Football London

Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur both reportedly 'decided against' signing Alejandro Garnacho from Manchester United this summer.

The north London rivals, as well as another interested party in Atletico Madrid, conducted thorough assessments of Garnacho before choosing to look elsewhere for attacking reinforcements, reports football.london's colleagues at the Manchester Evening News.

Both Spurs and Arsenal are eyeing Crystal Palace's star player Eberechi Eze, while the latter have already secured the services of winger Noni Madueke from Chelsea.

Tottenham have, meanwhile, been in talks about a potential deal for Savinho from Manchester City.

Arsenal have been busy in the summer transfer window and could still bring in a winger with links to Real Madrid's Rodrygo persisting.

Spurs have made Mathys Tel's loan move from Bayern Munich permanent and will be looking to strengthen their ranks further before the end of the window after a devastating knee injury to James Maddison earlier this month.

Atletico Madrid, Garnacho's previous club, contemplated bringing back the Argentine international but instead signed fellow winger Alex Baena from Villarreal. Chelsea remain the favourites to sign Garnacho.

His agents, Carlos Cambeiro and Enrique de Lucas, visited Chelsea during the January transfer window, with De Lucas having played for the Club World Cup winners in the 2002-03 season. United's head coach Ruben Amorim gave Garnacho permission to leave in May.

Amorim was unhappy when Garnacho, aged 22, questioned his future and expressed dissatisfaction about being relegated to the bench following the Europa League final loss to Tottenham. Garnacho and Marcus Rashford were benched by Amorim in only his seventh match in charge at Manchester City on December 15.

Amorim was dissatisfied with Garnacho's lack of focus as he prepared to come on against Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League three days prior.

"I think (with) Garnacho, you can understand and you can see, he's talented, he's a really talented boy," Amorim said last month. "And sometimes things don't work out. You cannot explain specifically what it is.

"But I have the feeling, I think it's clear that Garnacho wants a different thing with a different leadership. And I can understand that. So I think it's not a problem.

"Sometimes you adapt to one guy, you have the connection. "Other times, you want a new challenge.

"So, we try to make everything okay to all the parts. "To the club, to the coach and to the players. So, it's a natural thing in football."

Thomas Frank will step into the dugout at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday afternoon for the first time as Spurs head coach.

It will mark the beginning of Tottenham's Premier League season yet the start of Frank's adventure at the north London club came before he even knew he had the job.

The Spurs hierarchy seemed set on relieving Ange Postecoglou of his duties at the end of last season due to poor showings in the league, only for a groundswell of support to grow behind the Australian after he ended the 17-year wait for a trophy with the Europa League triumph.

The club waited for the emotions of that night in Bilbao and the subsequent parade through N17 in front of an estimated 220,000 supporters to die down before making their final decision based on all factors and eventually they stuck to their original thinking.

Postecoglou was sacked, his compatriot and the club's chief football officer Scott Munn was placed on gardening leave and Tottenham's hierarchy, including chairman Daniel Levy, new CEO Vinai Venkatesham and technical director Johan Lange pushed on with the process of appointing a new head coach.

Spurs used data modelling to identify 50 coaches that would suit what they were looking for, including a number of hypothetical candidates that they knew would not be available in order to ensure a full and worthwhile detailed comparison matrix.

To ensure the best possible chance of avoiding mistakes of the past, they drew up a list of 10 criteria for prospective candidates, including a track record of playing attractive football, developing young players and good communication skills with the media as just three of them.

When all of the criteria were taken into account, it resulted in a shortlist of four candidates for the position. All of the prospective quartet held meetings with the club and 51-year-old Frank, who was initially contacted just days after the final game of Spurs' season, was the unanimous choice of the board and Lange.

Talks then took place between the Dane and Brentford, all while Frank was embarking on his summer plans, which included a road trip to Denmark with his wife Nanna, time in Spain with his mother and sister and then after the announcement of his Spurs' appointment, a huge party back in his homeland with 50 of his closest friends which had been pre-planned before any of the Tottenham developments occurred.

One key thing for Spurs was that they needed to know Frank understood the scale of the job he was about to walk into. The scrutiny of life at the north London outfit was far removed from anything he would have experienced at Brentford.

