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Tottenham travel to take on Manchester United at Old Trafford in Saturday's early Premier League kick-off

Tottenham Hotspur are back in Premier League action this weekend as they look to build on a second half comeback against Manchester City.

A double from Dominic Solanke in the second half saw Spurs come back from a 2-0 half time deficit to secure a 2-2 draw.

It means that the team are unbeaten in their last four games in all competitions, although they are winless in the Premier League in their last six games. Tottenham sit in 14th in the Premier League table, nine points clear of the relegation zone.

They will look to improve their position when they travel to take on Manchester United at Old Trafford. Michael Carrick's team have won each of their last three games under their interim manager.

Before the encounter at Old Trafford, both managers have provided an update on their squad's fitness.

Tottenham continue to grapple with an extensive injury list. There remains uncertainty surrounding striker Solanke's fitness, after he was withdrawn during the stalemate with Man City following an ankle complaint.

After the match, the forward told Sky Sports: "I'll be good. I just rolled my ankle a little bit, but I'll be fine."

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Whilst Solanke's participation remains unclear, nine players are confirmed absentees for the fixture. Spurs will be missing Pedro Porro, Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Bergvall, Richarlison, Rodrigo Bentancur, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Ben Davies, and Kevin Danso, as the casualty list continues to mount.

On a more positive note for Spurs, manager Thomas Frank has confirmed that defenders Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero will be fit for the encounter with United. They could potentially be accompanied by full-back Djed Spence.

"So Micky is good, [he] trained today," the Spurs boss said. "He is available for selection for Saturday.

"So it's good. Djed Spence is getting closer. It will be a little bit touch and go, but there is a good chance that he will be ready."

For Manchester United, Carrick has also given an update, with Matthijs de Ligt confirmed as missing the match.

The centre-back has been absent for the previous 12 fixtures across all competitions with a back complaint. Carrick has confirmed that the clash against Tottenham will arrive 'too soon' for the defender.

"Matta [De Ligt], he's working his way back, taking good steps and improving," the United interim boss said in his pre-match press conference. "It's a little bit too soon at the moment but, hopefully, it won't be too long [before De Ligt is back]."

He could be accompanied on the sidelines by midfielder Mason Mount, who was unavailable for the victory over Fulham after sustaining a knock in training. It renders him a significant doubt for this weekend's clash.

"Probably, Mason [will be available] sooner [than De Ligt]," Carrick said. "He's not too far away really. We're hopeful it won't be too long."

Another player who will remain sidelined is full-back Patrick Dorgu. He sustained a hamstring problem during the match against Arsenal.

Speaking last week, Carrick confirmed the injury would keep him out for 'a few weeks'. The Dane had been an exceptional performer for United since the interim boss's appointment, with his absence representing a significant setback.

Thomas Frank has decided on Tottenham's three changes for the knockout stages of the Champions League and there is plenty to take from them

Tottenham have submitted their revised Champions League squad for the last 16 and hopefully beyond with Thomas Frank making all three changes that were permitted.

Spurs' European squad registration issues have been rumbling on for years and every season numerous players have to be left out as the north London outfit do not have enough club-trained players - they only currently have one of the required four - and they have too many non-locally trained players and association trained players to fit in to their 22-man squad.

It should be a 25-man squad but the club is penalised according to UEFA's rules for only have one club-trained player by needing to leave three spots open.

Frank decided to use all three changes he could for the knockout stages, with players who have already played in the competition for another side able to be registered. That meant Conor Gallagher could be added to the list along with Mathys Tel and Radu Dragusin to replace the injured duo Ben Davies and Rodrigo Bentancur as well as Brennan Johnson, who departed to Crystal Palace in the January transfer window.

Here are five things we learned about Frank's three choices...

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Kulusevski update

Essentially Frank's decision is a Dejan Kulusevski update in itself as it tells us that the Swede, despite being a key player for the club, is nowhere near being ready even for the last 16 clash in mid-March against either Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray or Club Brugge.

