TBR Football

Tottenham Hotspur are currently in a difficult situation which has been exacerbated by an ongoing injury crisis.

Spurs are out of both domestic cups and sitting in 14th in the Premier League table, just 10 points above the relegation zone.

This has ramped up the pressure on Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou, with the likes of Jamie O’Hara saying Postecoglou was now ‘out of his depth’.

Speculation involving replacements has been doing the rounds, with Simone Inzaghi reportedly named as an option for Spurs by Fabio Paratici.

Tottenham have also identified Andoni Iraola and Thomas Frank as potential candidates for the job should it be made available.

Now, ESPN journalist James Olley has tipped a manager deemed “one of the best in the league” to consider the Tottenham job if it became available.

Marco Silva tipped to be open to swapping Fulham for Tottenham

The manager in question is Marco Silva, who has been doing very well at Fulham over the past few years.

It has been reported that Silva would become a candidate for Tottenham should they decide to part ways with Postecoglou.

Olley has put Silva foward as an ‘interesting option’ for the Lilywhites and expects he’d be open to leaving Craven Cottage.

“I think Marco Silva is another interesting option,” he said on ESPN’s The Football Reporters.

“I think that he would leave Fulham. I think he was quite keen to go to Chelsea, had they made a concerted effort to appoint him in the past. So I think he’s ambitious Silva.

“I think, obviously Fulham, I’m sure, would fight tooth and nail to keep him, but I can see a scenario where Marco Silva certainly courts some interest if there’s a possibility of that.”

What Ange Postecoglou and Willian have said about Marco Silva

Silva is doing an excellent job at Fulham this season with his team sitting ninth in the table and strongly in contention for European football.

“I have got a lot of time for Marco,” Postecoglou previously said of Silva ahead of the November game between Spurs and Fulham.

“I think he’s an outstanding manager. He’s got the team really playing in a manner where they’re always looking to be a threat to oppositions.

“He’s stabilised them. Their level of performance is good now on a weekly basis. We had a couple of tough battles with them last year.”

Meanwhile, Fulham winger Willian previously hailed Silva as “one of the best in the league”.

“Marco is a guy who I have all the respect for,” said the former Arsenal and Chelsea man.

“He is an amazing person and a top manager – one of the best in the league. It is a pleasure to work with him.”

Considering the Brazilian is back at Fulham for a second spell, it’s certainly testament to how much he enjoys working with Silva.

Daniel Levy has turned a £40m investment into an empire worth billions and, while critics deride his ambitions on the pitch, he has grand plans for Tottenham behind the scenes.

Spurs’ chairman and co-owner has arguably been under more pressure than ever before this season, with Ange Postecoglou’s side 14th in the Premier League ahead of this weekend’s meeting with Man United.

But even with Tottenham’s only silverware in 2024-25 now a fiercely contested Europa League, it doesn’t look like that pressure is going to reach critical mass any time soon.

Having thick skin is a prerequisite for investing in football and particularly so in this corner of North London, where a baying fanbase has been starved of success on the pitch for almost 20 years.

If Levy and ENIC could withstand the heat that followed their attempts to join the European Super League in 2021, they won’t be stepping aside as a result of this season’s more localised protests.

While what the club’s owners did was egregious, the fact that Levy was able to get his elbows in at the European Super League table at all is testament to the 63-year-old’s business acumen.

The 11 other clubs in the breakaway league had – quite literally – hundreds of trophies between them in the decade that preceded the plot.

Spurs meanwhile were essentially there on the strength of their commercial brand, with revenue from sponsorship, merchandise and events in the last financial year reaching around £250m.

Even without a long-heralded naming rights deal, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has obviously been the transformative factor, yielding the second highest annual matchday income in the country.

The multi-function 62,850-seater arena also been something of a self-fulfilling prophecy, amplifying the Spurs brand around the world and giving them huge leverage in sponsorship negotiations.

It was, by today’s standards, incredibly cheap to build. The stadium cost around £1bn and was primarily financed by fixed rate loans around 2-3 per cent. Those rates are impossible to attain in 2025.

