then began singing his name just three minutes into Sunday's defeat to Brighton as well as at further points during the match before doing so once again after the game during the team's walk around the pitch with the Europa League trophy.

Levy will be aware that there will now be a large backlash from supporters if he removes Postecoglou. The head coach also retains the full backing of the dressing room, having not only turned many of them into trophy winners but also having helped forge a tight-knit family unit among them.

However, the Tottenham chairman will take into account the dreadful Premier League campaign, around the winter injury crisis, the lack of victories domestically and weigh up whether he believes Postecoglou can take the club on with the Champions League to contend with as well next season.

Postecoglou believes that what he has achieved with the club means there shouldn't even be question marks over his future.

"My gut feeling is I feel right now that I’ve done something that no one believed I could, and I shouldn’t be sitting here talking about [my future]. That’s my feeling, but it is what it is," he said on Sunday. "I just want to go on a break and enjoy my family and reflect on being part of something unbelievably special, unbelievably special.

"I’ve been fortunate to be in this position a number of times, but seeing those scenes Friday and people have reached out and talked to me about how it has affected them what has happened over the last couple of days. It’s a beautiful thing and I just want to enjoy that. To be honest the rest of it? You know I don’t even want to be talking about it. I just think it is unnecessary."

He added: "You’re right to ask the question but you’re asking the person who can’t give you that answer. And I guess, even for you guys, you wouldn’t be asking it if there wasn’t a doubt, right? But I can’t answer it. There is nothing I can say that will answer that question.

"Other people can, so from my perspective, it doesn’t diminish the achievement. Like I said, I am so confident about what we can build at this football club and I want to push on and take it to the next level. We’ll see whether that happens. "

It looks for now though that it will be a little while longer before Postecoglou and the Tottenham fans see what happens.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has a big decision to make over head coach Ange Postecoglou after a season in which the club finally ended their long trophy drought.

Postecoglou prioritised the Europa League and it paid off with a victory in Bilbao against Manchester United to land the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years and it's first European trophy in 41 years. A huge crowd of 220,000 people gathered in Tottenham on Friday to see an open-topped bus parade as the players brought the trophy to their stadium and then lifted it before them.

However, the poor performances in the Premier League season, with a 17th-place finish and a record 22 defeats as the European campaign was prioritised, has led to speculation over Postecoglou's future at Spurs despite finally becoming the man to win a trophy for the north London club.

Some have pointed to the example of Manchester United keeping Erik ten Hag after the Dutchman won the FA Cup only to dismiss him during the following season and that Levy must heed that.

However, on the latest episode of their podcast Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham, our Spurs reporters Alasdair Gold and Rob Guest discuss why that's currently a flawed argument because Ruben Amorim came in and has thus far fared worse than his predecessor.

Mathys Tel has now played the final game of his Tottenham loan spell. Joining from Bayern Munich at the end of the January transfer window, the Frenchman featured regularly for Ange Postecoglou and scored three goals in his 20 appearances.

The 20-year-old also departs with a Europa League winners' medal around his neck after Tottenham's triumph against Manchester United in Bilbao last Wednesday. Tel did not feature in the final but he more than played his part in the knockout phase to help Tottenham reach the showpiece finale.

As part of Tottenham's loan agreement with Bayern Munich, they can sign the highly-rated attacker on a permanent option for £45.7million with a six-year contract agreed. The north London club now need to decide if they buy Tel for the aforementioned figure, try negotiate a reduced transfer fee or elect against buying him permanently.

The ex-Rennes man settled in N17 extremely well and it is clear to see that the club has left a big mark on him. Speaking to SPURSPLAY following the final game of the season at home to Brighton & Hove Albion, he said: "Tottenham is a big family with the fans, with everybody else. Tottenham is not just a club, it is everything for us. We have to keep going and win more trophies."

His "Tottenham is not just a club, it is everything for us" comment highlights how he feels about the football club and it may well have dropped a hint over his intentions come the summer, as does his "we have to keep going" claim. Tottenham now need to signal their own intentions by buying him permanently or not.

