Football London

Tottenham have reportedly launched a bid to sign Real Madrid star Rodrygo with Son Heung-min set to leave the club this summer. The Loc Blancos star has repeatedly been linked with a move away from the Santiago Bernabéu, with Arsenal also among the clubs said to be monitoring his status.

The Brazil international, who looks set to leave the Spanish capital, has been linked with a number of clubs in the Premier League. Rodrygo has fallen down the pecking order under new manager Xabi Alonso.

Arsenal and Liverpool had emerged as interested parties, but they now appear to be focusing on completing other deals - leaving Tottenham free to make a potential swoop.

According to Spanish newspaper Marca, Los Blancos have received enquiries from several clubs seeking information about his price tag. Agents close to Spurs are said to have already submitted an initial proposal to Real and are now 'awaiting a response'

With Son set to join MLS side Los Angeles FC after Spurs’ pre-season clash in South Korea, Thomas Frank will be eager to find a replacement. However, their reported interest in Rodrygo is complicated by competition from Chelsea, despite the Blues already signing Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Jamie Gittens and reported interest in Xavi Simons.

The report adds that their strategy is to continue offloading players while making signings without restraint.

Marc Guiu and Nicolas Jackson are expected to depart, and Rodrygo is reputedly seen as a reinforcement who could elevate the team further following the momentum gained from their Club World Cup win over PSG.

As for Arsenal, their focus has shifted to Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze. football.london understands that Eze remains a key target before the transfer window closes, with discussions already held with the player’s camp. The Palace talisman is said to be keen on the move, and personal terms are not believed to be an issue

Currently, Spurs have Mathys Tel and Mohammed Kudus available in that position. Frank was recently asked about the dilemma he faces in that position, and his response offered insight into how he plans to utilise certain players.

"I think first and foremost, I think it’s important that we have some depth in the squad," he said in a press conference last week. "Richarlison, I see him more as a striker that can also play to the side.

"Mathys Tel is a winger but can also play as a striker. We need different skillsets. "Some of them have ball carrying skills, some of them are very good at pressing players, so that's it."

Thomas Frank has the small matter of trying to find his perfect Son Heung-min replacement in his new-look Tottenham team. The South Korean bid farewell to his Spurs teammates on Sunday after their pre-season friendly against Newcastle United ahead of his upcoming transfer to MLS side LAFC.

Son has been a major player for the Lilywhites since joining from Bayer Leverkusen 10 years ago and Tottenham have quite the task on their hands trying to find an alternative. It would appear that a new left-winger is not something they will be targeting in the transfer market, however.

football.london understands that the club are looking for a No.10 and a new senior centre-back in the transfer window to bolster Frank's squad. So who are the options on the left available to the Dane in his squad at present? football.london takes a look below.

Wilson Odobert

football.london reported on Tuesday that Frank has taken a big shine to Wilson Odobert in their short time together so far. The Frenchman started on the left in last week's 1-0 win over Arsenal and he caused Ben White some problems with his running down the wing.

Odobert showed glimpses of his quality last season but his debut campaign at Tottenham was plagued by injury. The youngster will be hoping to make a real impact this term and his place in Frank's starting XI could become clear very soon with the UEFA Super Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain eight days away.

Mathys Tel

Mathys Tel certainly gives Frank options due to his ability to play from the left flank and also as a striker. Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Arsenal game, Frank admitted that Tel "is a winger but can also play as a striker".

That is a big indication that Tel will be mainly used from the left once Frank has all his striker options available to him.

Richarlison

Whereas Frank sees Tel as a winger who can play as a striker, it is the other way around when it comes to Richarlison. Speaking at his pre-match press conference last week about his options out wide, Frank stated: "Richarlison, I see him more as a striker that can also play to the side."

Richarlison may well play second fiddle to Dominic Solanke this season but he is a very good option to bring off the bench when required. He also displayed in the Europa League final that he can have a huge impact from out wide, although we may not see too much of him there if Frank's comments are anything to go by.

Brennan Johnson

Brennan Johnson predominantly plays from the right but Mohammed Kudus' move to the club could possibly see him shift over to the other side. The 24-year-old has experience of operating from the left and he may add to that this season if he's not going to be used in his strongest position.