Take something as simple as his morning exercise. Frank would often go out for early runs in his local area while boss of the Bees. That will no longer be a thing he can do as his profile grows and a run around Victoria Harbour in the heat of Hong Kong during Spurs' summer tour in July might be one of the last times the sweat-covered Dane was able to do that in public.

Frank now runs around the club's Hotspur Way training ground, inside its walls, and uses the gym there each morning with some of the staff, pushing each other in that competitive way sports people do.

Lange and Frank ensured his coaching staff would make up for his lack of experience in European competition, with only a handful of Europa League qualifying matches to his name around 10 years ago.

It was on the tour to Asia that Frank realised the scale of the club and its global fanbase of millions.

He immediately had to deal with the Son Heung-min situation. The Dane had called a number of Tottenham's senior players in the days after being given the job and the South Korean star was the only one who made it clear that he wanted to leave the club.

Frank's way of dealing with the departure of the Premier League icon and Spurs captain has been to his credit this summer, drawing praise from inside and outside the club as well as from Son himself.

The new head coach's communication style since arriving at the club has been the subject of some discussion within its walls.

He brings with him an openness and positive approach, something shared by his coaching staff. After the tough times last season inside a beaten down squad that felt put upon by circumstances at every turn, with injuries and the 'obstacles' Cristian Romero spoke of in his goodbye to Postecoglou, a positive approach has been no bad thing after the grind of the previous campaign.

One of the consistent things you'll hear about Frank is "he's just a good human being". That's not to say the new man is all sunshine and smiles. He can fix you with a stern glare in an instant and Yves Bissouma has already found that the Dane's non-negotiables, including time-keeping, cannot be...well negotiated.

The Mali international's frequent tardiness cost him his place in the Super Cup squad, his third summer in a row of disappointing a head coach before the season began. It will likely end up being Bissouma's last summer at the club.

Those who might think that after Postecoglou's well-known style of speaking only in key moments to individuals, the conversational Frank would be a chatterbox in comparison to all of his players should think again.

Some inside the Spurs squad have spoken to the Dane individually in longer moments, including a number of those senior players, but some players are believed to have mostly dealt with his coaching staff since his arrival, only getting brief moments of conversation with Frank in his first five weeks in charge.

That's not entirely unusual among Premier League managers, especially with such a large squad to deal with, but there are certainly some players who are unsure exactly what Frank thinks of them at this point. Perhaps that is part of the plan to keep certain players on their toes.

All of the players have enjoyed the new training sessions so far, which are packed with detail with plenty of focus on defending, although those 1km runs in the heat have certainly left their impact.

Justin Cochrane and Matt Wells, close friends and highly-rated coaches who know Spurs inside out, have been drawing up plenty of interesting sessions with Frank to help build the structure required in the team.

Andreas Georgson's set-piece and restart work has already paid quick dividends, and those situations are among the "low hanging fruit" Ben Davies spoke of this summer that can improve Spurs.

The blocking drills for all players have also brought immediate results in the games in Frank's first five weeks with players trained to react quickly to put their bodies on the line to stop shots in front of goal.

On the subject of bodies, injuries have not been exclusive to the Postecoglou era. Frank has lost Dominic Solanke, Destiny Udogie, Manor Solomon, new arrival Kota Takai and of course James Maddison this summer, the latter for much of the coming season. He already had Dejan Kulusevski, Radu Dragusin and Bryan Gil on the long-term injury list when he joined.

There is a belief within Tottenham that the load on the players was not managed correctly during last summer's pre-season, especially with players coming back from their Copa America and Euros exploits, and that was a major problem that seeped into the season with the extreme style of play under Postecoglou.

On the medical side, football.london reported last month that Tottenham's director of performance services Adam Brett and head of sports science Nick Davies had both left the club after only a year, Davies tipped with moving to Everton.

Spurs are in the process of looking for two new heads of department for that big picture stuff, with the day-to-day running of the medical side believed to not be impacted.

Another key aspect of Frank's first summer has been the transfers, both in those made and those missed.

There is an acceptance within Spurs that the uncertainty around Postecoglou's future impacted transfer activity out of the gate. Then in Frank's early weeks behind the scenes, comparisons were drawn to Arne Slot's first few months at Liverpool in working out his new squad's strengths and weaknesses before committing to bringing new faces in.

Mathys Tel's loan was made permanent before Takai was signed as a prospect from Japan. Then Spurs made their first big move with the £55million signing of Mohammed Kudus from West Ham.