On Tottenham's trophy success and the subsequent celebrations, Tel said: "It was incredible. It was crazy for the club, for the fans, for everybody else. I am very happy about it, we did it, we deserve it."

He added: "To be honest, I am playing football to win trophies so I believe in this team, in this club, and that is why we did it. I am very happy."

Tel's long-term Tottenham future may well hinge on what happens with Postecoglou amid plenty of speculation about what comes next for the Australian. Speaking on the eve of Tottenham's final game of the season against Brighton, football.london asked the head coach in his pre-match press conference if he wanted to keep Tel at the club next season.

"I guess they're the kind of discussions that we start to need to have," said the 59-year-old. "But again, without myself gate-crashing meetings, I need to be invited to them, but we'll assess all those things.

"Matty's done really well for us. We put him in a real difficult position in that as a young player who hadn't played a lot, probably wasn't fit enough, we just threw him straight in but he's handled it really well.

"I think he's been a real important contributor for us and he'll definitely play tomorrow at some point whether he starts or come off the bench. I'm sure those decisions we'll kind of look into post-season."

Archie Gray has paid an emotional tribute to Ben Davies after the long-serving Tottenham defender finally got his hands on silverware. Joining from Swansea City 11 years ago, the Welshman had come close to winning a trophy with Spurs on a couple of occasions but unfortunately it always managed to allude him.

That was until last Wednesday, however, when Ange Postecoglou's men beat Manchester United in the Europa League final. Davies did not feature in the game but he had a big part to play in the team's journey to Bilbao after helping the Lilywhites advance through the league phase and knockout rounds.

Tottenham's No.33 has become a key figure in Gray's development since his move to N17 from Leeds United last summer. Davies' family have also played a huge role in helping the youngster settle into his new surroundings and Gray believes he "probably would have struggled a little bit" both on and off the pitch if it wasn't for his teammate.

"Ben deserves every moment of this and more," the teenager told SPURSPLAY following Tottenham's 4-1 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion. "Him, his whole family, they're incredible people, not just him. His whole family has taken me under their wing. They've really helped me this year.

"If he wasn't here, I probably would have struggled a little bit off the pitch, on the pitch. I can't say enough words about him. He's been here for me the whole year. I wouldn't have been able to do what I've been able to do so far this year without him.

"For him, this moment, he deserves it 10 times over. What a player. The things he's done for this club is incredible and he'll continue to do it as well. He's a great professional and a great guy as well."

It has been an incredible first season for Gray at Tottenham after making 46 appearances and collecting a Europa League winners' medal in the process. Rather than keep the medal in his possession, the Durham-born ace instead intends to leave it at his family home in order to inspire his younger brothers.

"I'm not sure. I think I might give it to my little brothers at home, so they can look up to it a little bit," he revealed. "Hopefully it will make them work a bit harder."

Gray will now have the chance to play Champions League football during the 2025/26 campaign. It's something he just can't wait for.

"Yeah, it's incredible to say," he said. "Like everyone, it's a childhood dream to play in the Champions League. Hopefully I can do that next year. I can't wait."

Ange Postecoglou achieved something this week that only two other men at Tottenham Hotspur have done, but it is also his struggles that draw some remarkable parallels at the club.

The Australian led Spurs to victory in the Europa League final against Manchester United on Wednesday night in Bilbao to bring the north London club their first trophy in 17 years and their first European triumph in 41 years. The streets of Tottenham were packed with around 220,000 people on Friday as the team took the trophy on an open-top bus parade through N17 before lifting it in front of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Postecoglou and his players gave the Tottenham fans something they will remember but they also served up a dreadful Premier League season, finishing 17th in the table through a mixture of injuries, poor performances and the head coach claiming that he switched priority to the Europa League after the January transfer window.

Spurs ended up with only 38 points from their 38 matches with 22 defeats, the worst tally in the club's history in a league season. There is a strange quirk, though, that only two managers at the north London club have had worse seasons in the league since 1958 and they are the most prominent ones.

