Football London

James Maddison and Luca Williams-Barnett injury updates as De Zerbi faces Tottenham problem

Submitted by daniel on

The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder delivered an update on his absence this summer and it will be music to the ears of his head coach

James Maddison's positive injury update is just what Roberto De Zerbi needed to hear in a summer when the Tottenham boss has struggled for playmakers.

Maddison missed most of last season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered a year ago and returned to make three appearances from the bench in the final games of the campaign as Spurs managed to keep their place in the Premier League on the final day.

The midfielder has yet to appear in any pre-season fixtures though this summer despite heading off on the tour to New Zealand and Australia with the squad as a small problem, according to De Zerbi, prevented him from training.

Maddison provided a positive update on his status on Monday evening, taking a shot at social media speculation that he had suffered a recurrence of an old hip problem while revealing that he had trained with the team earlier in the day.

"Feeling good after another good session today with the team," he posted in an Instagram story. "Working so hard to be healthy and have a great year. Definitely haven't had any reoccurrence of any injury I've had before. Your itk isn't itk. Coys."

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That could mean the England international starts to get pre-season minutes against Hoffenheim on Saturday or Sunday, with back-to-back games against the German side to hand two different starting XIs fitness ahead of the Premier League opener for Tottenham at Brentford on August 22.

It comes after a summer in which, with his number 10 options limited, De Zerbi has turned to Conor Gallagher for the role with the 26-year-old scoring in Saturday's 70-minute friendly with Getafe.

Gallagher is a willing runner, can set the tone with the pressing and has done well in the position at Chelsea and before that West Brom but he's not a natural candidate for the job like Maddison or Xavi Simons.

It could be that with Spurs set to sign a couple of wingers in the weeks ahead De Zerbi is considering Mohammed Kudus when he returns to full fitness for a more central role than he played for the club last season. The Ghanaian has played as a 10 for his country and Dejan Kulusevski, when he returns to full training and then competitive action, can also play in that position.

Football London

Tottenham transfer enters 'final stages' as two details remain after green light given

Submitted by daniel on

Tottenham have spent £237m this summer, including a club record £100m to sign Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United, now one star looks to be on his way out of the club

Cristian Romero is closing in on a move to Atletico Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur. Romero signed a four-year deal only last summer when he was made captain.

However, he now appears to be heading to Spain after giving the green light to a move to the Riyadh Air Metropolitano Stadium, despite interest from other clubs around Europe. It is being reported that a deal is close, but both clubs are still understood to be a few million apart on the fixed aspect of the fee while the bonus structure of the deal still needs to be decided.

The Mail is reporting that Atletico with the pull of coach Diego Simeone are understood to be Romero's preference over the other clubs that have been involved. They named Inter Milan, Arsenal and Barcelona as the other clubs who were interested.

Romero has come close to leaving Spurs before, notably after Ange Postecoglou departed. And Roberto De Zerbi told football.london on the club's pre-season tour that he will respect Romero and Guglielmo Vicario's wishes to leave north London this summer.

"At the beginning of my time, in April, I had, I don't know, one million individual meetings!" he said. "And [the players] told me what was their idea. I said: 'Yes, help me to stay up, and then I help you to leave'. If you don't help me to stay up, you stay underwater with me!

"But Romero with me was unbelievable. Top. In his behaviour, his respect, he suffered when he did not play the last game. It is not true that he wanted to leave for Argentina to prepare for their World Cup.

"It's not true. After the semi-final [against England] we text a message, but I never called him to convince him to stay. I respected what he told me. Like for Vicario, like for every player."

De Zerbi added: "Romero as a player is one of the best centre-backs in the world, but at the end I said I want to respect the will of the players."

While former Spurs forward Teddy Sheringham believes new signing Jan Paul van Hecke is a safer option for his former club than Romero.

Spurs completed the £52m signing of defender Van Hecke from Brighton & Hove Albion in June.

The Dutchman, who had a year left on his contract with the Seagulls, signed what Spurs called a 'long-term' deal after they initially saw two bids rejected for the defender.