While it was only a fraction of the total, the £10m that the National Football League (NFL) contributed towards costs was symbolic of what Levy wanted to achieve with the stadium.

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is, of course, home to the NFL’s London Games and has helped the club forge a deep connection with the world’s most lucrative sports institution.

Spurs pocket around £10m on average each time they host the London Games, as well as brand exposure benefits that are harder to quantify but arguably just as valuable.

The universal consensus in the world of football finance is that the capital growth Levy has achieved at Spurs is astonishing, but the club’s enterprise value still pales in comparison to the average NFL franchise.

It has often been suggested that this model is something Levy wants to emulate in N17 – and news this week suggests he may even go one step further.

Daniel Levy’s Super Bowl dream could spark Tottenham takeover

Before the cement was dry at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Levy was speaking about his dream to host the Super Bowl.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, one of the most powerful people in sport, has repeatedly hinted that the Super Bowl could one day be played abroad.

This week, Goodell said that the NFL would need to have an overseas franchise before the league would sign off on its biggest fixture being played outside the United States.

However, that might be closer than many people realise.

In a report from respected industry publication Sport Business Journal, several high-ranking executives and experts suggested that Tottenham would be the natural runway for the NFL in Europe.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said he wants the event in the capital, although Wembley Stadium and Twickenham could potentially rival Spurs in this department.

The interest between the two sports is mutual too, with a group backed by the NFL almost investing over £1bn in Liga MX late last year.

Author, TV executive and NFL authority Dennis Deninger meanwhile has said he expects Spurs to launch and NFL team by 2030.

It wouldn’t come cheap, mind. The expected cost of the next NFL expansion franchise is around £3bn, but the deal could be easily financed by debt given the near-guaranteed and sizable profits the sport yields.

That in turn would transform Spurs’ enterprise value overnight. If Levy was ever to cash out entirely, then this would surely be the time.

Amanda Staveley’s connection with the NFL amid Spurs talks

In recent days, reports have suggested that private investors from Qatar are considering a phased buyout of Tottenham.

The NFL connection will have been priced into those negotiations, if indeed they amount to anything.

Spurs are looking for fresh investment, although TBR Football has always been told that a minority equity deal is more likely at this stage.

Amanda Staveley, formerly of Newcastle United, has raised around £500m through her PCP Capital Partners investment firm and has been heavily linked with Tottenham.

Incidentally, she has links with both the state of Qatar and the NFL…

As well as being a genuine fan of the sport, Staveley met with NFL executives at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium while she was taking in the London Games in October.

And the money she has raised through PCP Capital Partners is known to include investment from Qatari businesspeople.

Tottenham Hotspur have endured a difficult season, with many of the club’s top stars having spent time on the sidelines due to injury.

Micky van de Ven is one of the players Tottenham have had to do without for much of the campaign.

The Spurs defender has only been able to make 12 appearances this season for a total of 939 minutes of football.

Van de Ven has only made two outings for Tottenham since November, but on both occasions, he then found himself back on the sidelines.

Ange Postecoglou has now discussed Van de Ven’s situation and shared what he told the “frustrated” player in a bid to get his spirits back up.

Ange Postecoglou told Micky van de Ven this injury spell will soon seem ‘insignificant’ when he’s up and running

With Tottenham taking on Manchester United on Sunday, Postecoglou held his pre-match press conference on Friday.

Postecoglou was asked whether he had been speaking to people outside the club about Van de Ven’s situation.

“Yeah, we always are but we’ve had a couple of people externally have a look at him and give him some more guidance and information,” he told football.london.

“And [speak] to our staff as well about some things he can do differently which will help him as much around, not the injury, but making sure his body is better equipped to handle the kind of athlete he is.”

Postecoglou was then asked whether Van de Ven is currently frustrated, to which he said: “He was frustrated. But I had a good chat to him.

“I guess he just wanted to keep going but I said to him he’s still got a 10-year career ahead of him.

“And once he’s well into his career and flying, this period will seem insignificant, an extra two or three weeks, for the benefit hopefully of him coming back and playing to the levels [required].