It was meant to be a £115million double signing across 48 hours with Tottenham thinking they were about to sign Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest. Frank had wanted the midfielder for years at Brentford and Spurs had also tracked him for some time.

Frank felt that his mobility and creativity as a number 10 would be perfect for his new-look Tottenham side and it was a deal Spurs felt they could make happen.

The north London club made a £60million bid for the England midfielder that appeared to have triggered a release clause in his contract, with it having been made clear to them that the 25-year-old was keen to join and play Champions League football.

Those within Spurs claim a call was put in to Forest ahead of the bid being officially lodged to ensure they were properly informed. Everything seemed to be in place and Gibbs-White told close friends that he was due to depart down to London for the medical.

However, he would never end up leaving Nottingham after the Midlands club and their owner Evangelos Marinakis made it clear to him and his representatives just how unhappy they were with what had happened.

Forest felt there had been an illegal approach and that what they claimed was a confidential release clause had been disclosed. Legal action was threatened and suddenly everything was up in the air as all sides looked into their options.

In the days ahead, Spurs are understood to have made a second bid for Gibbs-White, this time higher than the release clause, with Forest once again called ahead of the offer to inform them it was coming.

Gibbs-White did everything by the book with Nuno Espirito Santo's side, returning to pre-season training on time and working hard. Yet all along Tottenham were assured that the player remained keen on the move and there was a confidence that the transfer would be sealed eventually even if it took a little while.

Then suddenly out of the blue Spurs got wind that a new contract had been agreed with Forest. A video was duly released of Gibbs-White thanking "Mr Marinakis", who stood beside him on a pitch in Portugal, for a new three-year club record contract that would make him Forest's top earner.

Spurs were left flabbergasted and experienced people within the north London club admitted privately that they had never experienced a situation like it, with claims that the decision could not have been a financial one.

Frank and the Tottenham hierarchy were said to be disappointed at the situation and Gibbs-White is believed to have personally contacted the new Spurs head coach to apologise for how things played out, with the Dane telling him he had nothing to apologise for.

The north London club had to push on without the Dane's ideal number 10 at the top of their list.

In other positions Spurs looked at some of the players he had worked with at Brentford. They showed interest in Christian Norgaard but Arsenal had already made their move by that point and instead Tottenham eventually moved to bring in Joao Palhinha on loan from Bayern Munich with an option to buy the 30-year-old Portuguese.

Bryan Mbeumo was wanted by Frank but had set his sights on a switch to Manchester United. Interest in Yoane Wissa could not be taken further with Spurs already having both Richarlison and Dominic Solanke as striker options.

During the club's tour to Asia, Frank continued to assess his squad and identified that he needed another centre-back as well as that number 10, due to concerns over Romero and Micky van de Ven's availability in recent seasons, with the Dane set to play with a back three at times so needing more bodies.

After Son finally made the move to LAFC, the new Spurs boss made it clear to the hierarchy that another winger was required to add more guile and creativity to the wings.

Frank loved the idea of Savinho at Manchester City for that role when Tottenham got wind that Pep Guardiola might be willing to let the 21-year-old leave if the Citizens received a big enough offer and that the Brazilian, who has plenty of experience for his age, was keen to make the move to ensure regular football in a World Cup year.

For the number 10 role, Spurs have held a long-time interest in Eberechi Eze and when Arsenal appeared to cool their interest and there were indications the player was happy to work with Frank and play Champions League football, Tottenham started to formulate their move.

There is a feeling among some analysts that while Eze does not have the physical data Gibbs-White does, the 27-year-old England international does possess that bit of magic that could unlock opponents either through the centre or out wide.

Tottenham will try to tie up a deal for both players in the days ahead to ensure a major double dose of quality for Frank's squad and a much-needed increase in transfer spending to the sums splashed out by their rivals.

New contracts are also set to follow for Djed Spence and Rodrigo Bentancur among others as Frank builds the team he wants to move forward with as future departures will occur before the window closes.

Wednesday evening's penalty shoot-out loss to PSG in the Super Cup was disappointing in its outcome but also justified a lot of the training the Spurs players have been put through this summer.

All eyes are now on the game against Burnley to see how a Frank side deals with a team that sits back, particularly at a time when Spurs are lacking creativity and fresh key players after those midweek exploits. Parallels will be drawn to last season and how the new man deals with his first schedule test.