De Zerbi worked with Van Hecke during two seasons at the American Express Stadium and earmarked the Netherlands international as a key component of rebuilding at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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And Sheringham, speaking via ComeOn, believes: “Is Jan Paul van Hecke a safer option for Tottenham Hotspur at the back? Yes, because that’s where a lot of the criticism has come from, the way Tottenham leaked goals last season, and there has to be reasons for it.

“Cristian Romero has gone missing. Micky van de Ven has had his moments. Robert De Zerbi needs to do what George Graham did and start from scratch and just make sure his team aren’t conceding soft goals, and if Van Hecke can come in and stabilise that defence a bit, then I think he’ll be a fantastic signing.

“Listen, I wouldn't want to play against Cristian Romero. He might be a loose cannon, but he’s a really good player. He’s a World Cup winner, and you don’t win a World Cup being an average player.

“You’ve got to be careful what you’re doing if you’re Tottenham just getting rid of him because he’s had a bad spell. He could go somewhere else, like Barcelona or Real Madrid, and hit it off.

“I played with Roy Keane, and he got plenty of red cards in his time, and you’ve got to have your leaders and your naughty players sometimes to stamp things out, otherwise people walk all over you, but it’s got to be done in the right way.

“I hope Roberto De Zerbi can put an arm round Romero, but there’s always so much speculation about his future, isn’t there? So maybe the writing is on the wall.”

Football London

Carabao Cup second round draw IN FULL as Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham discover fate

Submitted by daniel on

The Carabao Cup draw takes place on Monday night with West Ham, Chelsea and Tottenham all involved

Hello and welcome to football.london’s live coverage of the Carabao Cup second round draw, as teams discover their opponents.

West Ham United booked their place in the stage of the competition thanks to a 3-1 home win against Championship rivals Portsmouth on Saturday afternoon. A double from Valentin Castellanos and a goal from Jarrod Bowen saw the Hammers come from behind and make it a winning start to the new season.

This stage of the competition sees the majority of Premier League clubs enter, with those not involved in European football, including Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea.

Like the first round, the draw will again be split into northern and southern sections, with the ties taking place on the week starting August 24, just a few days after the start of the Premier League season.

The draw will take place at around 7.20pm ahead of the last remaining first-round tie between Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City. Sky Sports’ David Prutton will host with Jamie Mackie and Jobi McAnuff pulling the teams out.

Stay here for all of the build-up and live coverage of the draw as it happens...

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Thank you for following

That is all from us here on football.london for the Carabao Cup round two draw.

Be sure to follow the latest Chelsea and Tottenham news, plus much more, right here ahead of the season getting underway!

Plymouth vs Exeter to come

For viewers who only tuned into coverage of the draw, it may be worth sticking around for the final Carabao Cup round one clash as it could be a cracker!

Plenty of homegrown Exeter stars will be in action and thus it could be worth keeping an eye on who stands out as they could join the likes of Ethan Ampadu, who joined the Blues, Ollie Watkins and Matt Grimes in the Premier League soon...

Standout ties of the second round

In addition to Tottenham and Chelsea's Carabao Cup second round games, there are a few other standout matches which includes West Ham United's difficult clash away at Southampton.

Nottingham Forest up against Leeds United is also a big tie with Birmingham vs Brentford likely to be a close affair.

The winner of this evening's clash will be up against Premier League opposition in Coventry City. If Exeter City advance, it will be a battle between England's top tier and their fourth division.

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Carabao Cup round two draw

Here is a look at all of the Carabao Cup round two ties from the southern section, courtesy of Sky Sports.

Tottenham taking on Championship side

Tottenham are also up against a side from the EFL, on home soil and it is also a London derby with Charlton making a short journey across the capital in a few weeks.

Chelsea facing lower league opposition

That is a good draw for Chelsea and Xabi Alonso with a home second round Carabao Cup tie against Luton Town to take place later this month.

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Final five matches

Tie 18 - Southampton vs West Ham United

Tie 19 - Watford vs Peterborough

Tie 20 - Fulham vs AFC Wimbledon

Tie 21 - Exeter City or Plymouth Argyle vs Coventry City

Tie 22 - Chelsea vs Luton Town

Tie 23 - Tottenham vs Charlton

More games confirmed

Tie 15 - Stevenage vs Reading

Tie 16 - Cambridge vs Milwall

Tie 17 - Birmingham vs Brentford

First few south ties

Tie 12 - Walsall vs Leyton Orient

Tie 13 - Ipswich vs Leicester City

Tie 14 - Cardiff City vs Norwich

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Southern section on the way

The southern section of the Carabao Cup second round draw is next!

