Football London

Tottenham Hotspur have agreed a £55million deal with West Ham United for Mohammed Kudus, football.london understands. The Ghanaian is set to undergo a medical and become Thomas Frank's third signing since arriving from Brentford.

The 24-year-old is set to sign a six-year deal in North London after becoming a key player during his two-year spell with the Hammers. Kudus will join Mathys Tel through the door after his loan move from Bayern Munich was made permanent in a deal worth £30m, and Koko Takai, who joined from Kawasaki Frontale for a fee of £5million.

Spurs pinpointed Kudus as the first big-money signing of the Dane's era after swapping Brentford for Spurs following Ange Postecoglou's dismissal.

Personal terms are not expected to be an issue for Kudus after he prioritised a cross-London switch to move to the Europa League holders.

Frank met up with his new squad on Monday and the club will embark on a pre-season tour of Asia, where they will play Arsenal and Newcastle in Hong Kong and South Korea.

The latest development regarding Kudus means Spurs are a step closer to landing their target before they're due to fly out to the Far East at the end of July following their encounter with League One side Luton Town on July 26.

His imminent arrival comes as Frank faces an important task in strengthening his attacking-line with question marks surrounding the future of captain Son Heung-min and former Everton forward Richarlison.

Speaking after returning for pre-season, the 51-year-old expressed his excitement at having the full complement of his squad ahead of their preparations for the campaign.

He said: "That's what I want. I want everyone in, really compare them against each other, see how they make themselves a relationship.

"Of course, I know the group in terms of looking from the outside, but it's different when you're on the inside and you work with them, you feel them, you understand them better and we all have our own views on certain players or relationship and it's up to me to find that perfect combination that make the team perform on the highest possible level."

He added: "Yeah, it's been good. We had the first session on the grass today.

"There was a lot of tests Saturday, so it's been good to have them out there.

"That's the fun bit, that's where we try to affect things. So yeah, good effort, good mentality. Happy."

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly eyeing a move for Brentford star Yoane Wissa in a move that would see the DR Congo international reunite with Thomas Frank. The Dane is into the first days of pre-season in his new role in North London after being tasked with succeeding Ange Postecoglou.

It has been said that the 28-year-old is open to following Frank across the capital to the club and Spurs are said to be weighing up the finances behind a possible move. Already, the Europa League holders have been dealt a setback in trying to lure some of Frank's former players across London to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Bryan Mbeumo turning down a switch, after setting his sights on a move to Manchester United.

BBC Sport's Sami Mokbel has reported that Wissa is the subject of interest from Spurs and is tentative to a move, which could see him feature in their return to the Champions League.

The recruitment chiefs in North London are rumoured to be crunching the numbers over a move but reports elsewhere suggest that Brentford have slapped a £50million price-tag on his head.

Originally, TEAMtalk suggested last month that Nottingham Forest would have to pay that type of figure in order to beat Spurs, Arsenal as well as both Turkish giants Fenerbahce and Galatasaray.

Despite a confidence from Manchester United in signing Mbeumo, talks appear to have stalled to bring him to Old Trafford following a period of silence regarding the proposed move across the Premier League.

The figures suggested for the signing of the Cameroon attacker is rumoured to be north of £60million.

Frank brought both Mbeumo and Wissa to the Bees, snatching the DR Congo star from Lorient after helping them rise into the top-flight of French football.

The 51-year-old has already provided an inkling into what Wissa could bring to the Spurs squad and with four years of Premier League experience under his belt, it may pose an insight into how he could be deployed should a move materialise.

"Wissa is someone who fits many different positions for us," said the former Brentford head coach in 2021.

"He can play as a winger, as a number 10, and as a striker.

"He has that pace and power which we think is really important to be a threat in behind. He has good ability to take on players and create overloads.

"He also has good pressing abilities; he will need to learn our style of play but he fits the pressing criteria we want from a winger, a striker, or a number 10.

"He had one good season in Ligue 2 and one very good season in Ligue 1 and now we look forward to developing him further. I’m sure that he will help the team.

"He is a very good character as well; everyone knows that it is very important for our culture that we only get good characters in.

"He is very keen to come in and help the team and we are very keen to get him in."