That suggests something has not gone right since Frank last provided an update on the 25-year-old last month.

"We know it's a complicated injury. If there's one person who can accelerate that, it's Dejan. He's a top pro and has got a top mentality," admitted the Dane at the start of January. "The most important thing is to remove the pain in the knee. He got an injection to help that 10 days ago. We know in three to four weeks if it's settled and when it's settled, hopefully, he’ll be on the grass and from there, we’ll see what’s happening.

"It was not going forward as quickly as we thought but it's an injury we haven’t seen that much in football history, It's a complicated injury, where it’s important to make sure there’s no pain in the knee. That’s why he got an injection and it hopefully will help. So in three to four weeks’ time, he’ll be on the grass pain-free."

It is now four weeks since Frank spoke about the injection and three to four week timeframe and the fact that he has now left Kulusevski out of squad for next month's match and any further Champions League games does not bode well.

Kulusevski responded to an Instagram user last week who replied under one of his posts "I thought you died". The Swede replied: "Still alive."

Tottenham fans will have to wait as they did with Dominic Solanke and his ankle for when the pain finally subsides for the talented talisman.

Reward for Tel and Dragusin

Spare a thought for Tel, who signed for Spurs in a £30million summer move only to be left out of their Champions League squad.

The 20-year-old Frenchman then got back into the squad to cover the injured Solanke, didn't even start the match against Slavia Prague, and was instantly taken straight back out for the following game with Solanke back fit and had to watch the England international justify Frank's decision by scoring in both of the following European matches.

However, Tel has now got himself a spot back in the squad for the knockout stages and will be hoping to make up for lost time. First he needs to get more minutes in the Premier League with Frank not exactly throwing him much game time.

There was also a reward for Dragusin for all of the centre-back's efforts in battling back from his cruciate ligament injury with a year between starts for the Romania. Now he could make his second Champions League appearance five years after his only other one for Juventus.

The long-term injuries

Aside from Kulusevski, which of the long-term injured players Frank has taken out or continued to leave out gives us some indication over who will be back first and that appears to suggest Mohammed Kudus will be the next of the long-termers to return.

Kudus injured the tendon in his quad last month against Sunderland and was ruled out until after the international break at the end of March.

Rodrigo Bentancur is due back in April after a bad hamstring injury while James Maddison is continuing his rehabilitation after his cruciate ligament injury. Fans got excited after seeing the England international working with a ball again but you need only look at Dragusin to see how long the process still took after that point to know that Maddison will be aiming to be back just before the seasons ends if he and the medical department believe he is ready to.

Ben Davies' ankle injury looked awful and the Welsh left-back, who is out of contract in the summer, required surgery soon after so is not expected back any time in the near future.

If Yves Bissouma thought he might get back into the Champions League squad after his recent Premier League appearances then he would have discovered this week that it was not the case.

The Mali international has started Tottenham's past two matches and came off the bench at half-time in the game before simply because of the lack of available players in the centre of the pitch. However, some of those players have started to return and Gallagher has joined so the 29-year-old's game time will start to shrink again, barring further injuries.

If Tottenham do progress in the competition though, he could get Premier League minutes here and there as Frank will be forced to rotate his side.

Bissouma's contract is up in the summer but Spurs are believed to have an option to extend it by a year which they are likely to do to ensure they at least get some money for a player who cost them £30million originally from Brighton.

New youngsters out

There's no place for Souza in the Champions League squad which was likely with Destiny Udogie and Djed Spence able to play at left-back.

It was also entirely expected but there was no room for young January arrivals Mason Melia and James Wilson in Frank's Champions League squad.

The two 18-year-old strikers, signed from St Patrick's Athletic and Hearts respectively, would have had no expectation that they would be in the squad but it was confirmed with Friday's announcement. The duo and Souza cannot go on the B list of young players the club can draft in because you need to have been at the club for two years to do so.

Between them the pair have played almost 150 games of senior football so their time could well come for Spurs and both will likely get first team training time while hopefully bagging goals aplenty for the U21s in the remainder of the season.