Mohammed Kudus

Kudus has made a real impression in his first few games for Tottenham since making the move from West Ham. He has been a major threat from the right and the hope will be that is the case when it comes to the new Premier League season.

Kudus can play from the left if required but it makes sense to keep him on the opposite side of the pitch given the impact he makes from there.

Manor Solomon

It is not clear yet what the future holds for Manor Solomon at Tottenham after a standout season on loan at Leeds United. The winger was not part of the squad for the summer tour of Asia due to injury and he will want to return ASAP to make his case to the new head coach.

All will become clear in the weeks ahead.

Yang Min-hyeok

Yang Min-hyeok is on course to head out on loan again to help his development after time on loan at QPR in the second half of last season. The South Korean can play as a left-winger but he may have to bide his time for that to be the case at Tottenham with another temporary switch in the offing.

Bryan Gil

It has just not worked out for Bryan Gil at Tottenham and you would imagine a permanent exit comes to fruition this summer. The Spaniard is currently working his way back to fitness from injury and was not part of the squad for the tour of Asia.

Brennan Johnson has settled one debate about that night in Bilbao once and for all and has admitted he wants to improve one area in his game in particular.

The 24-year-old was Tottenham's top scorer last season with 18 goals, including five in the Europa League and the most famous of them all came in the final at the Estadio de San Mamés in May.

Ask any Spurs fan and they can play it over and over in their mind whenever they close their eyes. Richarlison picks out Rodrigo Bentancur's run down the left-hand side of the Manchester United penalty area and the Uruguayan plays it back to Pape Matar Sarr.

The Senegal international takes one touch and swings the ball into the six-yard where Johnson has made a great run. The ball hits him and bounces against Luke Shaw's arm and back towards the net. The Spurs man reacts quicker than anyone else and the ball spins inside the post and over the line.

Only did the Wales international actually get the last touch? 99 of the seemingly 100 angles shown of the goal make it look like he didn't quite get to it, but there is one angle that appears to show the ball spin in a different direction as if one of the studs on Johnson's boot brushes it.

When interviewed on the pitch after the game by the club, Johnson was vague or modest when speaking about that winning goal, saying simply that it didn't matter how it went in or who scored it.

Tottenham fans will sing 'Johnson again' regardless and in doing so will think of that night and that moment, but football.london just needed to know for our own peace of mind.

So Brennan, did you actually touch the ball before it crept inside Andre Onana's left-hand post? Be honest now.

"Yeah!" he said with certainty and a laugh. So that's it settled. Case closed. It was indeed Johnson again, ole ole ole.

Even the player has to pinch himself sometimes when he thinks about that night in northern Spain when Spurs ended 17 years of hurt.

"Still if I see a video back or pictures of it, it doesn’t feel real because it was such a surreal moment at the time. It’s definitely weird to look back at it but it’s an amazing memory," said Johnson.

Then came the parade through the streets of N17 two days later with Johnson the star attraction, enjoying himself on his birthday a lot, let's say.

One particularly hilarious moment came as the team were heading off after lifting the trophy on stage in front of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Johnson grabbed the cup and kept coming back out, whipping up the crowd and swerving away from the poor security guard tasked with bringing the matchwinner back inside and ensuring the trophy wasn't damaged in the process.

Imagine your mate after a night out being particularly merry outside the local kebab shop grabbing a traffic cone and running around with it, only this was a Premier League footballer having the time of his life in front of 220,000 people and holding a priceless European trophy.

Johnson's slapstick routine went on for a good five minutes, the crowd loving it and Spurs staff looking more and more terrified the longer it went on. In the end two security guys had to haul him away as he waved back at the crowd, milking the roars of appreciation.

So what does he actually remember from a birthday that he understandably celebrated like no other? Again comes that laugh.

"I remember a lot. For me it opened my eyes to how big the club is," he said. "Obviously we know about Tottenham and you experience it from the stadium, how it is sold out every week.

"When you do these parades and you keep going further away, but no one is going anywhere. You get more and more people. It really opens your eyes to how big the fanbase is. Just enjoying it with the team, everyone being there. The energy was so high. It was a really special day. It was my birthday as well."