“Look, he’s a big part of this football club, not just now but for the future as well. It’s in our interests, you’ve always got to protect your assets and he’s a major asset to this football club.

“His career is much more important than one or two weeks of doing some extra work.”

Tottenham team news ahead of Man United game

Tottenham are set to welcome back Guglielmo Vicario after more than two months out with a fractured foot.

The Italy goalkeeper could start against Manchester United in wake of Antonin Kinsky’s mixed start to life at Tottenham.

Left-back Destiny Udogie and playmaker James Maddison are also set to return to the Spurs squad, but they are more likely to be on the bench.

Cristian Romero, Dominic Solanke, Richarlison and Radu Dragusinare all still sidelined for Tottenham along with Van de Ven.

Tottenham Hotspur aren’t exactly in the greatest of places at the minute, with the team languishing in the lower reaches of the Premier League table and out of both domestic cups.

Although Spurs remain in contention for the Europa League, there hasn’t really been all that much to celebrate among fans in recent years.

Tottenham last won a major trophy in 2008, when they lifted the League Cup, and their second-to-last trophy – the same competition – came in 1999.

Over the years, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has often found himself the subject of criticism and protests by fans for his running of the club.

Now, a report has emerged detailing what Levy thinks of the fan protests and when he’ll aim to step aside at Tottenham.

Daniel Levy will step aside when he feels it is right for Tottenham amid ‘hurt’ from protests

According to BBC Sport, who say they’ve spoken to sources at Tottenham, the protests are “hurting” Levy, who attends almost every game. He is also hurt by how results are going.

Rather than hiding away and not attending games, he has opted to sit through the “Levy out” chants and criticism, added the report.

And with regards to his future, Levy will reportedly step aside when he feels it is right for Spurs and “every option is open” for different future ownership structures.

There is also an acceptance that Tottenham have not always spent well in the market, but at the same time, there’s a belief that recent managers have been backed financially.

In addition, sources who have worked with Levy reportedly said he does not communicate well enough and suggest the executive team are too similar, hence occasional “own goals” on policies.

What sources said about working with Daniel Levy

BBC Sport cited club insiders as saying Levy is a “shy, quiet and hard-working” individual who “loves the club” and is affected by fan criticism.

Another source said Levy has the potential to be “very ruthless” but “genuinely wishes the best for Spurs”.

It has also been said that the idea Levy does not care because he rarely shows emotion is “nonsense”.

A source said Levy is unrelenting, working “crazy” hours – which can be tough and tiring for colleagues – and always wanting more – another thing which risks grating with those who don’t like that leadership style.

However, there was also acknowledgement among sources that there have been some “own goals” at Tottenham and those are partly because Levy does not “surround himself with the best people”.

Tottenham Hotspur take on Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.

The two clubs have both had a really poor season so far. Manchester United are 13th in the table right now, while Spurs are a place and two points below them.

Ange Postecoglou is under pressure at Tottenham, and if things don’t improve in the coming months, he could face the sack.

Before the Australian was appointed, Ruben Amorim was considered by Spurs as a replacement for Antonio Conte in 2023.

The Portuguese tactician turned Tottenham down then for one key reason.

Why Ruben Amorim rejected Tottenham manager job in 2023

Conte had one of the biggest post-match rants in football history following Tottenham’s draw against Southampton in March 2023.

Everybody who heard him speak that day knew that he wouldn’t stay on as the manager, and eight days later, he left by mutual consent.

Tottenham were on the lookout for a replacement at the time, and Amorim, who was still at Sporting CP then, was viewed as a target for Spurs.

However, the now-Manchester-United head coach decided to snub Spurs and stay at Sporting – because of Daniel Levy.

A Bola in Portugal (print edition, March 29, 2023, page 04) revealed that Levy’s ‘tempestuous temper’ was the reason why Amorim did not want to become Tottenham’s manager.

Then, Levy handed the job to Cristian Stellini, but he was shown the door soon after. Ryan Mason finished the campaign as Tottenham’s manager that season.

Amorim’s Sporting finished fourth in the Portuguese league in 2022/23, but they won the title in the following campaign.