The two coaches are Bill Nicholson and Keith Burkinshaw, who are also the only other two managers in Tottenham's history to win European trophies. In the 1958/59 season under Nicholson, Spurs finished 18th in his first campaign with 36 points from 42 matches with 19 defeats, and in 1977 Tottenham ended up 22nd, losing 21 games under Burkinshaw in his first year in charge and were relegated.

If Spurs fans want to draw any parallels then they will be hoping Postecoglou is given a chance to push on like those two men did. Nicholson famously went on to lead Tottenham to become the first English team to win the double in the 20th century and then the first British side to win a European trophy with the Cup Winners' Cup in 1963. He also won three FA Cups, two League Cups and a UEFA Cup in a remarkable 16-year spell at the club.

Burkinshaw bounced back himself with promotion the next season and went on to win two FA Cups and the UEFA Cup.

Postecoglou has already won more than those two men did by the time their second season ended and if given the chance the Australian will want to continue to leave his own mark on the club's history books.

Fulham boss Marco Silva has confirmed he has no plans to leave the club amid links to taking over from Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham.

The 47-year-old, Andoni Iraola, Oliver Glasner and Thomas Frank are just a few Premier League managers of interest to Spurs. Because of their dreadful domestic campaign, Postecoglou looked destined to be sacked but last Wednesday, he helped the club to their first trophy in 17 years.

Postecoglou certainly expects to remain in charge for a third season with the 59-year-old making a bold statement during the club's Europa League victory parade that the upcoming campaign will be better than the one that has just concluded.

Nonetheless, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy still faces a hugely significant decision, but even if does choose to keep Postecoglou at the club, groundwork has been done on potential replacements.

Silva was one of those looked at but a mid-season departure from Craven Cottage looks highly unlikely with Silva, who recently turned down an approach from Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal, bullish on his future.

“I’m not here to talk about speculation,” he recently admitted. "Speculation is always there. If the football club where you are and the players perform well, it’s normal they are going to speak about the manager and about the players.

“That is not something that I can control. And if I can’t control it I don’t lose any time talking about it and waste energy doing that.”

Pushed further on whether he will still be at the club, Silva replied: “I am under contract with the club and of course I’ve been planning with the board (for) next season.

“Everything on track and the plan is there. We have the next two months to prepare for the season as best we can. If I’m under contract with the club and if I’m planning with the club the next season, of course I expect to be here.”

Tottenham fans will have to wait another three months to discover their 2025/26 Champions League opponents. Spurs may have finished the Premier League season in 17th position but they take a seat at Europe's top table after their Europa League final success.

Winning the Europa League does always guarantee a Champions League berth for the following season, although many have been quite vocal about that in the build up to the final due to Tottenham and Manchester United's Premier League struggles. Amid that debate, Spurs are back in UEFA's premier competition after last taking part in the Champions League during the 2022/23 season when Antonio Conte was head coach.

Tottenham will be joined in the Champions League by fellow English sides Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle United. Their league phase fixtures will all become clear when the draw is made on Thursday, August 28.

As things stand right now, 29 teams have already guaranteed themselves a place in the league phase of the competition. The final seven places will be determined by who progresses through the qualifying rounds.

Now that Europe's top leagues have come to a close, Pot 1 for the Champions League draw is already finalised (via ESPN). Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, PSG, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona are the nine teams in Pot 1.

Due to the new format of UEFA's club competitions, teams from the same pot are not prevented from playing each other. All teams will be drawn against two sides from each of the four pots, thus determining their eight league fixtures.

Teams cannot play sides from their own domestic league in the league phase of the competition, meaning Tottenham cannot be paired against Manchester City, Liverpool or Chelsea. Spurs will instead play two of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, PSG, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona from Pot 1, one of which being a home fixture and the other away.

In Pot 2, Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Villarreal, Juventus and Eintracht Frankfurt will all feature. Benfica, Club Brugge, Rangers and Shakhtar Donetsk are other possible options in Pot 2 providing they come through qualifying.

Tottenham look set to be in Pot 3 for August's draw. However, they may find themselves moving up a pot if one of or both Club Brugge or Benfica do not qualify for the league phase.

