Daily Express

Tottenham Hotspur defender Djed Spence has accused former boss Antonio Conte of "shattering his confidence." Spence, 25, was recently called up to the England squad for the first time in his career by Thomas Tuchel.

He has enjoyed a transformative 18 months in north London, which has seen him go from a Spurs outcast to a soon-to-be full England international. If you were to ask the versatile defender if he envisaged pulling on the Three Lions shirt a few years ago, he may have shaken his head. When Conte was boss, the Italian made it clear he did not really want the ex-Nottingham Forest star, describing him as a "club signing" and even blasting Spurs fans who called for him to give the defender an opportunity.

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Conte, who is now in charge at Napoli, made it clear Spence was not his signing, saying: "Spence is an investment of the club. The club wanted to do it. The club decided to buy him."

Under Conte's management, Spence didn't start a single Premier League match before being loaned out to French side Rennes just five months later. Looking back on the Italian's damning comments, Spence suggested it helped drive him on.

He said: "I would probably say the biggest hurdle is when I signed for Tottenham and I didn't necessarily feel the love straight away, with the manager and everything. I was on such a high going into the club.

"When I went there, I was on a high, and then I almost came crashing down because of comments from the manager and not playing. I was in a difficult space then.

"I am buzzing, I am going to sign for Tottenham. So to hear comments like that wasn't nice. It does shatter your confidence a bit. But, you know, I am a fighter. So, whatever I do I will try to do my best in everything I can. Fast forward, I am here now, so I am happy.

"I wouldn't say I particularly have a list or anything, but I do have a mental note of people who doubted me, for sure, and it does feel good to prove them wrong. Obviously, at the time it wasn't nice but I feel like I don't put my energy into certain things like that. I just focus, do what I need to do. I've got a good family behind me that keeps me focused."

Spence did not play his best football while on loan at Rennes, Middlesbrough, Leeds United and Genoa, but played a big role under Ange Postecoglou. He started all but two of the final 15 Premier League matches of the campaign.

Under Thomas Frank, he has played every single available minute for Spurs, including their narrow penalty shoot-out loss to Paris Saint Germain in the Super Cup. Spence will hope to play a similarly important role in England's World Cup qualifier clashes against Andorra and Serbia.

Mathys Tel is among six players who have been left out of Tottenham's Champions League squad for the first half of the 2025/26 season. The club had to submit their 25-man squad for the league phase to UEFA by 11pm on Tuesday, September 2, ahead of Spurs' return to Europe's top competition later this month. Tottenham has faced significant issues with their European squad in the past due to differing rules from those in the Premier League.

Spurs have struggled with a lack of club-trained players and having more than the required four association-trained players and the allotted 17 non-homegrown players. This has led to previous managers having to exclude players from a European squad. The situation has worsened this season, with a total of six players being dropped by Thomas Frank for the league phase. The players to miss out are: Radu Dragusin, Kota Takai, Yves Bissouma, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Mathys Tel.

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Unfortunately, Tottenham are not in a position where they can name a full 25-man squad for the Champions League due to not having all four positions filled when it comes to club-trained players.

Brandon Austin is the only player in that category and three gaps are left open as a result, thus leaving them in a predicament where they can only name a 22-man squad rather than the usual 25.

A fresh squad list can be submitted for the knockout round with a maximum of three changes for the remaining matches in the competition. In last season's Europa League, Djed Spence was added to the Tottenham squad for the knockout phase after being left out for the first part of the competition, with manager Ange Postecoglou unfortunately having to make cuts.

In this season's Champions League, Spurs will go head-to-head with Villarreal, Bodo/Glimt, AS Monaco, FC Copenhagen, PSG, Slavia Prague, Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt.

Tottenham Hotspur could follow up their £51million deal for Xavi Simons by launching an ambitious transfer deadline day move for Manchester City winger Savinho. If Thomas Frank's side did push through their interest in the Brazilian winger, they would have the perfect shirt number for him.