Tottenham have confirmed that a move has taken place with another Premier League club for one of their teenage defenders

Tottenham have confirmed that teenage centre-back Roman Egan-Riley has joined fellow Premier League side Burnley on a permanent transfer.

The 19-year-old joined Spurs two-and-a-half years ago from Manchester City but struggled for consistent minutes in both the U18s and U21s. The defender made 10 U18 Premier League appearances in his first season at the club under then coach Stuart Lewis, recording one assist during 302 minutes of action and in his second campaign he played six league games, contributing another assist across 293 minutes.

This season brought a couple of appearances in Premier League 2 for Wayne Burnett's development squad before the decision was made for Egan-Riley to move back up to the north west and a new start at the Clarets after impressing on trial.

The defender has penned a contract until the end of the current season and will continue with Burnley's U21s squad.

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"I’m excited to be here because it’s a big club," he said. "I think this is a great opportunity for me to come and showcase what I can do, and everybody around the building has been really nice with me.

"I’ve not played as much football as I would have liked over recent years, so I’m looking forward to testing myself against some of the best players in the country and I can’t wait to get started."

Burnley academy manager Chris Casper added: "Roman has earned a contract with us after impressing on trial. His physical profile is fantastic for a centre-back, and with continued hard work on and off the pitch we’re confident that he can fulfil his potential here in Lancashire."

The teenager had posted on social media back in January 2024 when he stepped up into the professional game with his first contract: "Proud moment for me and my family to sign my first professional contract with @spursofficial thank you to everyone who has helped me on my journey so far."

Daniel Levy's near 25-year reign as executive chairman of Tottenham Hotspur came to an end in September when he stepped down from the role

Daniel Levy might have stepped down as Tottenham Hotspur chairman last year – but he still owns 29.88 per cent of ENIC amid speculation of a takeover.

Reports suggest Levy is now exploring a sale of his stake, five months after leaving the club, though the 63‑year‑old has dismissed claims he is close to offloading his shares to a consortium involving Hong Kong businessman Ng Wing‑fai.

football.london understands that the Lewis family currently has no plans to sell the club and while they have no control over Levy's shares, they would still retain full authority over the club's future if his 29.88 per cent holding were ever sold.

The Telegraph claims that Levy's stake offers no preferred-bidder or first-refusal rights should the Lewis family ever decide to put Spurs up for sale.

His main obstacle also appears to be growing scepticism among insiders over whether he could realistically command £1 bn for a minority that is in ENIC, not Spurs.

The Lewis family have maintained their stance, having already rejected three approaches to buy the club in September – from an Asian consortium involving Wing‑Fai, Amanda Staveley's PCP International Finance Ltd, and former DJ Brooklyn Earick.

Upon ending his almost 25-year tenure at the club, Levy wrote in a statement: "I am incredibly proud of the work I have done together with the executive team and all our employees.

"We have built this club into a global heavyweight competing at the highest level. More than that, we have built a community.

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"I was lucky enough to work with some of the greatest people in this sport, from the team at Lilywhite House and Hotspur Way to all the players and managers over the years.

"I wish to thank all the fans that have supported me over the years. It hasn’t always been an easy journey, but significant progress has been made. I will continue to support this club passionately."

At the time of the announcement confirming Levy's departure, Tottenham said there would be "no changes to the ownership or shareholder structure".

Thomas Frank has made three changes to the Tottenham Hotspur squad ahead of the UEFA Champions League knockout stages. The Lilywhites sealed a place in the last 16 of the competition at the end of last month, defeating Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 at Deutsche Bank Park.

Mathys Tel and Radu Dragusin have been added to the squad list, along with Conor Gallagher, whom Spurs signed from Atletico Madrid during the January transfer window. Meanwhile, Ben Davies and Rodrigo Bentancur, who are both currently nursing injuries, have been withdrawn and will no longer be eligible.

Brennan Johnson was also replaced following his transfer to Crystal Palace, and Dejan Kulusevski was left out as he continues to recover from a knee injury, which he suffered back in May 2025. At the start of the season, Frank called for UEFA to reconsider the rules on Champions League squad size.