The challenge has only just begun though for Thomas Frank and this job at Spurs will be like nothing he has ever experienced before. It all starts at 3pm on Saturday afternoon in front of 62,000 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Thomas Frank has held his first Premier League press conference as Tottenham Hotspur head coach ahead of Saturday's visit of Burnley.

The Dane spoke at Hotspur Way on Friday morning about a range of topics ahead of Scott Parker's return to Spurs with his promoted Clarets side looking to cause an opening day upset. It will be the first time that Frank steps out at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the home dugout.

During his press conference on Friday he covered the latest injury news, was asked about transfers, Yves Bissouma's situation as well as the racist abuse suffered by Mathys Tel after the young Frenchman's penalty miss in the shoot-out defeat to PSG in Wednesday night's UEFA Super Cup.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Frank ahead of his home debut. Here's a full transcript with everything the Spurs head coach said in his press conference at Hotspur Way.

What's the latest team news?

Every player [from the last game] is available for the team tomorrow. Destiny [Udogie] is progressing, but it’s too early for him to be involved in the squad.

How is Mathys Tel after the abuse he suffered on Wednesday?

It’s, of course, terrible what happened to Matty, and we’re doing everything we can to support him in this situation. He’s a strong person, and with hopefully support from his family, friends and us he will get through it. But also there’s no real Tottenham supporter that ever will do that. The real Tottenham supporters that we’ll see tomorrow at the stadium, they'll back him, I expect them to. Listen, in tough times we step up together, and I expect the fans to give him a really, really, really big cheer tomorrow.

Do Spurs need to add a few players?

First and foremost, in many ways, I’m very happy with the squad. I think there’s a lot of good players. I think we saw a team that was very, very, very competitive, and on any other day we would have beaten the best team in Europe. Of course, we want as strong and competitive squad as possible. I know that Daniel (Levy), Johan (Lange) and Vinai (Venkatesham) are working night and day, and they have, by the way, been working night and day the last, whatever, six, seven, eight weeks. They definitely would like to do deals early. Sometimes, I think we need to understand it’s not that easy, but they’re working.

What's the latest on Bissouma?

There was a situation. I addressed this. There was a consequence. Bissouma will be in the squad tomorrow. Move forward and we have a big game tomorrow.

Where will Kudus play for Spurs, as a second striker, a number eight or a right winger?

I think depending on the game, the challenge, the game plan and so on that he can play in all those positions you just named there. I think preferably he’s probably right-wing or 10, (he) can play both positions, but I like flexible players. It gives us opportunities. But those are the two main positions.

What tactical battle are you expecting from Burnley?

In some ways, the challenge can't be more different from the challenge we just faced two days ago against PSG. But I think the level of challenge is the same. It's just different from not that much expectation to maybe slightly more expectation tomorrow for the game.

But against a team and a very good manager and coaching staff that have done very well last year. We all know their defensive record, that's insane. 29 clean sheets, 16 goals conceded. I know they [now] step up but that just shows the structure, the discipline, the mentality and ability to defend. So that's a challenge we need to embrace and we will embrace. We will be positive and we will attack.

But I think it's a game where we will dominate and it can take time before we score the first goal. Of course we'd like to score in the first minute and then the roof will go off the stadium, everyone will be happy. You never know, you need to be ready for everything. One thing's for sure, the team, I, us, all of us need to perform. The fans need to perform. We can only do it together. The fans and the team, if they are together it's like energy pushing the players forward that will make it so much easier. We need help of course.

What's the thing you've learnt about your players so far?

I'd like to say two things. One thing is the mentality of the group - I think a very strong mentality. We saw that against PSG, the way they dealt with that game, the way they worked, their approach to it. I think that was very good. And I think the ability to take on board messages and gameplans, because they executed it perfectly. That's the two things.

Will you have butterflies in your stomach because this is the first time you would have managed a team other than Brentford in the Premier League?

I will have tomorrow. If I'm honest now I'm in like a work mate, last planning, we have training in three hours. Normal focusing on that, that is normal with everything. Different players but it's the same so fully, fully focused on that.

But I know when I wake up tomorrow and I know when I step into the stadium that I will feel a little, no doubt.

How difficult is it to take on a newly-promoted team on the opening day when everyone expects you to win 4/5-0?