The north Londoners have been heavily linked with a move for the 21-year-old, who was injured for City's 2-1 away defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion and their prior 2-0 loss at home to Tottenham. Earlier reports have claimed the winger is worried a move to Tottenham could collapse, leaving him competing with Jeremy Doku, Bernardo Silva, Oscar Bobb, Rayan Cherki and Omar Marmoush at City. Spurs were understood to be willing to launch a £65m move for the versatile winger, but with Cherki being ruled out for at least two months, a move could be difficult. If Tottenham were able to wrap up an astonishing swoop, they could provide Savinho with the ideal welcome gift.

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They could hand him the No. 26 shirt he sports at City. Had a move been secured around a fortnigtht earlier, Spurs could have given him the No. 7, a number he briefly wore while he was at PSV Eindhoven U21s. However, Simons claimed the No. 7 shirt when he was unveiled last week. Shirt numbers may not be on Savinho's mind as his hopes of moving to north London appear to be on the brink.

TBR Football claimed Savinho was interested in a move to north London, with talks over a move between the two clubs initially looking promising. It has also been claimed any potential transfer was hingeing on City signing Real Madrid winger Rodrygo, who has fallen out of favour with Xabi Alonso at the Bernabeu.

With no move between City and the La Liga heavyweights appearing to be on the horizon, Savinho may have to stay put. Last week, reports from ESPN claimed City have informed Tottenham that Savinho, who is yet to feature in the new Premier League campaign due to a pre-season injury, is not for sale.

This situation may have only been cemented by the injury of summer signing Cherki. In his post-match press conference after losing 2-1 away to Brighton, Guardiola said the Frenchman is set to miss around two months due to a torn left quadricep.

He has already been replaced by in-form Liverpool forward Hugo Ekitike in the French international squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Iceland. When asked if City's loss to the Seagulls or the injury to Cherki may force a late flurry on transfer deadline aay, Guardiola simply replied: "No."

City sit in 13th following their back-to-back losses. Tottenham, meanwhile, failed to build on their impressive showing over Guardiola's men in a limp home loss to Bournemouth.

Despite having more possession, Spurs were lucky the final score was only 1-0, as the Cherries had 20 efforts on goal and were only thwarted by an impressive showing from goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.

Tottenham are winning a bidding war with AC Milan as they look to secure their next transfer after Xavi Simons, according to reports. Earlier this week, the north Londoners confirmed they had signed the Dutchman from RB Leipzig in a deal worth around £51million. They have also been linked with a move for Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji ahead of Monday's deadline.

Akanji looks almost certain to leave the Etihad Stadium before the transfer window slams shut. He is said to be attracting interest from elsewhere with Tottenham among the clubs keen on snapping him up. Milan have also been credited with a desire to land the Swiss defender, who has not played a single minute of Premier League football this season.

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Tottenham are leading the race for Akanji, according to Sky Sports in Italy, having submitted an offer in the region of £17.3million. It is said that Milan are only willing to pay around £12.9m, meaning Spurs are in the driving seat as things stand.

It remains to be seen if the Italian giants will change their stance in order to strike a deal, with sporting director Igli Tare recently confirming his desire to bring Akanji to the San Siro.

He said: "This change in formation in the last few days has put us in a bit of trouble. In the next four or five days, we need to try to bring home an experienced player like Akanji. He can play for AC Milan, but it’s not easy."

The report adds that Akanji would prefer to stay in the Premier League, which suggests Tottenham would be his most likely destination.

Thomas Frank recently said that he wanted to build a squad capable of competing on all fronts, telling the Daily Mail: "‘I want, how can I say this, a big enough, small enough squad.

"It needs to be big enough and robust enough to compete in all four tournaments, because that’s important, but I can’t have too many players. It’s just so difficult to keep everyone happy, it’s almost impossible.

"Then we also want to see if we can add enough quality, but we don’t want to sign players we don’t think can really improve the squad. I would rather wait.