Johnson is in a bubbly mood and understandably so because he's in a good place now. His strength of character dragged his Tottenham season out of the depths of social media abuse that became so horrendous he limited comments and then eventually took down his Instagram account for a while.

He didn't let it beat him though. It became his fuel and propelled him on a long run of goals in consecutive games for club and country. He would end the season as the club's top scorer and cap it all off with that goal in Bilbao when he wrote his name in the history books.

"That season was like a rollercoaster to be honest. So many different emotions. It taught me so much about football," explained Johnson. "Not just on the pitch but off it. How you spend your spare time and who you spend it with. How you get on with your team, speaking to people. It takes a while to find a balance.

"I wouldn’t have last season any different than it was. I learnt a lot. I improved a lot. Won as a team, lost a lot of games as well. In terms of things that you get in football, I don’t think this season will be like last season. Ups and down, how much I learned. Really important season for my development."

He added: "Now I’m much more relaxed about how I see things. I know what I want to do and how I want to be as an individual. In terms of dealing with other things outside of football, I know who I like to spend my time with and the people around me. I just work hard and if it happens, it happens."

The Ange Postecoglou system suited Johnson like a glove and he kept profiting over and over again from his runs to the back post or the six-yard box that the Australian got his coaches to drill into him.

Now though Johnson has a new head coach in Thomas Frank so it's time to prove himself once again.

"It was a different tactic from most teams but it definitely suited me. He was the manager who brought me in and he was very much key to me scoring a lot of goals," said Johnson. "Now it’s different. It’s a new look at how we are going to play and it’s one I’m also very excited about.

"I can also be very important to the team. Of course I have good memories of the last two seasons but I'm really excited to get going now and for the season to start."

What will also help the attacker is that Frank tried to sign him from Nottingham Forest in the summer he ended up at Tottenham, so the Dane clearly rates him and knows exactly how he wants to use him.

"It’s nice to finally work with him. He was always someone who impressed me even though I never played under him," said the Wales international. "Even though we played for different teams, I think a lot of people could respect how Brentford played and how hard they were to beat. The quality they had in attacking areas.

"They had great players. A lot of that was down to him because when he took over they were a lot worse off. He took them to become an established Premier League team. It shows what kind of development he can do and we are all very excited."

One aspect of Johnson's game that has come in for criticism is the struggle he can have with beating his man down the wing. He has pace to burn and great technique but often will not open his legs and really fly at the defender.

When asked what he wants to improve, he admits that it is a side of the game he must improve on.

"I’m all about my final product. There are a lot of things I want to do. On the ball I want to be better in 1v1 dribbling situations, that is something I look back at least season and I was always trying to improve on and I think I did towards the end of the last season," he said.

"Directness. More of a forward-thinking mentality from me and of course scoring goals. I scored a lot off one touch. I’m trying to improve my left foot, (shooting) off the dribble. I always look back at how I did last season and there are a lot of positives to take forward. Now it’s about trying to get an overall better game and I’m working on it."

On Sunday in Seoul on the pre-season tour, Johnson showed his value in the Frank era with a confident low strike from the edge of the Newcastle box. As well as working with the new head coach, one of the Dane's highly-rated coaches has returned to Spurs.

Justin Cochrane was an academy coach at Tottenham for years before leaving for a job in the England youth system. He would later work in Manchester United's academy and then make the move into senior football by linking up with Frank at Brentford.

The 43-year-old is now also part of Thomas Tuchel's England set-up and when the chance came to come back to Spurs, he leapt at it.

Cochrane works with the attacking players and Johnson is relishing his training sessions and lessons.

"It’s been really good. Justin is a great coach. His drills that he does are super realistic to games. He is really good at working on finishes that people do. It feels like it is almost instinct," he explained.

"He practices getting the contact right. A lot of finishing, dribbling, movement which I think is really important. We have such good attacking options and it’s nice to learn off the people you are with and see how they like to score and taking bits from everyone. Justin has been really good so far."

Among those attacking options, Johnson has new competition this season in the shape of Mohammed Kudus, who made the £55million move from West Ham.