I think every game has its own challenges. The challenge tomorrow of course is that can we get enough tempo in the game, can we play quick enough, how do we break down the low block of a 5-4-1? That's again that focus, let's keep the tempo, let's keep the intensity. Make sure we put pressure on them and then in the end that will hopefully be enough.

What kind of player you are looking for to fill the number 10 role?

We are looking, of course, in the market, not only for the 10 positions but just to see if we can strengthen the squad and the players we're looking at are the only players we think can improve the squad, and I think that's the right thing we want to do. If we can pick the right player and if it fits, then we'll do something.

With Bissouma when you got back, did you have a long chat with him, because there's been incidents over previous summers as well, and he turns 29 this month so is one of those players that the younger players should be looking to?

Of course we've dealt with the situation. I think these situations you deal with internally, of course, so yeah, it's dealt with. I'm looking forward. There's a big game tomorrow, and that's where the main focus should be.

Another influential player, Richardson, it felt like one of his best games for Spurs the other night, how important could he be to you this season if you can keep him fit and available to play like that?

Yeah, I think Richy was really phenomenal. I think his hold-up play, his intensity, his pressing, his arriving in the box and so it was really, really top, really and his attitude, top, top, top. So I hope to see more of that. Of course, we're aware of the fitness situation. That's something we've monitored closely. That's why, for example, he didn't play the first game against Reading because we didn't feel that he was ready, so we'll really do our best to to help him and he's on it. He's very focused, that's the main thing and hopefully he can keep up the level.

One player we haven't heard too much about, Manor Solomon, where is he with his injury recovery and is he part of your plans for this season?

Every player that is here is part of the plans. Manor is just back from his injury, in terms of being on the pitch he had a part training with the team yesterday, so hopefully he can progress after that.

When you think of day one when you came in to now, are you where you want to be generally? Are you ahead of schedule, behind schedule, or on schedule?

I think we are. (Laughs) That's a good question. I think that will be an ongoing process throughout the season, throughout seasons, because you constantly want to build on that layers. That's what I'm a big believer of. We've had five weeks or something like that. That's been really good. I'm very pleased with and proud of what the team, how the team performed Wednesday against PSG.

I think that part of the game we showed that we got far with the defensive side of the game, high pressure, middle pressure, low pressure set pieces, aggressivity, intensity, mentality.

And now we have another part of the game. We'll be more offensively tomorrow. We have to and we want to. That's probably, to be completely honest, that's the area where we are probably not fully firing yet for various reasons. We will have a plan and we'll be very ready for tomorrow, but I think all that added together, to do that consistently every game, probably that will not just be fully firing (yet). Hopefully tomorrow will be very good and then it can be the next three games and be a dip and then we go again.

It was a big ask on Wednesday in Italy, hot conditions, can same team go again or need to freshen it up?

I think, you know, of course the physical demands in every area were big and also mentality in the heat and so on, but the players are very professional, they have recovered well, they have a good team behind them, the staff, that will help them. Of course it's always in this situation how much do I fresh up? Of course I'm thinking about that, but that can be from the start, that can also be during the game. I'm a big believer of when needed, use five subs to bring that energy and freshness on the pitch, but I’m also a big believer it’s the third game that is more tricky than the second.

With Bissouma, is it important to establish the standards you want here early on?

Yeah, you can say that, but I would have done exactly the same in Brentford or other places where I’ve worked. I just have a certain standards and demands. I think the players need that, a lot of love, but there needs to be a lot of demands and there also needs to be a consequence if the demands are reached. In this case there was a consequence.

You've let a lot of younger players go out on loan, we saw Mikey Moore and Will Lankshear part of the first-team last year but sent out this time, what is thinking behind that?

I think it’s important that there is a fine balance between, I think there’s a lot of learning training with the first-team boys here. I think that learning from the intensity, physicality, professional higher level players is very good and also part of having enough players in the squad. Then the next bit is the most important thing for any player is playing minutes, so that is that balance and we thought it was the right moment to get them out.

With Wednesday and the substitutions, you needed fresh legs but was there a reason why Lucas Bergvall and Brennan Johnson were not first options off the bench?