"I’m not here for the short-term fix. I want to build something to last, so we need to think longer term. Yes, we need to compete now, but that’s my thought process."

In the event Akanji joins Tottenham before the transfer window closes on Monday, he would become the club's eighth arrival of the summer.

Before welcoming Simons, they signed Mohammed Kudus, Mathys Tel, Kevin Danso, Luka Vuksovic and Kota Tatai on permanent deals. Joao Palhinha has also joined Tottenham on loan from Bayern Munich until the end of the season.

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Newcastle are eyeing another statement signing after agreeing a deal to land Stuttgart striker Nick Woltemade, according to reports. It has been a turbulent summer on Tyneside, with their transfer window dominated by the saga involving Alexander Isak. He remains desperate to join Liverpool, who still have high hopes of bringing him to Anfield ahead of Monday's deadline.

It has also been difficult for Newcastle in terms of incomings, having been rejected by a number of their preferred targets. However, their window sprung into life earlier this week as they struck a deal to land Woltemade. The Magpies are reportedly set to pay a £73million transfer fee with another £4m available in potential add-ons.

Woltemade reportedly said his goodbyes at Stuttgart before flying to England to complete the formalities on Thursday. Just as one marquee deal is set to be completed, another may be on the horizon with Newcastle said to be keen on raiding Barcelona.

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They are interested in bringing Fermin Lopez into their squad but will face stiff competition from Tottenham, according to El Chiringuito.

Newcastle are thought to be preparing a huge offer for the young forward, with club chiefs reportedly willing to pay over £86m. They would also be happy to quadruple his existing salary to sweeten the deal.

Earlier this week, it was reported by Cope that Lopez was earning around £99,000 per week at Barcelona. It means that Newcastle would be willing to pay him an astonishing salary of £396,000 per week.

Chelsea have also been linked with a move for the 22-year-old, who is a product of the La Masia academy. Earlier this year, he suggested that he was perfectly happy at Barcelona and was not interested in leaving the Catalan giants.

Speaking to the RAC1 radio station, Lopez said: "I don't plan on leaving. I'm very happy at Barca. It was my dream and I want to stay there."

The winger, who can also play as an attacking midfielder, remains tied down at Barcelona until 2029. Last season, he scored six goals and laid on another five assists in 29 league appearances.

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick is a huge fan of Lopez, saying earlier this month: "Last season was spectacular for [him]. We have a lot of quality in that position [with] Dani Olmo, too. We have to manage it well, the minutes, the players.

"I’m very happy. I wasn’t so happy [with Lopez] in pre-season but he’s improved in the last two weeks. Against Como, he showed how good he is."

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Tottenham have reportedly shortlisted Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji as a target for the final few days of the summer transfer window. Thomas Frank’s side are keen to acquire the services of a centre-back before Monday’s deadline, with a number of options being explored.

Spurs have endured a rollercoaster of a window, missing out on a host of their primary targets to rivals – including Eberechi Eze, with their deal with Crystal Palace being hijacked by Arsenal at the eleventh hour.

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But Tottenham appear to have taken a leaf out of their suitors’ books, as transfer hijacks are firmly on the agenda at Hotspur Way. Spurs acted quickly to lure Xavi Simons away from Chelsea’s grasp, with the playmaker set to pen a seven-year contract with Tottenham after a £51.8million deal was struck with RB Leipzig.

Now, Tottenham have turned their attention to bolstering their defensive ranks. According to Fabrizio Romano, Spurs have approached Premier League rivals City over a deal for Akanji, who has attracted plenty of interest in recent weeks.

Galatasaray previously approached City over a deal, with AC Milan entering the frame earlier this week as well. Both sides are willing to pay £15million to secure the signature of the former Borussia Dortmund star, but Akanji has not agreed on personal terms with either club.

Tottenham are therefore looking to pounce, and they have shortlisted the versatile defender as one of three options to explore in the final few days of the summer transfer window.