The Ghana international is a very different player to the Wales international. Kudus is all about beating his man in one-vs-ones but needs to improve his end product. If Frank and Cochrane can help both players improve their different weaknesses then they could become a lethal dual threat, either used in combination or as a one-two punch.

"Great player. I’ve been really impressed with him since he came in," said Johnson. "Really nice guy as well. Last season there were quite a few games where I don’t think we even had 11 first-team players.

"Getting as much quality as we can is important and it is what we need because we are in the Champions League and want to go far in all competitions. It wasn’t just a one-off thing. We want to be in the Champions League every year. We need the quality and depth in the squad. We are getting there. Hopefully we can stay fit this season and it gives us the best chance to compete in all competitions."

Kudus was meant to be part of a double signing last month along with Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White only for that £60million transfer to collapse with the England midfielder signing a new contract at the Midlands club despite wanting to leave for Spurs.

So did Johnson speak to his former team-mate and friend throughout the transfer saga that lasted a couple of weeks?

"I haven’t because I knew his phone would be all over the place. I didn’t want to put more pressure on to him or anything," he said. "Morgan is a great guy. We got on really well and I wish him all the best."

There is about to be one big transfer out of Tottenham and that is the club captain Son Heung-min, who will join Major League Soccer outfit LAFC after 10 years in north London.

Johnson is a good friend of the skipper and when he scored that goal against Newcastle in Seoul, knowing it was Son's final game, he used the South Korean's trademark goal celebration.

It's not the first time Johnson has used something of the 33-year-old's. In the final game of last season against Brighton, he was spotted wearing a pair of Son's boots which bore the Spurs legend's name on the side, only he had scribbled 'John' above the 'Son' to make them his own. The Wales international explained how that all came about.

"I remember when he first showed me the picture that he was getting his own shoe and this was last year, a long time before they came out and I said to him ‘can I have some? He said that he would sort me out," he remembered.

"Then they came out in April or May. I went into training one day and the boots were there. Me and him. I love Sonny. He is a great guy, great personality. I really liked the shoes. They were cool, he is my friend. So I just wore them.

"I knew that he created them. It was his design. It was white red and blue. It matched the kit really well. I said I would wear them one time and then I did in the last game."

On writing his name on them, he added: "It was his idea. I said about doing it and he said you should try it. I probably won't wear them again. If he gets a new boot in the future I will."

Now Son is on his way to the USA, his legacy is there for all to see at Tottenham, having won a Premier League Golden Boot, a Puskas Award and led the team to that Europa League trophy as captain. For Johnson, he represented the opportunity to not only make a new friend but also learn so much.

"I learned loads of things. How he is as a person. How professional he is. Also so much on the pitch. He is a great player so it is impossible to learn everything he does. He does it at such a high level," he said.

"His career speaks for itself. How amazing a player he is. Just little things that I can do. He speaks to me a lot. He likes to tell me bits of advice on how I can become better and little things to help me.

"I’m a right-footed player who played on the right a lot last season. You know he is both-footed. He helped me with little techniques on how to improve my left foot and be better at that.

"He is an amazing character and personality. A world-class player. I don’t think there would be anybody who would say that they wouldn’t want to play with him because of how much of an amazing player and personality he is."

Johan Lange may know exactly where to go to give Thomas Frank what he needs to complete his Tottenham Hotspur squad for the 2025/26 season.

Spurs' transfer business has been moderate this summer, in comparison to some of their Premier League rivals, with four signings made so far.

One of those - Mathys Tel - was already at the club following a half-season loan last year, a deal that was turned permanent this summer.

Kota Takai, Mohammed Kudus and Joao Palhinha - on loan from Bayern Munich - have joined him at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

But there are two more signings - at least - that Frank wants to make, football.london understands.

football.london understands that Tottenham are confident they will have the funds to carry out their transfer plans this summer, with Frank prioritising both a central attacking playmaker - as evidenced by the approach and subsequent failure to sign Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest - and another centre-back with a good level of experience to bolster the Dane's options in the backline.

The move to sign a centre-back may come as a surprise, given the number of players Spurs have in that position already.

Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven are the undoubted first choice duo, while Kevin Danso, Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies make up other senior options. Takai's move adds to that total, while Luka Vuskovic is also on the books, although football.london understands Tottenham are open to letting the Croatian leave on loan this summer.