It was a slightly different shape that impacted it a little bit let’s say for Brennan’s case. Of course he can play as one of the two strikers as well, but I think Matty has done well. We’re going to need a lot of players in different positions, with different abilities. I think that Lucas has done very well, but I also think I like Archie as well. I think they are slightly different types. Lucas is probably a little bit more offensive, Archie a little bit more defensive, so that is why at that stage he came on. I think Archie’s profile just fitted a little bit better.

You'll walk out tomorrow at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for first time as Spurs manager, how much are you looking forward to that?

“That’s going to be special, of course. There’s a first time for everything and that’ll be the first time, so that’ll be special.

Yves Bissouma has served his punishment and will return to the Tottenham squad for the Premier League opener against Burnley this weekend, Thomas Frank has revealed.

The Mali international was left out of the travelling squad for the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday for disciplinary reasons, with Thomas Frank revealing the midfielder had been late for training and team meetings.

Speaking on Tuesday, Frank said: "He's been late several times and now this time the latest time was one too many. With everything you need to give your players a lot of love. There need to be demands and consequences and this time there was a consequence."

Spurs lost the Super Cup final on penalties to PSG, having led 2-0 going into the final five minutes of the match.

Bissouma's experience could have helped off the bench in the latter stages but the midfielder will return to the Spurs squad for this weekend's Premier League opener against Burnley.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Frank confirmed: "Bissouma was a situation. I addressed it, there was a consequence. He will be in the squad tomorrow."

Frank ruled one player out of the squad for the game against the Clarets, saying Destiny Udogie was not fit to return to the first-team fold just yet, following a knee injury.

Tottenham get their season under way at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at 3pm. football.london will have live coverage of the match as always with chief correspondent Alasdair Gold.

Thomas Frank has ruled one player out of Tottenham's squad for the opening Premier League game of the season against Burnley on Saturday.

A number of players are sidelined, with James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Radu Dragusin on the long-term injured list, but Frank will be missing another player from the Premier League opener at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Destiny Udogie has been struggling with a knee injury, having missed the club's pre-season tour of Asia. He had been in the squad to facec Luton Town in pre-season but was removed from the squad list after picking up an injury in the warm-up.

And the Italian is not fit enough for the start of the Premier League campaign.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Frank said: "Every player who was available is available for the team. Destiny is progressing but it's too early for him to be involved in the squad."

Tottenham go into their Premier League opener with a competitive match already under their belt, having played Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup final on Wednesday night.

Spurs produced a spirited performance against the Champions League winners and were within minutes of lifting another trophy, only for two late goals to send the contest into penalties, which PSG won 4-3.

It was a demanding match and Frank has oepned up on the possibility of changing things up when it comes to personnel as a result of that clash.

He added: "Of course there were physical demands in every area, in particular the heat was high. The players are very professional and they've recovered well. I can freshen up, whether that is from the start or during the game. I'm a big believer that it's the third game more than the second one that's important in that respect."

On whether he'll change up his team to face Burnley

Of course there were physical demands in every area, in particular the heat was high. The players are very professional and they've recovered well. I can freshen up, whether that is from the start or during the game. I'm a big believer that it's the third game more than the second one that's important in that respect.

Frank on Richarlison

Yeah, I think Richy was really phenomenal, his hold up play, his intensity, his arriving in the box was top. And his attitude, top, top top. Of course we’re aware of his fitness situation, that is why we have monitored him closely – that’s why he didn’t play at Reading in the first game, but he is on it.

The Spurs boss on Mathys Tel

I think it's terrible what happened to Mathys. We're doing everything to support him in this situation. He's a strong person. He will have support from family and friends as well as us. There's no real Tottenham supporter that will do that (abuse). You'll see the real Tottenham supporters at the stadium tomorrow backing him. I expect big cheers for him tomorrow.

Djed Spence has been speaking

The Spurs full-back was asked about his imminent new contract, Tottenham's transfer plans and Thomas Frank and you can find what he said by heading right here.

Here are our Tottenham talking points

You can find our Tottenham talking points with the various things we could see happening among the Spurs powers-that-be below us in the stadium in Udine, the need for Eze and Savinho, Thomas Frank's tactics and plenty more by heading right here.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to the start of the new Premier League campaign!

Everything gets under way tonight and Tottenham get their season off to a start on Saturday afternoon. We're expecting Thomas Frank in the next hour to talk about everything from Burnley to transfers.

Strap in for another nine months of excitement, starting now.