Tottenham could have an edge over Man United on Sunday

The game on Sunday is a huge one for both Tottenham and Manchester United.

A win for Spurs will see them leapfrog the Red Devils in the table, while Amorim’s side could go five points clear if they manage to get a victory.

The good thing for Spurs is that they have already beaten United on two occasions this season – once in the Premier League and once in the Carabao Cup.

To add to that, Spurs will have a few of their key players returning from injury. James Maddison, Guglielmo Vicario, Timo Werner, Destiny Udogie and Brennan Johnson are all expected to be back.

In the last 25 years, Daniel Levy has discovered that, despite the financial gulf between the two fields, running Tottenham Hotspur is far more complicated than investment banking.

The ENIC head honcho began his career in private equity, an industry where the average transaction – and there are thousands daily – is worth almost £1bn.

For context, there are only 15 football clubs worldwide who Forbes value higher than that figure. Tottenham, who Daniel Levy thinks can fetch £3.75bn, are one of six in the Premier League.

The football finance industry is split on that valuation, which would be a world-record for a football club.

The consensus is that Todd Boehly, who was once interested in buying Spurs, and Clearlake Capital overpaid when they spent £2.5bn to acquire Chelsea in May 2022.

Chelsea are a far bigger global brand and have won 14 major trophies since Spurs last touched silverware, so how is Levy, 63, justifying his £3.75bn appraisal of the North Londoner club?

Clearly, their biggest asset is the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which yields well over £100m in matchday income every year and has seen commercial income triple since they left White Hart Lane.

As well as the value in the bricks, mortar, glass and grass in N17, the world-class stadium’s gravitational pull for investors with big bank balances and even bigger egos can’t be underestimated.

“The club is in London, so they have the benefits that brings for a variety of stakeholders in the game,” Liverpool University football finance lecturer and industry insider told TBR Football last week.

“A football stadium is a very good place to do business. You have got the football as the backdrop for the deals that are taking place.”

Case in point, since news of Amanda Staveley’s ambitions to invest in Spurs emerged, the ex-Newcastle United supremo and deal broker for the Middle East’s elite, has visited the arena several times.

Most recently, Staveley was a guest of honour at NFL’s London Games, where she watched the Chicago Bears put Jacksonville Jaguars to the sword at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in October.

On that occasion, the 51-year-old met NFL chiefs who had just voted to allow private equity investment in its franchises for the first time, with those talks illustrating the stadium’s status as a high finance hub.

Now, with news that Qatari investors are interested in a phased takeover of Tottenham, could the 62,850-seater stadium in Haringey become a theatre for Gulf state business too?

Staveley has excellent contacts in Qatar and is known to have spoken to investors in the Gulf state as part of her plans to buy a minority stake in Spurs via her PCP Capital Partners firm.

Tottenham fans weary of their club over-indexing commercial income against success on the pitch might may already be seeing petrodollar signs.

And the latest news from Qatar itself will inspire more optimism in a fanbase who have witnessed Ange Postecoglou’s side plummet to 14th in the Premier League and are looking for a glimmer of hope

Qatari threaten to pull out of PSG; door opens for Spurs takeover

According to The Guardian, the Qatari investors who are interested in Spurs are private individuals as opposed to royals or operatives for a sovereign wealth fund.

However, the Venn diagram of the state and the private sector in Qatar is tight.

The government almost always having a hand in high-profile foreign investments, whether through direct ownership, financing, or strategic influence.

If Qatari investors were to acquire an equity stake in Spurs – whether a minority or majority – the state’s ownership of Paris Saint-Germain would ring alarm bells at UEFA headquarters.

Under the governing body’s conflict of interest rules, teams who share a multi-club ownership structure are barred from competing in the same European competition.

However, less than 24 hours after the news broke that Qatar investors remain interest in Spurs, they have also threatened to pull the rug out from under PSG and its other business ventures in France.

The ultimatum is a result of legal action in France against the club’s president, head of Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) and European Club Association chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi.

Speaking to one French outlet, a source close to the Qatari government said: “The Qataris are fed up with all this abuse. False prosecutions, blackmail, daily criticism, blaming others for their total incompetence, all the problems in France are their fault, every time they try to help, it is apparently for ‘soft power’. This is pure abuse and everyone has had enough,” a source close to the government even declared.”