However, injuries to Romero and van de Ven last season left Ange Postecoglou very light in that department, with Archie Gray often having to fill in. That aligned with Dragusin, who is on his way back from a cruciate ligament injury and it may some time before the Romanian gets back to full fitness and sharpness when he is able to return to full training.

With Spurs looking for a No.10 and a new centre-back, they could complete a double swoop at one club in particular, to sign two players they have been linked heavily with in the past, although it will cost them.

That club is Crystal Palace.

Marc Guehi has long been linked with a move to north London, with Spurs long-term admirers of the England international. Spurs even made an offer to sign the 25-year-old during the January transfer window, but that was knocked back by the Eagles.

Eze is another for whom Spurs are admirers, although football.london reported early last month that it was highly unlikely the Lilywhites would make a move to sign him this summer. However, that was likely down to the plan to sign Gibbs-White.

Arsenal have been heavily linked with a move to sign Eze as their final transfer this summer, but they may wait until they get some players out of the door before they can complete a deal.

Spurs could swoop and sign Guehi at the same time in a move that would likely cost £117.5million with the defender valued at £50million and Eze having a £67.5million release clause before the Premier League season begins.

Palace would be loathe to lose two of their biggest stars in the same window, but Tottenham could sweeten the deal by offering Vuskovic to the Eagles on loan to get some much-needed game time.

Guehi and Eze would undoubtedly be excellent signings for Tottenham and would fill two priority positions for Frank as he looks to shape the his new squad in his image.

Jamie Donley is set to join Championship side Stoke City on a season-long loan deal, football.london understands. The Tottenham youngster will make the step up to the Championship after excelling for Leyton Orient in League One last season.

During his time across the capital, the 20-year-old contributed eight goals and 11 assists in his 52 games for Orient. Donley, as well as former Tottenham goalkeeper Josh Keeley, played an integral role in Richie Wellens' side climbing up the league table and into the play-offs come the end of the term.

Their season was to end in heartbreak, though, as Leyton Orient missed out on a place in the Championship following a 1-0 defeat against Charlton Athletic in the League One play-off final. Having returned to Hotspur Way this summer and featured in pre-season friendlies for Thomas Frank, Tottenham have elected to allow Donley to head out on loan again to aid his development.

The Northern Ireland international will now be playing his football for Stoke in the 2025/26 season, joining fellow Tottenham player Ashley Phillips at the bet365 Stadium for the campaign. The youngster's switch to Stoke will give him the opportunity to build up his experience at a higher level in his hope of becoming a Tottenham regular in the not too distant future.

The Potters, who finished 18th in the Championship table in the 2024/25 campaign, are targeting a big year under manager Mark Robins. Stoke have so far added players such as Phillips, Aaron Cresswell and Divin Mubama to their squad, with the acquisition of Donley set to give them a big boost in the final third.

Donley's Stoke City debut could potentially come this weekend when his new club host Derby County in a 3pm kick-off on Saturday. The player's loan move comes after fellow Tottenham starlet Will Lankshear made the move to Championship club Oxford United on a season-long loan deal on Tuesday morning.

Tyrese Hall will also be playing his football away from Spurs this season after joining League Two side Notts County on loan. football.london understands that Luka Vuskovic, George Abbott, Yang Min-hyeok, Alfie Devine and Dane Scarlett have all been made available for loan.

Joao Palhinha has been handed his dream Tottenham shirt number following his loan move to the club. The Portugal international joined Spurs on a season-long loan deal from Bayern Munich on Sunday evening after limited first-team football in his debut campaign in Bavaria.

At the time of the transfer announcement, Tottenham did not confirm a shirt number for their new signing for the 2025/26 season. That has now become clear with the experienced player becoming Tottenham's new No.6 ahead of his potential debut for the club in Thursday's pre-season friendly against parent club Bayern Munich.

The 30-year-old is a big fan of having the No.6 on his back if his shirt number history is anything to go by. Wearing No.66 for Sporting CP after breaking into the team, he then took on the No.60 shirt in his two years on loan at SC Braga before returning to Sporting and inheriting the No.6 jersey.