Johan Lange has a "very good feeling" about the coaching team Tottenham have put together following Thomas Frank's appointment as head coach. The 51-year-old was confirmed as Ange Postecoglou's replacement last month but it wasn't until Monday evening when his full backroom staff was revealed.

Previously announcing the arrivals of Justin Cochrane (first team assistant coach), Chris Haslam (head of performance & first team assistant coach), Andreas Georgson (first team assistant coach) and Joe Newton (first team coach analyst), Matt Wells, who was Postecoglou's senior assistant coach, will once again take his place on the first team coaching staff and has been confirmed as a first team assistant coach.

Cameron Campbell joins Tottenham as first team individual development coach and Fabian Otte become first team goalkeeper coach following Rob Burch's exit. Frank's coaching team is further strengthened by Stuart Lewis and Dean Brill stepping up from the academy.

Lewis is now Tottenham's first team academy transition coach and Brill joins Otte in the goalkeeping department as first team assistant goalkeeping coach. Speaking in a club interview about the big coaching changes taking place, Lange outlined the process when it came to deciding on Frank's backroom team.

"In the interview process we had for Thomas we spent quite a lot of time talking about which kind of staff should we try to assemble around Thomas," explained the Dane. "Firstly, we mapped out which kind of competences we thought was important to have the best possible start before we start to put any names to it.

"Thomas had a wish to bring in a few coaches that he has worked with before, but for all the other roles, we've had very, very good process where we've interviewed several candidates for each one of the roles and standing here today with a very, very good feeling and quite excited about the staff we have put together."

Lange then went into a bit more depth on the importance of Lewis' role and also Brill making the step from the academy to the first team.

"As Thomas referenced, I think it's important for us to have specialists," added Lange. "We are very fortunate as a club that we are able to attract some of the best specialist coaches in the world. And as you say, we also made a couple of internal promotions.

"Stuart Lewis will come into a new role as transition coach between the first team and the academy. And as Thomas said before around Cameron [Campbell] coming in as the individual coach, we want players of all ages to have that development mindset.

"But of course to strengthen even more the bond between the first team and the academy is something that we have worked hard on for a number of years and with this new hire of Stewart coming into this new role we believe that it will be even even stronger in the years to come because we have some very, very exciting young players that will come through, push in the upcoming years and they need maybe a little bit of special attention as well to bridge that big gap that it is to go from academy football to the Premier League.

"We've had Dean Brill coming into a new role as assistant goalkeeper coach, he was head of academy goalkeeper coaching. Again, it shows that we want to show both players but also staff that not only coaches, can also be in the medical, performance analysis, scouting, in all the departments, that if you are coming into our academy, getting the DNA under the skin that we can have good, exciting pathways for coaches, specialists in this football club."

Thomas Frank is now making his mark on the training pitch at Tottenham's Hotspur Way base. Appointed in the hotseat one month ago following the decision to part with Ange Postecoglou as head coach, last Saturday saw a number of Spurs players return for the beginning of pre-season.

Tottenham's non-international players were the first to return, with those involved in international action in June set to arrive at a later date. After a day of testing in the gym, the players are now back on the grass and back working with the football.

Frank did a wonderful job during his time at Brentford and he will be looking to make a similar mark at Tottenham as they bid to climb back up the Premier League table. After his first couple of days working with his new squad, the Dane took some time out to talk to the club about the start of pre-season training, the coaching staff changes, the return of his full squad and so much more. You can read every word of what Frank had to say below.

How have the sessions been so far? Have you been impressed by the boys?

Yeah, it's been good. We had the first session on grass today. There was a lot of tests Saturday, so it's been good to have them out there. That's the fun bit, that's where we try to affect things. So yeah, good effort, good mentality. Happy.

Following the coaching staff changes, can you just tell us a little bit about them and the roles that they'll do individually and as well as what they'll provide to the team more generally?

Let's start with the three assistant coaches. Justin Cochrane, who came from Brentford and worked with me before, he'll be in charge of the offensive part of the game and then some training planning and get that smooth and running. Then we've got Andreas Georgson from Man United, but also worked with him previously in Brentford. He will be assistant coach but the main focus on set pieces, of the restarts and some culture. Then we will have Matt Wells, who will be responsible for the defensive part of the game and also contributing to training. I think that the way they split the roles I think is really good and covering all the abilities we would like to have.