Incidentally, this latest development also comes just a few days after separate reports in France claimed that the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani, is willing to listen to offers for PSG.

Could the stars be aligning for the oil-rich Gulf state to divest its interests in Ligue 1 and relocate to the Premier League?

Why does Qatar want to buy Tottenham and when might Daniel Levy and ENIC sell?

If you have a few billion pounds lying around, owning a European football club is far from the most efficient use of your money in terms of raw return on investment.

In terms of the capital growth on offer, it would be simpler and far more lucrative to put the money into an index fund or private equity house.

However, the appeal of owning a football club like Tottenham is as much about the rooms that it gets you into as it is about the zeroes it adds to your bank balance.

Levy, who is a close associate of Al-Khelaifi, recognises this appeal, especially to states from the Gulf looking to build their reputations and embed themselves culturally in Western economies.

It will be interesting to see, if an official Qatari bid materialises, whether Levy is given a contract to remain as chairman, as has been suggested is on the table.

As a businessman, his reputation is peerless in football. But his football expertise is lacking. Given that a Qatari bid would likely prioritise results on the pitch ahead of EBITDA, it would be a strange approach.

Tottenham Hotspur are currently in a difficult position as they find themselves out of both domestic cups as well as sitting the lower reaches of the Premier League table.

Spurs would have been hoping that the domestic cups could have serves as a distraction from their current position of 14th in the Premier League table.

However, Tottenham ended up being eliminated from the League Cup last Thursday before then going out of the FA Cup at Aston Villa.

Spurs’ poor form has led to increasing criticism of the manager, with the likes of Jamie O’Hara saying Ange Postecoglou was now ‘out of his depth’.

Mark Schwarzer has now spoken about Postecoglou, saying he believes there’s something the Tottenham “just can’t understand” at present.

Mark Schwarzer says Ange Postecoglou will be baffled by Tottenham criticism without taking injuries into account

Schwarzer believes Postecoglou will be baffled by just how much criticism the team is getting at present amid the huge injury crisis they’re currently in.

The Australia legend also says he admires Postecoglou for sticking to his guns and not changing his style of play despite increasing calls for him to do so.

“Knowing the way he thinks, to a degree, I think he just can’t understand how how the criticism is levelled at the team as much as it is based on how many injuries that they have and the type of players they have out injured.

“Like he’s said, ‘blame me and criticise me for all you like, the way we play and we’re consistently playing the same way, and people don’t agree with it but that’s that’s fine, that’s a difference of an opinion’.

“And he’s absolutely right with that, so he will live and die by the way that he wants his teams to play and that’s how it should be.

“I don’t think a manager should change based on what other people think, he should be strong enough with his own method and his own convictions and go with it and that’s it.

“And I think I admire him for that, one could say it’s stubbornness and pig-headedness and everything else, but that’s what he wants to do.

“Pep Guardiola hasn’t changed it, they haven’t changed the way they play and look at the run that they’ve been on.”

What has been said about Postecoglou future at Tottenham

With Tottenham in such poor form, speculation has increased regarding Postecoglou’s future at Tottenham.

To date, Tottenham have been keeping the faith in Postecoglou throughout the season despite the issues they’ve had.

For instance, Daniel Levy wasn’t planning to sack Postecoglou even after his side lost 2-1 to Leicester City.

Likewise, Postecoglou was not set to be sacked despite Spurs’ humiliating 4-0 defeat against Liverpool.

More recently, Fabrizio Romano reported that, should Tottenham lose to Manchester United, it still isn’t likely to prompt Postecoglou’s immediate dismissal.

“At the moment, there are still no indications of changes at Spurs,” wrote Romano.

“Of course, no one is happy with the current situation, but no indication of imminent changes. Let’s see in the next few days and after the next games.”

Mauricio Pochettino has been questioned about Tottenham Hotspur’s recent poor form and explained why he’s backing Ange Postecoglou’s squad to turn things around.