During his time at Brentford, Frank showcased his tactical flexibility by deploying a back-three in some matches, and the arrival of Akanji would also facilitate that given that the Danish boss currently does not have a plethora of options in the centre-back department.

It remains to be seen whether Spurs ramp up their interest in the City star sooner rather than later, or whether the other two names on the shortlist are viewed as more attainable targets. Tottenham also want to sign another forward, despite the imminent arrival of Simons from Leipzig.

Tottenham Hotspur have successfully hijacked Chelsea's interest in RB Leipzig attacker Xavi Simons, with just an announcement pending, according to reports. Spurs launched a pursuit this week as Chelsea waited to cash in on Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson, and have quickly wrapped up a deal for the 22-year-old.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Tottenham and Leipzig have signed all documents after agreeing on a £52million transfer fee on Thursday night. Simons has also passed his medical and signed a five-year contract until 2023, with the option to extend by two further years.

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Simons is Spurs' fifth signing of the summer and raises their spending at the start of Thomas Frank's project to £175m.

The Netherlands international follows Mohammed Kudus, Luka Vuskovic and Kota Takai in arriving on a permanent deal.

Meanwhile, Joao Palhinha has signed on a season-long loan from Bayern Munich, returning to the Premier League just one year after leaving Fulham.

Spurs have also triggered clauses to turn Kevin Danso and Mathys Tel's initial loans into permanent moves for a combined £51m.

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Frank has made a hugely encouraging start to life at the Lilywhites after replacing Ange Postecoglou earlier this summer.

Spurs cruised past newly-promoted club Burnley 3-0 at home on the opening weekend before leaving the Etihad Stadium with a 2-0 win against Manchester City.

The north London outfit host Bournemouth on Saturday before the September international break, looking to maintain their 100 per cent record.

After the victory at City, Frank expressed his confidence that Spurs would back him further in the transfer market before Monday's deadline.

"We have a strong squad that I believe a lot in," the former Brentford boss said. "We would like to add a bit, but only if it can strengthen the squad.

"We are looking to add in and hopefully succeed. I know the club is working very hard. I trust them."

Spurs had been frustrated in their search for an attacking midfielder, with Nottingham Forest blocking Morgan Gibbs-White's switch, even though his release clause was activated.

Arsenal also hijacked a deal for Eberechi Eze when it seemed imminent in a bitter sucker punch to their bitter rivals.

However, Frank has finally captured reinforcements in Simons, who should be confirmed as a Spurs player in the coming hours.

Nick Woltemade is set to undergo his medical with Newcastle this morning, reports Sky Sports.

The forward travelled from Germany to England last night after the Magpies struck an agreement worth £69million to sign the forward.

Newcastle remain in the market for another forward too, with the dominos now starting for Alexander Isak.

Tottenham are on the cusp of completing the signing of Xavi Simons, reports The Athletic.

Spurs have hijacked Chelsea’s pursuit of the playmaker, agreeing a deal worth £51.8million with RB Leipzig.

Simons has agreed on personal terms with Spurs and already completed his medical with the club, with the Netherlands international now needing to wrap up his exit talks with Leipzig before the final paperwork can be signed.

Kobbie Mainoo has demanded a loan exit from Manchester United this summer, reports The Athletic.

The midfielder wants to spend the remainder of the campaign elsewhere to ensure that he can continue playing regular first-team football.

Mainoo spoke with the higher powers at United on Thursday to explain that he does not want to leave the club permanently but feels a loan exit would accelerate his development. However, the Red Devils bosses informed their academy graduate that no such plans would be sanctioned.

Instead, Mainoo is expected to remain at Old Trafford and fight for his spot in Ruben Amorim’s starting XI.

Liverpool may have a tough decision to make in the final few days of the summer window, with a transfer domino set to give Arne Slot a big call. The Reds have splashed the cash on new signings over the past few months, prompting some players to fall down the pecking order on Merseyside.

Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz have arrived to inject further quality into Liverpool’s attacking ranks, with Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong and Giovanni Leoni providing alternative options across the backline.

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As part of Slot’s reshuffle, several top talents have left the club in recent weeks. Luis Diaz, Jarell Quansah and Darwin Nunez have departed, and another big sale is likely to come under consideration before deadline day.

RB Leipzig are keen admirers of Harvey Elliott, who faces an uncertain future at Anfield, and are expected to make a push to sign the playmaker once they have sold Xavi Simons. Elliott struggled for minutes last season under Slot, and the arrival of Wirtz is likely to see his opportunities fizzle out even further.

Although Liverpool are not actively forcing their No. 19 out, they could have a big decision to make imminently. According to Sky Sports Germany, Tottenham are now pushing to hijack Chelsea’s move for Simons, despite talks being ongoing between the Blues and Leipzig for weeks.

Spurs have tabled an offer worth approximately £60million to sign the Netherlands international, which is close to the Bundesliga outfit’s asking price for the playmaker. Chelsea are yet to make a concrete offer, and thus the pendulum appears to be swinging in the favour of Tottenham.

Simons and his entourage are currently in England to negotiate any potential deal with his suitors, and Spurs may now look to strike while the iron is hot to get a move over the line and ensure that another of their pursuits is not hijacked once again.

If completed, Leipzig will be armed with £60m to head back into the market – as well as the funds they have already raised from Benjamin Sesko’s sale to Manchester United. Ole Werner’s side are then likely to be looking to strike a deal of their own with Liverpool for Elliott – though it remains to be seen whether Slot and his team are open to his departure this late in the window.

Tottenham are hopeful they can outmanoeuvre Chelsea in the race to sign RB Leipzig forward Xavi Simons. The Bundesliga side has confirmed that they have allowed the Dutch attacker to travel to London for direct talks. Simons had been holding out for a move to Stamford Bridge after verbally agreeing personal terms with the Blues earlier this summer.

However, Chelsea have been focusing their efforts on making room with Enzo Maresca's squad which has provided Spurs with a window of opportunity. Having missed out on both Morgan Gibbs-White and Eberechi Eze - Tottenham have been working on agreeing terms with the 22 year old before consolidating their push in negotiations with Leipzig, who are demanding a £60million package.

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Spurs would be willing to reach that figure and are now racing to get a move over the line before Chelsea formalise their interest following the sale of Christopher Nkunku to AC Milan.

The Italian giants are paying an initial £30.25m plus a further £6m in bonuses for the Frenchman which is expected to accelerate the Blues' plans to bring in further attacking reinforcements.

Chelsea have also held talks for Barcelona's Fermin Lopez and remain close to agreeing a fee with Manchester United for Alejandro Garnacho after the Argentine winger snubbed multiple approaches from the Premier League, Bayern Munich and Saudi Arabia to push through his impending switch to west London.

As of last night, the world champions were still undecided on whether they would bid for Simons amid talks with Bayern Munich for wantaway striker Nicolas Jackson.

Meanwhile, Tottenham have also held initial background discussions with the representatives of West Ham attacking midfielder Lucas Paqueta, who is also on Aston Villa's radar.

Thomas Frank's side are yet to rule out making two marquee additions to their frontline before Monday's transfer deadline.

The crisis-hit Hammers would command a £60m package for the Brazilian and are unlikely to warm to the idea of selling a second star player to a direct rival in Tottenham after already cashing in on Mohammed Kudus last month.

Spurs courted Manchester City attacker Savinho but a move was blocked by the Etihad Stadium hierarchy even though the Europa League champions were prepared to put big money on the table.

A swoop for France U21 international starlet Maghnes Akliouche also looks difficult at this stage as his current employers Monaco are already in talks with Bayer Leverkusen over the possible sale of fellow forward Eliesse Ben Seghir.