Tottenham kick-off their 2025/26 Premier League season on Saturday afternoon with Scott Parker returning to north London with Burnley.

After being promoted from the Championship last season, the Clarets visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium looking to make a huge statement on the opening day. However, Spurs will look to improve on last season's 17th-place finish with Thomas Frank in charge.

Spurs started their campaign with a heartbreaking penalty shoot-out defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night in the UEFA Super Cup. Despite the defeat in Italy, there were many positives to take away from the clash with the Champions League holders.

Attention now turns to the Premier League and Tottenham are favourites to beat Burnley this weekend. Unfortunately for Parker, he is without a number of first-team players for the game.

The Burnley boss conducted his pre-match press conference on Thursday and there was an update on the fitness and availability of certain members of his squad. Zeki Amdouni, Jordan Beyer and Bashir Humphreys are all out while there are doubts over Axel Tuanzebe, Connor Roberts and Zian Flemming.

Beyer had suffered a 19-month absence last season due to a knee injury but made a return during a behind-closed-doors friendly against Fleetwood Town. His 20-minute cameo off the bench was his first appearance since December 2023.

However, Parker confirmed that the defender has sustained another stumbling block. "Jordan's okay," he told the Burnley Express. "He's back in with us. He's still going to be a few weeks, but he's heading in the right direction in and around the group now.

“But it's hugely disappointing for Jordan. The boy's been through an awful amount of disappointment and heartbreak over the last couple of years, and it’s just a real shame. But you often find that when you've been out for such a long time, sometimes you can pick up other little things.

“It's just another little setback for him. He’s a strong boy that no doubt will come back and we'll get him to the place we need to get him to.”

New signings Martin Dubravka, Lesley Ugochukwu and Armando Broja are all available to make their debuts. Former Tottenham defender Kyle Walker is also in line to play alongside Quilindschy Hartman and Jacob Brunn Larsen.

The Premier League returns on Friday evening with the 2025/26 season getting underway at Anfield. Tottenham have to wait a further day before they commence their Premier League campaign with a home encounter against Burnley.

On paper, it does appear an ideal fixture for Thomas Frank to mark his first Spurs league game in the best way possible as the Clarets won promotion from the Championship last term and many are tipping them for an instant return. Tottenham were in action on Wednesday evening in the UEFA Super Cup final against PSG and they gave a very good account of themselves as they went so close to lifting the trophy.

Frank's team came out of the game with plenty of praise and fans are excited to see what they offer in the Premier League. So how exactly should Tottenham line up against Burnley in the 3pm kick-off on Saturday? football.london takes a look below.

Rob Guest - Football writer

Thomas Frank showed his tactical flexibility on Wednesday night but it would be a surprise if he opted for a 3-5-2 setup against Burnley. It would make sense for the Dane to get an extra attacker into his team and potentially go with the 4-2-3-1 formation that he used regularly in pre-season.

Kevin Danso would be the most likely to drop out of the backline in that case, thus seeing Spurs operate with a back four of Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence. Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur will then be the midfield two.

Further forward, Pape Matar Sarr continues in his No.10 role and Mohammed Kudus will play from the right wing. Frank then has a choice between Wilson Odobert, Brennan Johnson and Mathys Tel to start on the left.

Dominic Solanke is clearly not 100 per cent match fit going on his cameo against PSG and that means Richarlison leads the line again after an impressive display.

Guest's team: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence; Palhinha, Bentancur; Kudus, Sarr, Johnson; Richarlison.

Lee Wilmot - Head of football

Tottenham performed so well in a 3-5-2 formation against PSG in the Super Cup, but I do not expect to see it this weekend against Burnley.

Thomas Frank wanted to be solid and disciplined in defence against the best team in Europe and as he said himself, the "operation succeeded but the patient died".

I'd go into the tried and tested 4-2-3-1 against the Clarets, offering a little more attacking impetus against the Premier League new boys.

Kevin Danso did well against PSG, but he drops out of the back-line for me, with Djed Spence and Pedro Porro the full-backs either side of Micky van de Ven and Cristina Romero in front of Guglielmo Vicario.

Rodrigo Bentancur was excellent against the Parisiens and he is joined by Joao Palhinha in the two holding roles, it's in the four forward positions that a decision needs to be made.