Then we have added Cameron Campbell, who is individual coach and big on how we develop the players. That was a big wish from both Johan [Lange] and I, it was something we talked about that we thought was crucial and I think not many clubs have actually nailed that. We tried in the past, I tried in the past, so hopefully we can take it to the next level.

Then we've got Fabian Otte in as a goalkeeper coach. Really excited about him coming in, great experience in terms of working with some of the best goalkeepers in the world and hopefully they can help push the goalkeepers. And then finally, Chris Haslam, who is the head of performance first team coach, which is, of course, the physical part of the football training and all that but also the link to everything. So I think we've got a very exciting group together.

Thomas, tell me a little bit about the way that you line up your coaching staff. So you broke it down there into the different areas of the field, is this usually the way that you go about building at coaches?

Yeah, it is. I believe it's very important to have combination between clear role description for the coaches so they know what they're in charge of. So it's not like, 'okay what are we doing today?' So they know their roles, they know what they need to execute, they know what they need to be on top of, but also they need to be able to all help each other and help but make sure that their most important thing is the training out there is world class. So we need to be with quality, intensity and focus, so that's the main bit. So I think clarity is important for everyone.

There has been so much enthusiasm and excitement from Tottenham fans to see which coaches you're bringing, how potentially you'll go about things but also what you'll do on the analysis front. So can you tell us a little bit about that in terms of the way that you'll be preparing for games and the way that you'll be preparing for pre-season?

So in the analysis front, we also got Joe Newton in who came from Brentford as well and he'll be like a coach analyst. So he will be the bridge between the analyst team and the coaching staff so we make sure that everything is aligned in terms of training, matches, debrief pre and post-match and how we prepare for the opponent. But just as in as much and how we debrief the game because it's the way we play, our principles, that is the most important thing, but with the twists we use or how we tweak it to the opponent.

Is there anything that you look out for in terms of the types of person that you want in your team?

It needs to be people that that understand that we are a unit and we need to work hard together. And yes, I know half of the coaching group, the other half I don't know, but we need to work on that relationship. That's an ongoing process. So hopefully, when we know each other well, we know how we work together, how we are aligned and then we can up to a very well-run engine that just delivers every day.

Pre-season has changed a lot and preparation is slightly different now in the modern day. What does preparation look like as we look ahead to the next few weeks?

I don't know if I'm a modern coach or not sometimes but we started running today! I think old school is still good school, I think that's still important to have a bit of that. Now we had a running test today and we'll have that again when the internationals are back and probably also a little bit later down the season.

But, in general, that was just a short test, basically a 1km test. So if they did it well enough they're below three minutes 15 seconds, So that sounds easier, with turns by the way. So that's one thing that is done and then it's it's football. Everything with the ball, everything is on that, and then we will top up with some runs because I believe there's a big bit in that mental part of pushing.

You've got a little bit of time now before your first game against Reading and I guess the players gradually start to filter back in. How excited are you to get to that point where you got the full group?

That's what I want. I want everyone in, really compare them against each other, see how they make themselves a relationship. Of course, I know the group in terms of looking from the outside, but it's different when you're on the inside and you work with them, you feel them, you understand them better and we all have our own views on certain players or relationship and it's up to me to find that perfect combination that make the team perform on the highest possible level.

Reports linking Burney centre-back Maxime Esteve with a move to Tottenham are wide of the mark, football.london understands.

Some media outlets in both France and Italy reported on Tuesday that Spurs had entered talks to sign the 23-year-old Frenchman this summer. The defender joined the Clarets in January 2024 on loan from hometown club Montpellier before that move was made permanent that summer after their relegation from the Premier League.

The left-footed centre-back then started in all 46 games in the Championship last season and helped Scott Parker's side climb back into the top flight. Esteve was one of the standout players for Burnley but Spurs are not believed to be currently looking at engaging in talks over the Frenchman.

football.london understands Tottenham are currently prioritising the search for a right winger with West Ham's Mohammed Kudus among the players of interest, with a bid having already been rejected by West Ham. Spurs are also expected to look for another central midfielder while new head coach Thomas Frank analyses the rest of his squad to see what he believes is needed to strengthen different areas within his system.