Here are how the 2025/26 Champions League pots:

Pot 1: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, PSG, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona.

Pot 2: Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Villarreal, Juventus, Eintracht Frankfurt, Benfica (dependent on qualifying), Club Brugge (dependent on qualifying), Rangers (dependent on qualifying), Shakhtar Donetsk (dependent on qualifying).

Pot 2/3: Tottenham, PSV.

Pot 3: Ajax, Napoli, Sporting CP, Olympiacos, Slavia Prague, Marseille.

It wasn't just the Tottenham players who are currently at the club that had a huge game to play this week and there was mixed fortunes for three of Spurs' loan players in the biggest matches of their careers so far.

Most of the loan players allowed to leave Ange Postecoglou's squad had already finished their seasons, including Bryan Gil who had his campaign ended prematurely by a knee injury. However, this weekend brought two finals for a trio of players and a final round of matches in Spain and Belgium for another three Spurs starlets.

Here's how the remaining Tottenham players got on ahead of their return to the club as their seasons in the UK and across Europe came to a close at the weekend.

Alfie Dorrington (Aberdeen)

Let's start with another Spurs trophy winner as Alfie Dorrington helped Aberdeen shock Celtic in Saturday's Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park.

It looked like the 20-year-old defender's big day was going to be ruined when former Spurs man Cameron Carter-Vickers' header hit him and it looked to be bouncing wide of his own goal only to spin slightly on the turf and creep inside the right-hand post.

Thankfully, Aberdeen and Dorrington showed great mental strength to hang on and an own goal at the same end of the pitch in the second half from Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel in the 83rd minute forced extra-time.

Dorrington had been taken off with 10 minutes to go and had to watch his team-mates get through extra-time without the score changing before winning the subsequent penalty shoot-out.

"I watched the Tottenham [final] the other day. A few of my mates were there, they said it was crazy," said Dorrington. "It would have been nice to experience that, but the Aberdeen one was just crazy too. It more than made up for it. There were so many people there – it was packed."

The centre-back said that his Spurs team-mates have been checking in on him this week.

"Yeah, they’ve kept in touch the whole time, especially on Friday night and before the game, they were just messaging me good luck. I think some of them watched the game," he said. "It's just nice to know that I have the support from Tottenham and nice to know that I have the support from Aberdeen as well."

On his future and whether he will return to the Scottish club on loan, Dorrington said: "Obviously, I love the city, I love the club, the staff, the players. I love Tottenham as well. They're kind of in charge of what I do. I'd be grateful if Aberdeen came back in for me but it's all in Tottenham's hands."

Jamie Donley and Josh Keeley (Leyton Orient)

Unfortunately Jamie Donley and Josh Keeley could not enjoy the same big game experience after Leyton Orient lost 1-0 to Charlton in the League One play-off final at Wembley.

Their opponents suffocated the dull encounter and scored the deciding goal when Macaulay Gillesphey's free-kick in the first half sailed past Keeley and into the net, with the keeper caught out by the speed of the shot after a season in which he has been anything but slow between the sticks with 16 clean sheets to his name.

Both players have had superb campaigns at Orient with Donley racking up 19 goal involvements in 52 appearances and Keeley those 16 clean sheets in 45 games.

Both players will now be able to get over their play-off pain quickly as they must head off on senior international duty with Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland respectively, Keeley joining up or his first international camp with the latter.

The duo are already the subject of plenty of attention from clubs looking to loan them next season.

Alfie Devine and Luka Vuskovic (Westerlo)

Alfie Devine and Luka Vuskovic signed off at Westerlo with a 0-0 draw at home to Standard Liege as they confirmed second place in the Conference League play-off table behind Charleroi.

Devine played 74 minutes of the goalless draw and made it 32 appearances for the Belgian side with six goals to his name, including two goals and an assist in the play-off matches. Vuskovic made 36 appearances and scored seven goals as a centre-back and provided three assists.

On Instagram, the teenager left with a simple "Westerlo thank you for everything" before he finally starts his Tottenham adventure this summer.