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The Dane was only able to select 22 players in his European squad, rather than the maximum of 25, because Brandon Austin was the only club-trained player in the first team. Therefore, Frank omitted Tel from the group phase squad.

"Yeah, I think, first of all, that was an extremely difficult decision to make," the Tottenham boss said in September. "I also think, in many ways, it was a bit unfair. I also think that the UEFA Champions League lists are not big enough.

"We know the load on the players is getting bigger and bigger. We have said it many times, we are hopefully playing 60-plus games. That's without international games.

"So some of them can be involved in up to 70 games. So I think that we need probably a bigger squad. I can't understand why we need to limit ourselves. I actually like the idea of the club-trained players.

"I think it's a good thing, every team needs to develop their own players. So I think that's good. Of course, that limits us a little bit as it stands.

"Hopefully, we get it after that, but because we had a less number, I had to make a decision now instead of making a decision before a team selection."

So, with that being said, football.london has listed the Tottenham Hotspur squad for the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League knockout phase. Player list A, as shown below, can be supplemented by several young players on list B.

Goalkeepers

Guglielmo Vicario, Antonin Kinsky, and Brandon Austin.

Defenders

Radu Dragusin, Kevin Danso, Destiny Udogie, Pedro Porro, Djed Spence, Cristian Romero, and Micky van de Ven.

Midfielders

Joao Palhinha, Xavi Simons, Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Conor Gallagher, and Pape Matar Sarr.

Forwards

Richarlison, Mathys Tel, Dominic Solanke, Mohammed Kudus, Wilson Odobert, and Randal Kolo Muani.

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Former Tottenham sporting director Fabio Paratici has broken silence on his decision to quit Spurs and make the move to Serie A side Fiorentina

Fabio Paratici has claimed he made a "courageous choice" to become Fiorentina's new sporting director as he opened up on his decision to leave Tottenham. Paratici left Spurs at the end of the January transfer window, after spending time as the club's joint-sporting director with Johan Lange.

His exit came soon after he was brought back to Spurs following a 30-month FIFA ban for financial irregularities. His return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was seen as a surprise, with the announcement coming midway through January when the club were looking to strengthen their squad.

But Paratici departed Spurs upon the end of the window and has since joined Serie A side Fiorentina. During his unveiling at Viola Park, the 53-year-old thanked Tottenham for allowing him to return to Italy, but appeared to make a subtle dig at his ex-employers by describing Fiorentina's owners as "serious".

"In my case, Fiorentina have a serious set of owners, a very serious set of owners who are of great value," Partatici said in a press conference on Thursday.

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"I'd like to thank Tottenham, my former club, for the opportunity they granted me to join Fiorentina, return to Italy and the opportunity to spend five wonderful years in the Premier League. It was an incredible experience. They made me feel at home and stood by me in tough times so I feel obliged to thank Tottenham."

Paratici added: "I decided to come here on December 16th when the team had six points in the league. It might have seemed reckless, but it was actually a courageous choice. Fiorentina has a great owner, top-notch infrastructure, and a city that is a super international brand. In the Premier League, I learned that all of this matters."

The Italian first joined Spurs in June 2021 as managing director of football. In his first season, Tottenham improved from seventh to finishing fourth in the Premier League, securing a spot in the Champions League.

But in April 2023, Paratici resigned from his position at Spurs after losing his appeal against the worldwide ban imposed by FIFA. Once his suspension had ended last October, Tottenham confirmed that he would return.

Paratici had worked alongside Lange to figure a plan for the January window and Spurs ended up brining in Conor Gallagher in a £35million deal from Atletico Madrid and Brazilian left-back Souza. But supporters were left frustrated that Spurs failed to bring anymore players in on deadline day.

Tottenham snapped up Conor Gallagher during the January transfer window, and he has started all three Premier League fixtures since arriving

Ex-Premier League star Joleon Lescott thinks Conor Gallagher has one characteristic that will make him a hit at Tottenham - his intense work rate. The ex-Chelsea midfielder signed for Spurs in January for roughly £35million.