It's also worth noting that the north London club currently have a huge surplus of centre-backs. In terms of senior players they have Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Kevin Danso, the injured Radu Dragusin, as well as the experienced Ben Davies who can play in the role. Then there is 18-year-old Luka Vuskovic who arrived at the club this summer along with new signing Kota Takai, a 20-year-old Japan international who put pen to paper this week on his move.

Takai, who has made four international appearances for Japan, is expected to be part of the first team squad this season while Frank will make a decision on Vuskovic, who made his Croatia debut last month, this summer and whether it's more beneficial for him to learn around the squad in the first half of this campaign or head out on loan with regular football.

On top of that there are Ashley Phillips and Alfie Dorrington, who both impressed out on loan at Stoke and Aberdeen respectively last season.

So in total, Tottenham currently have nine centre-backs, while teenager Archie Gray also filled in last season in the role admirably during the injury crisis if you want to make it a round 10.

If that wasn't enough then there's also the club's European squad to think about and if you want a full explainer of that then football.london has got you covered by going right here.

In short, even with Alejo Veliz's departure this week on loan to Rosario Central, Frank must currently fit 30 players into 22 spots in their Champions League squad and that's before they have made any more signings beyond Takai.

So unless a new centre-back happened to be a former Spurs academy player and therefore club trained and not needing to be registered in those 22 spots, there's no rush right now to get out there and buy another central defender when they have so many. Tottenham need to get players out of the door as soon as Frank decides who is surplus to requirements.

Tottenham are trying to make Mohammed Kudus the first big-money new signing of the Thomas Frank era.

Spurs have already confirmed a deal to sign Mathys Tel permanently for a fee of £29.8million, but the Frenchman is not a new signing as such, having spent the second half of last season on loan with the club.

Kota Takai has also come in to Spurs, signing from Kawasaki Frontale for a fee of £5million. Kudus would be the first new player signed for a big fee to arrive at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, however, if Spurs can agree a fee with West Ham for his signature.

Tottenham have already had a bid of £50million plus add-ons rejected by the Hammers and will need to return with an improved offer to get the deal done.

Kudus returned to pre-season training with West Ham this week, with Thomas Frank at Hotspur Way to welcome his first batch of players back for training too.

The Dane would dearly love to see new faces arrive at the club ahead of the new 2025/26 Premier League season as he prepares to make his first steps as head coach of the Lilywhites.

Strengthening in the forward areas is crucial, with question marks over captain Son Heung-min's future and that of striker Richarlison too.

The transfer window is open until Monday, September 1, but Spurs may well impose their own deadline on completing a deal to sign Kudus.

Like most other Premier League clubs, Spurs will be heading out on a pre-season tour this summer, with Frank taking his new side out to Asia for games with Arsenal and Newcastle in Hong Kong and South Korea.

Frank would ideally like new signings in the door before heading out on that pre-season tour, with Tottenham due to fly out to the Far East on Sunday, July 27, after their game with Luton on July 26.

With Spurs already having had a bid rejected it is feasible a deal gets tied up before then, with another 19 days before they fly out.

Guglielmo Vicario has sent a four-word message to Tottenham captain Son Heung-min amid uncertainty surrounding the South Korean's future in north London.

Son has just 12 months remaining on his contract at the club and may well leave this summer amid interest from Saudi Arabia and the MLS. After 10 years of service, Spurs are happy for Son to decide what his future holds and a lot may depend on what new head coach Thomas Frank tells the 33-year-old.

Ahead of the World Cup next summer, Son is likely to want to feature as regularly as possible and one of Frank's biggest conversations this pre-season will be with the Spurs skipper about his future. football.londonreported last month that an MLS move was something of interest to Son, while he may well decide to stay to have a final crack at the Champions League following their qualification after winning the Europa League.

Son scored 11 goals and grabbed 12 assists in 46 appearances for Tottenham last season and will be hoping to improve those numbers should he stay for one more year. A key figure for the club when playing for the likes of Mauricio Pochettino, Antonio Conte and Ange Postecoglou, it remains to be seen if Son will be just as crucial under Frank.

Son actually celebrated his birthday on Tuesday, July 8 with the forward turning 33. Vicario took the opportunity to send his teammate a message on Instagram, with the Italian writing: "HB my skipper [trophy emoji] [white love heart emoji]."