Palhinha then wore No.26 for Fulham and No.16 for Bayern Munich, with the player regularly sporting No.6 on international duty for Portugal.

“I try to choose always a number with a six – sometimes it’s not available but since I started my career, it was a number that I’ve had with me because of my family,” he told Tottenham's official website.

“It means a lot for me because of my grandfather… it’s the day that he left our family and since my grandfather died, if I have a look, a lot of important things in my life have happened on this day, with the number six. I can remember my first goal... everything that has been important in my career – not just the career, but in other things as well – most of the days have the number six.

“I’m a bit superstitious and I believe always that this number has an important meaning for me and my family and this is why I want to keep, if possible, the number with me on the shirt.”

The No.6 shirt at Tottenham became available after Radu Dragusin elected to change his number for the new campaign. The Romanian will now wear No.3 for Tottenham, the same number he wears for the Romania national team.

The centre-back has replaced Sergio Reguilon as the club's No.3 after the Spaniard departed Tottenham at the end of June following the conclusion of his contract in north London. Speaking to Tottenham's official website about his new shirt number, Dragusin said: "I feel like this number represents me.

"I have been wearing it in the national team since three years ago and I just feel it really represents who I am – someone who is always ready to give everything for the team. Now, I’m really proud to wear it in north London."

Tottenham youngster Will Lankshear has joined Championship side Oxford United on a season-long loan deal. The Spurs striker's latest move follows on from his loan spell with West Brom in the second half of the 2024/25 campaign.

Lankshear's time at The Hawthorns didn't exactly go to plan as his first-team action was limited and he failed to score in his 11 appearances for the Baggies. However, the hope will be that he can kick on at Oxford United in his quest to become a Tottenham first-team regular in the future.

The 20-year-old was on the scoresheet for Spurs in their first pre-season friendly of the summer against Reading as he netted a close-range header in a 2-0 win. Lankshear is the second Tottenham player to have made a loan switch to Oxford in the space of 12 months after Dane Scarlett joined the U's on a season-long loan deal last August.

The Tottenham academy graduate scored four goals in 22 appearances but he returned to N17 at the turn of the year with his first-team opportunities limited at the Kassam Stadium. Lankshear could potentially make his Oxford debut on Saturday when his new club host Portsmouth in their opening game of the Championship season.

"This is a really exciting opportunity for me to be joining a great club," Lankshear told Oxford United's official website upon his move. "I learned so much last season in the first team at Tottenham and West Brom and I’m ready to now kick on with Oxford United.

"I've had some really good conversations with the manager, and I feel like this is the right place for me to be.

"I love nothing more than scoring goals. I want to do my best to bring as many as I can this season.

"My game is about more than just goals though. I'm a player that has taken all the information from the top professionals I've worked with and I'm now ready to bring it together, work hard for the team and deliver for the club."

Tottenham are looking for a number 10 and a new senior centre-back in the transfer window to help bolster Thomas Frank's squad, football.london understands.

Spurs have signed winger Mohammed Kudus and anchorman Joao Palhinha so far this window from West Ham and Bayern Munich respectively, the latter on loan with an option to buy. They also brought in 20-year-old Japanese centre-back Koto Takai from Kawasaki Frontale.

Tottenham's need for another advanced playmaker was clear before James Maddison's knee injury on Sunday in Seoul, which is in the same knee that caused him to miss three months of action this year. Frank said afterwards that the initial thoughts were that this was a bad injury.

Spurs had previously attempted to sign Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest only for that to fall through and the 25-year-old sign a new contract with the Midlands side despite being keen on the move to north London.

football.london understands that Tottenham are confident they will have the funds to carry out their transfer plans this summer, with Frank prioritising both that central attacking playmaker and another centre-back with a good level of experience to bolster the Dane's options in the backline.

Of course with any transfer window, other unexpected opportunities can arise but the main reason for the centre-back need is that Spurs' first choice centre-backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven have both missed key spells through injury in the past two campaigns. Last season, with the north London club having 60 games to play, Romero was only available to play in 26 of them and Van de Ven just 22.

There is also Radu Dragusin, who is on his way back from a cruciate ligament injury and it may some time before the Romanian gets back to full fitness and sharpness when he is able to return to full training.