Thomas Frank's midfield was bolstered in the winter window with the purchase of Gallagher from Atletico Madrid. The club's new No. 22 slotted straight into the starting XI and has played against West Ham, Burnley and the 2-2 draw with Manchester City since his arrival.

Gallagher, who celebrates his 26th birthday on Friday, is no stranger to the Premier League. He impressed during a top-flight loan spell with Crystal Palace in 2021 and eventually captained his boyhood club Chelsea before leaving for Spain in 2024.

Lescott worked with Gallagher during his spell as an assistant coach for England's Under-21 side. He thinks the midfielder's unrelenting energy could endear him to the Spurs faithful.

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Asked on In The Mixer, brought to you by Sky Bet, if signing Gallagher was a good deal for Spurs, Lescott said: "Yeah. Great guy. I think he's important for the manager.

"The energy he brings, especially in the second half. You've seen it. He will change games and momentum. So I think it's important that they got him.

"He can lift that place. Especially at home. He plays with so much energy. You know when fans just want to see maximum effort? Conor gives you that."

Upon joining the club, Gallagher opened up about his energetic style of play. He said: "I like to see myself as a bit of an all-rounder, you could say. I try to be as effective as I can on the pitch with what I'm good at. I try to run as hard as I can.

"I try to make as many tackles as I can. I try to win as many duels as I can. Try and score, try and assist. Basically, all the basic things. I try my hardest to be good at everything and whatever the manager wants me to do, whatever role or position or system, I will be willing to do my best wherever I am.

"Hopefully, I can show the fans what I can do. I think in the last year at Chelsea I was able to grow into (a) leadership role, which was really good for me. It helped me grow not only as a person but also as a footballer. I think I can be a leader on the pitch and hopefully an example for the players.

"I will do my best to do that. I'm so hungry now. Obviously, a year and a half out of the Premier League, now I'm back and at this amazing club.

"I'm so hungry to do well for the club and for the club to have success and to grow. I want to play a big part of that. I want to do everything I can, work as hard as possible to do that."

We asked our Tottenham correspondents Alasdair Gold and Ryan Taylor to select the team they think should start at Old Trafford

Tottenham travel to Manchester United on Saturday afternoon in the Premier League looking to continue their recent upturn in results.

Thomas Frank's side are unbeaten in four matches in all competitions after their 2-2 draw with title-chasers Manchester City and now make their way to Old Trafford to take on a United side revitalised under caretaker boss Michael Carrick. Spurs need to start climbing up the table and a positive performance in the lunchtime kick-off in Manchester will start pushing the Lilywhites in the right direction in the Premier League.

Frank has got a couple of players back fit and available in Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven with Djed Spence also close to a return and "touch and go" for the game according to the Dane.

We asked our Spurs reporters Alasdair Gold and Ryan Taylor to select the team they think should Frank start with at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.

Alasdair Gold - Tottenham correspondent

With Van de Ven and Romero available to play at Old Trafford, the question is whether it's Joao Palhinha or Radu Dragusin who starts alongside them if Frank goes with a back three and the 3-4-3 formation. Palhinha's performance in the role against City and ability to get forward lends itself to the Portuguese getting the nod despite the Romanian's strong second half.

The wing-backs pick themselves right now as they are the only ones currently fit while Pape Matar Sarr might get to start ahead of Yves Bissouma in midfield with Conor Gallagher after making a big difference in the second half against City.

Wilson Odobert, who was ill like Romero for the City game, still looked dangerous and should get the green light ahead of Randal Kolo Muani and Mathys Tel with Xavi Simons and Dominic Solanke looking to carry straight on from their fine displays against Pep Guardiola's men.

Gold's XI: Vicario, Palhinha, Romero, Van de Ven; Gray, Gallagher, Sarr, Udogie; Odobert, Solanke, Xavi.