Pape Matar Sarr was outstanding in the Super Cup and he's my pick for the No.10 role, with Mohammed Kudus and I think Wilson Odobert on the flanks. They all support Richarlison up top.

Djed Spence has welcomed Tottenham's search for new signings and believes Thomas Frank is trying to ensure the north London club keep clean sheets in order to set them on the path to trophies and titles.

With Destiny Udogie out injured, Spence has been getting plenty of game time on the left under his new head coach and has responded with some good performances this summer for Spurs, not least against Arsenal in Hong Kong and, like his team-mates, for 85 minutes against PSG in Wednesday night's UEFA Super Cup.

The 25-year-old, who played as the left wing-back, was asked after the penalty shoot-out defeat in Udine whether he took confidence from stopping the French side's stars for so long.

“Yeah, they’re all good players but I wouldn’t say it gives me any confidence because I am already confident," admitted Spence. “We’ve got to keep our heads up first and foremost. Then starting Saturday, we play at home, get a win and take it from there."

The full-back is set to sign a new contract at Spurs, his second new deal in 10 months after turning his career at the club around. Just last summer Spence looked set to leave the club with Genoa holding an option to sign him at the end of his loan spell in Italy. The Serie A side did not take up the opportunity though and Spence returned and impressed Ange Postecoglou enough to win his place at the Premier League club and has not looked back since.

He was not about to give anything away on his imminent new contract though.

"No, no update on that unfortunately," the defender said out in Italy. "I am just a bit disappointed about tonight and we’ve just got to look forward from now."

The full-back also did not want to give too much away about Frank's plans for the squad but admitted it centred on shoring up that defence after Spurs conceded 65 goals last season in the Premier League as they finished 17th.

“I don’t want to go into too much detail, but I think the main thing is be solid at the back and our target is to keep as many clean sheets as possible. You do that and you win trophies, you win titles," he said.

Tottenham are looking to make some big signings before the transfer window closes with Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze and Manchester City's Savinho at the top of their wanted list. After last season's problems with injuries, Spence is in favour of adding to the club's squad.

"Yeah, I mean I’m not sure who has been linked or who is going to come in, but I think whoever comes in will definitely add strength to the squad and will be a good thing for us," he said.

This season brings with it a return to the Champions League for Spurs and the prospect of Spence's first minutes in the tournament for Europe's elite.

"It’s a great competition, it’s the big stage, everyone wants to show what they can do on the biggest stage," he said. "So yeah looking forward to it."

Paris Saint-Germain are preparing to listen to offers for midfielder Lee Kang-in this summer. The 24-year-old scored PSG's first goal in the comeback win against Tottenham in the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday.

Thomas Frank's side were leading 2-0 - with Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero both scoring - before PSG produced a dramatic late fightback. Lee pulled one back in the 85th minute, arrowing a fine effort from the edge of the box into the bottom corner, before Goncalo Ramos sent the tie to penalties in the 94th minute.

Although Vitinha missed PSG's first spot-kick, the French side scored their next four to win the Super Cup in a 4-3 shootout success, after Mathys Tel and Van de Ven failed to convert for Tottenham.

But, despite impressing from the bench and scoring against Tottenham, Lee's time in Paris could be coming to an end. According to RMC Sport, PSG are prepared to sanction Lee's exit, should the club receive a suitable offer.

It's added that clubs in England have considered an approach for the South Korea international and PSG are ready to weigh up offers. Among those interested could be Arsenal, who were linked with a move in January.

The Gunners wanted to sign an attacking midfielder with Martin Odegaard's form inconsistent after recovering from an ankle problem and Lee was placed on the club's list of potential transfer targets.

In the end, Lee remained at PSG and helped them win Ligue 1, Coupe de France and Champions League. He was part of the side that reached the Club World Cup, also, though PSG ended up losing to Chelsea.

Lee, 24, arrived at the Parc des Princes from Mallorca in July 2023, and although he has made 86 appearances in that time, it hasn't worked out. Indeed, Lee fell right down the pecking order at the end of last season.

Speaking about his future earlier this month, Lee said: "I don't know what will happen this summer. But as I just said, whether I'm at PSG, another club, or with the national team, I will always try to give the best of myself."

Arsenal are still in the market for a creative midfielder and Lee might be one the Gunners target, after showing what he can do against Tottenham. Lee has 22 goal contributions for PSG since his move.