Players returned to the grass at Hotspur Way on Monday as Frank prepares for the upcoming season with his new side. Son, as well as the likes of Yves Bissouma, Richarlison and Archie Gray, were not present but are expected to return in the coming days.

Tottenham face Reading in their first pre-season fixture on July 19 and then Luton Town one week later. The squad will then travel to Asia for their pre-season tour where they will face Arsenal and Newcastle.

The Tottenham Hotspur players have been feeling the burn after their first few days of training under Thomas Frank.

The first group of Spurs players have returned to Hotspur Way and after their initial tests and blood work, they began working on the training pitches with Frank and his big new-look coaching staff.

Out there on the pitches were players like Dominic Solanke, Pedro Porro, Lucas Bergvall, Guglielmo Vicario, Yang Min-hyeok, Dane Scarlett, Djed Spence, Antonin Kinsky, Brandon Austin, Ashley Phillips, Jamie Donley, Alfie Devine, Josh Keeley, George Abbott and Will Lankshear. Newcomer Luka Vuskovic was involved as was Argentine striker Alejo Veliz before his loan move back to Rosario Central.

The international players will return later this week before those who played at the U21 and U19 European Championships arrive back a few days later.

Here are five things we noticed from the training footage put out by the club from Frank's first session at the Enfield training complex coupled with what we know.

Conte flashbacks

While not quite to the same degree, the 1km worth of fast shuttle runs the players were put through and the subsequent reactions brought back memories of an Antonio Conte pre-season tour moment when the Italian's session terrified the population of South Korea.

Back in 2022, after two hours of training in the Seoul World Cup Stadium in high temperatures and humidity, in which the Tottenham stars were put through various drills, match situations and two-touch and multi-touch matches, Conte unleashed his renowned pre-season nightmare on the players - 42 pitch-long runs, with very few brief stops, to see who lasted the distance.

Harry Kane was sick by the side of the pitch, Son Heung-min collapsed to the floor at one point to scared silence from the fans in his homeland and it was certainly an exhibition from Conte, with some inside the club believing he did it to show the levels of his training in front of the public, while the sessions behind closed doors never reached that level.

This year's effort under Frank was not to that level. It was a far shorter 1km run at pace, but it still was done to a fast level that left the players exhausted and lying on the grass afterwards in the sunshine as they raced each other. The new head coach went around them all high fiving them and smiling as they tried to catch their breath to speak.

Speedy Abbott

It might not have been a surprise to those inside the club but 19-year-old George Abbott was the fastest to complete the 1km run. The midfielder, who had a great season on loan at Notts County in League Two, is known to have a terrific engine on him and he flew through the distance leaving most others in his wake.

Dominic Solanke came in second with Jamie Donley third and Alfie Devine fourth while many of the senior stars followed behind them.

The Tottenham coaches could be heard shouting to Abbott in encouragement during the run and he did not look half as knackered as his team-mates did afterwards.

Veliz's awkward final moment

The same could not be said for Alejo Veliz in what we now know was his final training session before returning home to Argentina on loan to Rosario Central.

The 21-year-old striker was among those who looked a bit worse for wear after the fast run in the sunshine. Veliz looked more shattered than most, shown by the cameras left sitting alone on the grass before waving a horizontal palm side to side towards the camera, suggesting he was done.

It proved to be something of an awkward final moment for Veliz because his time at Tottenham for this season was certainly done and perhaps for the long term.

Porro advice and early return

If you're looking for great character and top professional, look no further than Pedro Porro. The 25-year-old should really have been part of the group of international players returning later this week after playing in the Nations League with Spain and reaching the final last month.

However, the right-back returned early and was using the club gym on Friday before coming back to sessions with the squad in the days after. As one of the senior players among the group he could be seen dishing out words of advice to teenager Yang Min-hyeok at one stage.

As Porro put his arm around his shoulder, the South Korean was saying something about what he could see the defender doing and Porro in turn could be heard telling him about 'the most important thing to do'. We'll maybe never find out what that was but he was certainly looking to help the young winger.

New face and Cochrane's promise

New strength and conditioning coach Tom Perryman, who has made the trip across with Frank from Brentford, could be seen speaking to Dominic Solanke at one point.

Among Frank's large coaching staff is a returning face in Justin Cochrane. The 43-year-old was an academy coach at Tottenham before joining the England set-up and later Brentford.