Alejo Veliz (Espanyol)

Alejo Veliz ended his season with 37 minutes from the bench to help Espanyol avoid relegation in a tightly-packed La Liga table with a 2-0 win against Las Palmas at home.

That meant Espanyol finished the season all the way up in 14th and the 21-year-old striker ended his loan spell with 29 appearances and four goals, three of those coming in one game in the Copa del Rey against lower league San Tirso.

Argentinean media have reported that Espanyol will not be looking to sign Veliz permanently and that Spurs are willing to listen to offers for the young striker who has found goals hard to come by in his two loans so far.

Tottenham will have the added (and welcome) complication of playing in the UEFA Champions League to contend with next season.

After ending their 17-year trophy drought with a superb Europa League triumph, Spurs will play in the Champions League in 2025/26 as a result.

While Ange Postecoglou put all Spurs' eggs in one basket this season in concentrating on the Europa League, with the Lilywhites finishing 17th in the Premier League, chairman Daniel Levy and the supporters will not accept that again, with the team needing to fight on both fronts as well as in the domestic trophies in 2025/26.

In order to do so, they will need a bigger squad.

What qualifying for the Champions League does do, is make the club more attractive to potential signings and Spurs will be able to be in the equation when it comes to some of Europe's hottest players looking for new moves.

Supporters will be expecting to see a number of new faces come in through the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium door in the summer transfer window to bolster the squad ahead of the start of the 2025/26 season.

Midfield reinforcements are essential, as well as added firepower up front and general strength in depth across the park for the added strain that will be placed on the players with playing in Europe's top competition.

But while new signings are a must, there is already guaranteed to be one new face in the first team dressing room for the first time in 2025/26 - providing he does not go out on loan.

Due to child protection laws, until turning 18, young players must change separately from the senior adult members of the group.

And that has been the case for Mikey Moore this season, who, due to a horrendous run of injury luck, has been in more matchday squads and had more game time this season than ever before.

At 17 years old, however, he has to get changed separately from the first team squad. He turns 18 on August 11 - five days before the new Premier League season starts - and will be in the first team dressing room if he is named in the squad for the opening day fixture.

Mikey Moore has dubbed Tottenham's Europa League triumph and celebrations as "the best few days of my life". The Spurs wonderkid was part of the matchday squad for last week's final win against Manchester United in Bilbao as the north London club ended 17 years of hurt to finally get their hands on a trophy.

The 17-year-old may not have taken to the pitch at San Mames Stadium but it was some way to end his first full season with Ange Postecoglou's first-team squad. Moore did make two senior appearances towards the end of the 2023/24 campaign under the Australian and he added to that number with a further 19 outings this term.

He will be looking to kick on even more next season, including representing Tottenham in the Champions League. Before attention switches to next term, Moore quite clearly just wants to keep soaking in Spurs' European success.

"It's unbelievable. It's been the best few days of my life. It's been unreal," he said in an interview with SPURSPLAY after the 4-1 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion.

"It's been an experience that is going to stay with me forever. I'm buzzing, really. It's only just hit me the last few days. But it's been the best few days I could have ever thought it would be."

Due to Moore's age, the 17-year-old has been in the youth changing room all season because he's not 18 yet. As fellow youngsters Damola Ajayi, Callum Olusesi and Will Lankshear also came away with Europa League winners' medals after playing their part in Spurs' European journey, the quartet did go on to share quite a moment together after returning from Bilbao.

"I think we got back from Bilbao and we went straight to our changing room," admitted Moore. "It was just me, Damalo, Will and Cal. I think that's it, I hope I've not missed anyone.

"We were just sitting in the changing room and we just threw our medals on. We were looking at each other like...we're European champions. It was an unbelievable feeling."

Tottenham's European title has now given players the taste for more silverware success. Now that their place in next season's Champions League is secured, Moore has stated that the team will try their best to go and win UEFA's premier competition rather than just make up the numbers.

"We want more, man, we want more," he emphatically stated. "We want to win the biggest trophies possible. That's what we want. Champions League next year, we're going to try our very best to go and win it. We don't just want to be in it."