Next batch of ties

Tie 8 - Blackpool vs Lincoln

Tie 9 - Sheffield Wednesday vs Wolves

Tie 10 - Bradford vs Burnley

Tie 11 - Fleetwood vs Shrewsbury Town

More round two fixtures

Tie 4 - Nottingham Forest vs Leeds United

Tie 5 - Doncaster Rovers vs Middlesbrough

Tie 6 - Barnsley vs Crewe

Tie 7 - Preston vs Everton

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First few ties drawn

We are underway...

Tie 1 - Stoke City vs Hull City

Tie 2 - Newcastle United vs West Brom

Tie 3 - Blackburn Rovers vs Sheffield United

Carabao Cup draw format confirmed

We are back from the adverts with David Prutton confirming the Northern section will be done first, so a bit of a wait before our teams are out

A reminder of the all-important ball numbers

The Carabao Cup round two draw is set to take place after this Sky Sports ad break and here is a reminder of the ball numbers we will be keeping a close eye on...

Chelsea No.7

Tottenham No.20

West Ham No.23

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Sky Sports programme on

Monday's Carabao Cup coverage on Sky Sports is underway with a recap of the latest action and build up to tonight's game taking place first and then to follow shortly after that (hopefully), we will have the second round draw!

Carabao Cup odds

Here are the latest Carabao Cup outright odds, courtesy of BetGoodwin:

Arsenal: 4/1

Manchester City: 6/1

Liverpool: 7/1

Manchester United: 8/1

Chelsea: 8/1

Tottenham: 11/1

Aston Villa: 16/1

Newcastle: 20/1

Everton: 25/1

Brighton: 33/1

Brentford: 33/1

Leeds: 33/1

Nottingham Forest: 33/1

Fulham: 40/1

Crystal Palace: 40/1

Bournemouth: 40/1

Sunderland: 50/1

West Ham: 66/1

Wolves: 66/1

Coventry: 66/1

Ipswich: 66/1

The last time Chelsea and Tottenham were in Carabao Cup second round

Tottenham and Chelsea have both avoided the Carabao Cup second round for the last two seasons but were both in that stage of the competition during the 2023/24 campaign.

While Spurs lost on penalties to Fulham, the Blues beat AFC Wimbledon and went on to reach the final at Wembley only to be beaten by Liverpool.

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What time does the draw start?

Sky Sports' programme of Plymouth Argyle vs Exeter City starts at 7pm on Sky Sports Football with the draw scheduled to take place 20 minutes later.

With the competition in its early stages, and split by north and south teams, it is expected to take some time before build up for the final round one clash continues.

Sky Sports Main Event also has coverage of the Carabao Cup but that does not start until 7:45pm.

Round one results in full

Here is a reminder of the results from this past weekend...

Bristol City 0–1 Walsall

Middlesbrough 1–0 Wrexham

Wolverhampton Wanderers 3–0 Port Vale

Wycombe Wanderers 1–2 Stevenage

AFC Wimbledon 1–1 Newport County (AFC Wimbledon won 5–4 on penalties)

Barnsley 1–1 Wigan Athletic (Barnsley won 6–5 on penalties)

Bradford City 2–0 Rochdale

Bristol Rovers 0–1 Peterborough United

Bromley 1–1 Reading (Reading won 5–4 on penalties)

Burnley 1–1 Notts County (Burnley won 4–3 on penalties)

Burton Albion 1–2 Blackburn Rovers

Cambridge United 2–1 Barnet

Cardiff City 3–2 Swindon Town

Cheltenham Town 1–3 Charlton Athletic

Colchester United 0–2 Southampton

Crewe Alexandra 2–1 Accrington Stanley

Derby County 1–2 Lincoln City

Fleetwood Town 1–0 Chesterfield

Gillingham 0–3 Luton Town

Grimsby Town 1–3 Blackpool

Leicester City 1–0 Northampton Town

Leyton Orient 2–0 Oxford United

Norwich City 4–1 Milton Keynes Dons

Preston North End 1–1 Huddersfield Town (Preston won 4–3 on penalties)