Now he is back at Hotspur Way as one of the Dane's right-hand men and he was shown speaking to the players at the end of the session. He made it very clear that things will continue to step up.

"What we're going to do is we're going to take it up all the time. We're going to get better at these sorts of drills which take it into the bigger picture," he said. "It's basically about taking up the right positions, passing details, and knowing your way out, in terms of knowing that if Pedro has the ball and he is being pressed by Dom and Dom's left Luka, as Pedro plays me in here, I'll now play in there, okay?

"It's hard to turn in these little practices when there are so many people congesting, then also looking for what I call long line passing or passes down the line or diagonal passing. It's the first day. Top effort over there. Real good energy."

Frank will be hoping that his Tottenham team take that good energy into the season so his era can get off to a fast start.

Tottenham's director of performance services Adam Brett and head of sports science Nick Davies have both left the club after only a year, football.london understands.

Brett arrived last summer after almost a decade at Brighton while Davies joined Spurs at the same time from West Ham and having worked with the Welsh national team. Tottenham struggled with injuries galore last season under Ange Postecoglou, with the Australian at times only having 13 to 14 fit senior players to call upon during the middle of the campaign.

Of particular concern for the former Spurs boss was reinjuries, notably to key players such as Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero as well as the likes of Wilson Odobert, Richarlison and Ben Davies.

“I never think it's just bad luck,” said Postecoglou during the season. "Some of it is. I've never lost a goalkeeper for this period of time [before]. But some of it is recurring, particularly this year in terms of guys coming back and re-injuring. It's something we're looking at.

"We're always trying to explore whether we can do things better. Last year was different to this year. Last year it hit us across the board. This year it's more guys that are coming back who are affected. Knock on wood, we've got a core group who are playing a lot and are getting through it ok. But it is something we are trying to address."

Tottenham have continued to review their medical and sports science departments over the past year after making those changes last summer which came with the departure of head of medicine and sports science Geoff Scott after 20 years at the north London club.

football.london reported previously that there was set to be another big shake-up of the medical side of the club and now Brett and Davies have also departed just 12 months on, with Davies linked with a move to Everton to link up again with David Moyes.

There is expected to be a process to replace both men at the club in due course but in the mean time new Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank will have familiar faces around him for the season ahead with one of his right-hand men Chris Haslam arriving with him from Brentford as head of performance as well as being a first team assistant coach.

Nick Stubbings has taken up a role as the lead of medical following 11 years with the Bees with Tom Perryman coming across as a strength and conditioning coach.

Kota Takai has spoken for the first time as a Tottenham Hotspur player and confirmed the versatility that will be of real use to new head coach Thomas Frank.

Spurs signed the 20-year-old Japan international from Kawasaki Frontale on Tuesday for £5million after the centre-back flew over after his final game for the J.League side. He will now get involved in pre-season training with Frank and his new team-mates this week once his international clearance and work permit come through.

In his first interview with the club, Takai said he was looking forward to the challenge ahead ahead after quickly heading over from Japan, having said goodbye to the Kawasaki fans in an emotional ceremony within a sold-out stadium following their 2-1 win against Kashima Antlers.

"I played in the match with Kawasaki Frontale in the J.League on Saturday and I got on the plane the next day and I'm here today, now," he said. "Having arrived in London I'm full of excitement."

On where he can play at the back, the young defender confirmed that versatility that will serve him well under Frank: "My position is centre-back. I can play either side - right or left.

"I was born in Kanagawa, Japan. I've always played football since my childhood. The reason why I love football is because as a team we can improve our skills together."

Takai's journey at Kawasaki was rapid, making his debut in the first team at just 17 and going on to make 81 senior appearances for the club before making his Japan debut, with four World Cup qualifying appearances so far for the national side around an adductor injury last year.

"The J.League has very high intensity, and its level is high. I won the Young Player Award last year and I was very happy. I joined Team Japan. It was always my dream. I remember I had goosebumps when I went on the pitch for the first team as part of the national team," he said.

Now comes the challenge of the English game and the Japan international is keeping his focus on his initial target at the north London club.

"I've always watched the Premier League a lot, since I was little," he said. "At Spurs, my first aim is to be on the pitch for a match and do my best."