That leaves Frank with Kevin Danso as the only other senior centre-back, while left-back Ben Davies can also play in the position and the new head coach will fear facing a similar season to his predecessor Ange Postecoglou in needing to play teenage midfielder Archie Gray in an unfamiliar role as a centre-back for long periods.

There is Takai and also 18-year-old Croatian defender Luka Vuskovic. football.london reported this week that after Frank had assessed his squad in recent weeks, Vuskovic was among of group of young players made available for loan by Spurs, which includes Jamie Donley, Will Lankshear, George Abbott, Yang Min-hyeok, Tyrese Hall, Alfie Devine and Dane Scarlett, to get them regular minutes to hasten their development.

With Vuskovic, a long line of clubs have been interested in loaning him, but with some looking for an option to buy which Spurs flat out refused. That has left five clubs circling the Croatian for a straight loan, including Hamburg who have a long-standing interest in the teenage centre-back.

Takai, who is currently out with plantar fascia, remains part of the first team squad and his situation will be assessed later in the window.

Frank has a history of coaching young players, including his time spent managing the Danish FA's international youth sides and he knows when youngsters are ready or not, having helped develop, among others, former Spurs stars Christian Eriksen and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg as well as Christian Norgaard.

The Tottenham boss is believed to have been keen to bring Norgaard to Spurs this summer after their years together at Brentford as well, but the player had his mind set on a move to Arsenal.

Spurs were keen on reuniting Frank with another Brentford star in Bryan Mbeumo, who was focused on a transfer to Manchester United, while Yoane Wissa remains of interest but Frank is currently happy with Dominic Solanke and Richarlison as his options.

Any key exits in the coming weeks could be replaced although if Richarlison were to depart then it's doubtful Brentford would let yet another key member of their club leave like Wissa after Norgaard and Mbeumo exited on top of Frank and various members of the backroom staff.

Frank also appears to have taken a big shine to Wilson Odobert while working with him in recent weeks and the young Frenchman could be given the chance to try to begin to fill Son Heung-min's considerable boots alongside Mathys Tel while Brennan Johnson can also play on the left, as can Richarlison and Kudus.

While out in Seoul during Spurs' pre-season trip, the new Tottenham head coach told football.london that he is currently not looking for another full-back. He also indicated that Ben Davies will have an important leadership role to play in his squad in the wake of Son's departure to LAFC.

"Yeah, I think so [we have enough full-backs] because right now we have Ben and Spence. I thought [Djed] was very good against Arsenal and did very well against Saka, and I think Ben is a very important player," he said.

"I think his leadership qualities, his character and the way he understands the bigger picture. Everyone has got an ego, but his ego is not too big and that's good. So you understand how much you need to help the team and the younger players.

"He understands when it's for the better for the club, you know, all the actions. So as a player that can speak up and push a bit inside [the team] and they like him, he's a good guy. It makes sense what he says, and he does it in a good way. That's just respect, respect, respect for all players.

"Some win respect by being the top player and Ben is still, by the way, a very good player. So when you do the other things [as well], if you think you win more respect."

Davies has never been part of the club's leadership group before in his 11 years at the club but Frank admitted: "It's definitely something I'm thinking about, yeah, I will say it that way."

Frank also indicated that he expects the club to keep Rodrigo Bentancur with a new contract as he is now in the final 11 months of his deal at Spurs.

"I was pretty sure he would be a key player [before I started working with him], so that's not been a surprise. That's a player, of course I think is important for the future," he said.

An important aspect of the transfer window for Frank is to get the processes involved down to a streamlined state with technical director Johan Lange and head of scouting Rob Mackenzie like he had it at Brentford, albeit after years at the helm.

"Obviously we are signing players here where the processes in Brentford, I'm not saying they were better, I think they're very good," said the head coach. "I think that Johan and his team is doing a top job, top, but just for them to understand what I'm looking for, so that needs to be aligned.

"At Brentford it was aligned (clicks fingers). 'I want that', 'OK, fine', we look at it, boom, and now I need to use more time with Johan and Rob and these guys and then we make presentations. 'No, no, no, I need that instead', so all that is just extra hours every day."