Queens Park Rangers 1–1 Millwall (Millwall won 2–0 on penalties)

Rotherham United 1–4 West Bromwich Albion

Salford City 1–1 Shrewsbury Town (Shrewsbury won 4–3 on penalties)

Sheffield Wednesday 1–0 Bolton Wanderers

Stockport County 1–1 Doncaster Rovers (Doncaster won 5–4 on penalties)

Stoke City 2–0 Oldham Athletic

Swansea City 0–1 Birmingham City

Watford 1–0 Crawley Town

West Ham United 3–1 Portsmouth

Mansfield Town 0–3 Sheffield United

One more tie to go

Only one team will not know their round two opponent following the draw as Exeter City and Plymouth Argyle face off in a Devon Derby this evening for the final spot.

The two local rivals are no longer in the same division following Exeter's relegation to League Two, but they did take four points off Argyle last season.

It should be an interesting cup tie and will get underway shortly after the draw.

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Issue for Chelsea and Fulham opponents

The majority of ties will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday in that week but whoever Chelsea and Fulham draw are likely to play on the Thursday due to their Premier League fixture on the Monday night.

That is also set to create a major knock-on effect, specifically for EFL sides, with their league games then expected to be moved from the Saturday to the Sunday.

There is also a full set of fixtures the following midweek with another enforced change therefore expected as their two opponents will have to play on the Wednesday or have two fixtures in the space of 48 hours.

When will the games take place?

The second round of the cup will be played on the week commencing Monday 24 August.

It means that it will be a quick turnaorund from the opening weekend of the Premier League.

Ball numbers

Here's a look at all of the ball numbers for tonight's draw:

Southern section:

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Hello and welcome

Good evening and welcome to the live blog for the second round of the Carabao Cup.

West Ham, Chelsea and Tottenham are all involved in the southern section of the draw, which will take place at around 7.20pm (although they are never usually on time!)

Stay right here for all the updates as it happens.

Follow Football London:

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Football London

Tottenham to use special relationship with European club to seal attacker move

Submitted by daniel on

Tottenham are set to send one of their young attackers out on another loan to a club that they have developed a relationship with

Tottenham are making use of their relationship with Belgian side Westerlo to send a third player there in recent years in the shape of Yang Min-hyeok.

The development of both Alfie Devine and Luka Vuskovic at the Jupiler Pro League side during the season before last, with both players since sold for a combined £56million this summer, led to a strategic partnership between the two clubs back then. Westerlo confirmed during that loan season that the hierarchy of both clubs met to "explore deeper and more extensive collaboration opportunities in the future".

The Belgian side then said that they hoped that would "be the first step toward a future exchange of ideas, players, and resources" with Spurs.

Now Tottenham are set to send a third player to Westerlo on loan with 20-year-old South Korean starlet Yang ready to embark on his fourth loan spell since arriving at the north London club two years ago. The young winger is understood to have completed his medical and will join Westerlo on loan for the coming campaign.

As Spurs have tried to acclimatise him to the English game, first came a loan move to QPR and then in the first half of the last campaign the former Gangwon starlet headed off to Portsmouth where he made 16 appearances, scoring three goals with one assist.

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Then came one of the worst loan moves Tottenham have ever handed one of their young players as the winger made the switch to high-flying Coventry and was left out of the final 15 league games of the season for Frank Lampard's title winners. Although he now has a promotion to the Premier League on his CV, Yang got just 29 minutes of football in the Championship for them across three matches.

He has got minutes here and there in pre-season under Roberto De Zerbi due to a lack of available wingers and had big chances to score against MK Dons and Sydney FC, but was unable to put away crosses from Luca Williams-Barnett and Andy Robertson.

With four years left on his contract at Spurs, Yang will now head to Belgium to follow in the footsteps of Vuskovic and Devine, who both kicked on in their careers with plenty of minutes at a club that develops technical players.

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