Ryan Taylor - Sports reporter

Tottenham captain Cristian Romero has received a response from Thomas Frank to his public outburst - while he's also been linked with an exit.

Cristian Romero has been in the Tottenham headlines, yet again, after a very busy week on and off the pitch. It started very well for the Spurs captain as he was named player of the match for the 2-0 Champions League win over Eintracht Frankfurt, but it certainly did not end that way.

More injury problems saw Archie Gray at wing-back, with Joao Palhinha and Radu Dragusin joining Romero in the back three against Manchester City, but the latter was taken off at half-time with his side 2-0 down. Thomas Frank later revealed that he was ill and could not continue with Romero addressing that in an Instagram post.

Later on in the caption of that social media update, he also took aim at the club's hierarchy, once again, labelling the fact Spurs only had 11 senior players fit as disgraceful. In the wake of that, transfer rumours surrounding Romero have emerged with Frank providing a response in his latest press conference.

With all of that being said, football.london has rounded up the latest updates on Romero ahead of the Premier League clash against Man Utd - which Frank has confirmed he will be available for - with the incident handled internally.

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Atletico U-turn and transfer latest

Less than 24 hours on from his Instagram post, Argentine journalist Gaston Edul stated that Romero will be leaving Tottenham in the summer. He also claimed that one club came close to making a formal offer with interest present from Spain and another league.

Atletico Madrid have been strongly linked to signing Romero over these last 12 months, before the La Liga giants instead signed David Hancko.

However, perhaps sensing an opportunity, Diego Simeone's side have placed Romero back on their transfer radar, and are ready to pounce should he be available at the end of the season.

Fresh Instagram outburst

Romero took to Instagram following the 2-2 drew against Man City to pay a tribute to his teammates, but also criticise the club.

He said: "Great effort from all my teammates yesterday, they were incredible.

"I wanted to be available to help them even though I wasn't feeling well, especially since we only had 11 players available - unbelievable, but true and disgraceful.

"We’ll keep showing up and taking responsibility to turn this around, working hard and staying together. All that’s left is to thank all of you for being there and for always supporting us, the fans."

This is not the first time Romero has aimed thinly-veiled digs at the club with the defender urging others at the club to take responsibility for poor results.

After the 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth, he said: "Apologies to all fans of you who follow us everywhere, who are always there and will continue to be. We are responsible, there’s no doubt about that .I am the first.

"But we will keep facing up to it and trying to turn the situation around, for ourselves and for the club. At times like this, it should be other people coming out to speak, but they don’t — as has been happening for several years now. They only show up when things are going well.

"We’ll stay here, working, sticking together and giving our all to turn things around. Especially at times like this, keeping quiet, working harder and moving forward all together ,is part of football."

Frank response to social media comments

Unsurprisingly, Frank's Thursday press conference was dominated by Romero.

The first question was regarding what Frank thought he meant by those comments, to which he said: "If you want to know what he meant, you of course will need to ask him. That's the right way to take that question. Cuti's a very passionate character and player who wants to leave everything on the pitch and is very ambitious.

"He wants to win every single time. Sometimes when you are like that, sometimes there can be an outburst. It happened this time and it's something we of course dealt with and dealt with internally."

On how he feels about it, Frank added: "I think I said to you again, there are a lot of ways of doing things. Cuti has been very good for us this season and the past seasons. That's very important to be aware of. I wouldn't have done it. That is my message."

When asked if all the things Romero said were true, the Spurs boss replied: "I think the beauty of written text is that you can read a lot into it and nobody really knows what was the purpose of it except Cuti or the guys who have spoken to him. And everything is dealt with internally.

"I think it shows that Cuti is extremely passionate, he wants to win, he wants to do everything he can together with his teammates to achieve great things, but you need to ask him next time you speak to him."

The Tottenham Hotspur boss has been speaking about his captain after another social media outburst from the Argentine World Cup winner

Thomas Frank admits that he has "no idea" whether Cristian Romero will be at Tottenham next season after a week in which the captain appeared to express his anger at the club's lack of winter signings.