The Dane believes the key is to get his team to a point where the players are delivering his football instinctively to the highest possible level and that means getting players, current or new, to take it there.

"We try to recruit the right players, try to get to know the team, try to get all the principles in," he said, "As an example, I was very, very happy with the first half against Arsenal [in Hong Kong], because I think there was a lot of the elements that I want to get into a team and it looked okay in sync, without being completely free floating, but a lot of the principles, so that's a lot of hard work.

"Then as we go through the transfer window, that's why we need the next step with players that maybe need to beat them."

So how close is the current Tottenham squad to what Frank wants it to be in this transfer window?

"I think that's difficult. I think that there's no doubt that I want, how can I say this, a big enough, small enough squad! You know what I mean?" he told football.london. "It needs to be big enough and robust enough to compete in all four tournaments because that's extremely important, but I can't have too many players.

"It's just so difficult to keep everyone happy, it is almost impossible, and then we also want to see if we can add in enough quality, but again, we don't want to sign players we don't think can really improve the squad.

"Then I would rather wait to have the right talented players. I'm not here for the short term fix. I want to build something that can last, so we need to think longer term, but of course we need to compete now. That's my thought process."

The games keep coming thick and fast for Tottenham following the completion of their Asia tour. Thomas Frank's side returned to the capital having beaten Arsenal 1-0 in Hong Kong and played out a 1-1 draw with Newcastle United in South Korea.

Spurs will barely spend any time back at their Hotspur Way base as they will be jetting off to Germany for a pre-season friendly against Bayern Munich on Thursday. The showdown with the Bundesliga champions comes after playing two games against them last summer.

It will certainly be another good test for the club as they prepare for next Wednesday's UEFA Super Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain in Udine, Italy. The game at the Allianz Arena could potentially see Joao Palhinha make his Tottenham debut after completing his season-long loan move to the club from Bayern late on Sunday evening.

If that indeed proves to be the case, the Portugal international's first game for Spurs would be against his parent club. As well as making a decision over Palhinha, Spurs boss Frank will also have a call to make over the No.10 position after James Maddison suffered a knee injury in the Newcastle game

Randal Kolo Muani has rejected transfer interest from Tottenham in favour of a summer return to Juventus, it has been claimed. The Paris Saint-Germain forward spent the second half of last season on loan at the Serie A side, scoring 10 goals in 22 appearances across all competitions.

After Son Heung-min confirmed he would be leaving Spurs on Saturday, Kolo Muani had emerged as a possible replacement having impressed for Juve. According to The Times, Thomas Frank's side were interested in the PSG man, who has three years left on his contract at the Parc des Princes.

However, Kolo Muani has now reportedly decided that his preference is a move back to Juventus. According to Tuttosport, the 26-year-old has turned down advances from Tottenham and Manchester United as he tries to complete a move to Juve before the end of the summer transfer window.

Kolo Muani has fallen down the pecking order at PSG and Juve have proposed a loan deal worth up to £13million with an option to buy the forward at £26m. Spurs and United are understood to have been mentioned to hurry a deal along at Juve, likely by his representatives.

A player that can be used anywhere across the front line, Kolo Muani would have added more strength and power to Tottenham's attacking options ahead of the new Premier League season. Son's departure has stressed the need for Spurs to dip into the forward market now.

"Before we start, I just want to share the information that I have decided to leave this club this summer," Son said as he announced his decision to quit Tottenham in a press conference. "Respectfully, this club is helping me to make my decision. I just want to share this before we start."

"It was the most difficult decision I have made in my career," he continued. "I have spent 10 years at Tottenham. The main reason is I have achieved everything I can at Tottenham. I need a new environment for a fresh challenge. I’m grateful the club have respected my decision and wish Spurs well for the next season."

Son started and captained Tottenham in a 1-1 pre-season draw against Newcastle United on Sunday. He is now expected to complete a £15m move to MLS side LAFC in due course.

Tottenham, meanwhile, have made just one marquee attacking signing in the form of Mohammed Kudus - a £55m recruit from West Ham - this summer, but more are anticipated to follow.

Tyler Dibling, Rodrygo and Ademola Lookman are among the wide players that have been linked with a move to north London, as Spurs attempt to strengthen in that position.