The 27-year-old hit out on Instagram just minutes after the transfer window closed this week about the lack of available players after he had needed to come off at half-time of Spurs' 2-2 draw with Manchester City with illness. The Tottenham skipper had posted: "I wanted to be available to help them even though I wasn’t feeling well, especially since we only had 11 players available - unbelievable but true and disgraceful."

Frank confirmed that Romero would remain his captain despite his latest outburst and would only confirm that the club had dealt with the matter internally.

Romero has been a pivotal figure amid Tottenham's struggles under Frank with six goals and four assists but reports in his homeland suggest the World Cup-winning centre-back is keen to leave this summer, despite having only signed a four-year deal in August.

When asked if he expected the Argentina international to be at the club next season. Frank said: "That’s a question I have no idea about. Right now he is the captain, he has a long-term contract and we signed a new contract with him."

While speaking in general, rather than about Romero specifically, Frank said that anyone who might not be happy should still be expected to do their job.

"As long as everyone does their job, then it is fair enough. I am pretty sure there are also some players who don’t think I am the best bloke or whatever it is, but as long as they work hard and do everything they can on the pitch then I am happy," he said.

"Is the feeling better if everyone is aligned and happy and likes each other? Probably. But it is all about the performances on the pitch. In general in his time here, the ones I have been in charge of, [Romero] has been exceptional. I think he has had some unbelievably big games for us, not only defensively but he has also scored some crucial goals."

So is it a case that if you are good enough, you can say what you want on social media? "I think there is, in general, over time, there is always one line you cannot cross. For any player, for me, for any staff members, for anyone," admitted Frank.

After last month's defeat at Bournemouth, Romero had posted about other people at Spurs who "only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies", before deleting the final five words of that sentence. After that incident Frank had said of Romero that "you can make a mistake but don’t make the same mistake twice".

Now it appears Romero has done the same again and Frank was reminded of his previous answer.

"I think sometimes someone makes more than one mistake. We have dealt with it internally," he said. "Leadership is many things. I’m 52-years-old. I think I’m pretty good at leadership. Can I get better every single day? Yes. Do I make mistakes? Maybe not every single day but probably weekly. Romero is 27-years-old. Is he still going to make mistakes going forward as a leader? Yes. Does he do a lot of good things? Yes."

A string of Tottenham players had liked Romero's post including vice-captain James Maddison, star striker Dominic Solanke, Xavi Simons, Pedro Porro, Djed Spence and the club's only senior winter signing Conor Gallagher.

"I think it’s one person speaking up. We don’t know if he speaks on behalf of all the players, that’s your perception so we don’t know that. Secondly, we don’t know if that’s what he thinks. We can read into a text. I think we have a team and squad to compete but of course we have a few injuries that doesn’t help us," said Frank.

"It’s all contextual. Right now, we have a few injuries. If we had four injuries less we would feel less. I’m not in doubt of that of course, injuries doesn’t help but it's part of football. If you didn’t have that I’m sure we would feel different."

He added: "Everyone here is ambitious. Everyone wants to win. Everyone wants to make sure we do the best in the league and we have a good opportunity in the Champions League that we need to hunt everything we can.

"We’ve had some good performances, better, and in how they are running when they are behind I see a team that is fighting, players fighting and that’s a big thing."

On the transfer window he added: "In the summer we made two good signings in Xavi Simons and Mohammed Kudus, and a good loan in Joao Palhinha so it’s not as though we don’t want to loan players to strengthen the squad.

"And if you compare us to other top six clubs, we think it was a big signing with Conor Gallagher. I know the club is very ambitious and the owners are very ambitious and I have no doubt we will see that going forward."

Frank was asked if Romero is someone who just loves to have something to fight for, whether it's on the pitch or off it.

"That is a good question. You can definitely see he is a fighter and he is a warrior," said the Dane. "He leaves everything out there on the pitch in every aspect. There are also some duels you can see he goes in with everything. I don’t know if he needs a specific reason for having that fight."