Ange Postecoglou is under pressure at Tottenham to change the team’s form with the North London club 14th in the Premier League and out of both domestic cups.

Injuries have played a big part this season and that is likely the reason why the Australian has been afforded so much time.

At this stage, Pochettino is unlikely to return to Tottenham if they were to sack Postecoglou, but the Argentine has opened up on his love for the North London club and his thoughts on the current situation.

Mauricio Pochettino backs Tottenham to improve under Ange Postecoglou

Mauricio Pochettino believes that Tottenham’s squad is good enough to turn things around and how great the supporters are in N17.

The 52-year-old also expressed what an “amazing club” Spurs is and he is confident that they will eventually overcome their recent struggles.

Pochettino told SPORTbible: “It is difficult to assess because I try not to put myself in a position (that is not my business), I cannot comment.

“But of course, you have periods that are up and down, Tottenham have a great squad and great fans – the club is amazing and for sure they will change the feeling they have now.”

Mauricio Pochettino opens up on his relationship with Tottenham

Pochettino added that he still feels a strong affinity with Tottenham supporters having spent six years as manager at the club.

That feeling appears to be reciprocated with Tottenham fans chanting Pochettino’s name at Villa Park as they were knocked out of the FA Cup.

Speaking about his relationship with Spurs fans, Pochettino added: “The love is there, after six years of working in Tottenham that relationship is going to be there. It’s something that we still feel between the fans and us.”

Even if Ange Postecoglou has been assured about his future as Tottenham Hotspur boss, the former Celtic boss would be worried about whether his time is slowly but surely running out at Spurs.

Tottenham are sticking with Postecoglou for the time being but their patience will naturally be tested if the North Londoners keep losing important games.

In any case, it would perhaps be wise if Daniel Levy and the other decision-makers at Tottenham have contingency plans in place if Ange Postecoglou’s job indeed becomes untenable after a stage.

Levy has been told to appoint Simone Inzaghi to replace the Australian at the end of the season by Fabio Paratici. But the bad news for Paratici is that Inter Milan are keen on extending Inzaghi’s contract.

Another manager who has been linked with the Tottenham job is AFC Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola.

Iraola has impressed Tottenham and perhaps the rest of the Premier League as his Cherries side are placed seventh in the Premier League.

Andoni Iraola on top of Tottenham’s manager shortlist if they sack Ange Postecoglou

Andoni Iraola, 42 is one of Europe’s most exciting young managers and since heading to Bournemouth, his high-risk brand of football has made the Vitality Stadium one of the toughest places to visit in England.

With Iraola’s contract set to expire in 2026, it is only natural that several teams are taking a very close look at his future at Bournemouth.

Tottenham are certainly one of the sides who hugely admire Andoni Iraola, with the Daily Mail reporting that the Spaniard is at the top of their managerial shortlist in case they decide to sack Ange Postecoglou.

Bournemouth feel they can keep the former Rayo Vallecano boss at the club for longer and the man himself is not expected to jump at the chance to head to Spurs if they come calling, especially this season.

Sources have told TBR Football that Bournemouth are looking to extend Iraola’s contract, who is also a name Manchester City considered bringing in if Pep Guardiola had left the Etihad Stadium in the summer of 2025.

Whether that means that Spurs potentially reaching out to him will definitively not turn the Bournemouth manager’s head around remains to be seen.

Even lifelong Tottenham supporter and former player Jamie O’Hara would like Iraola to replace Postecoglou as he would like the 59-year-old to be sacked once and for all.

Tottenham would like to hold talks with Iraola

Tottenham would like to speak to Andoni Iraola if they decide to move on from Ange Postecoglou.

Iraola has lauded Tottenham’s players previously, namely James Maddison, Destiny Udogie and Yves Bissouma and the highly-rated manager will have a clear understanding of how massive a club Spurs are.

As things stand, however, it is impossible to deny that Bournemouth’s project looks far more promising than that of Tottenham’s.

But the opportunity of managing one of the biggest clubs in England would tempt any manager.

It seems like Tottenham Hotspur’s chances of winning any game of football hinge on Micky van de Ven’s fitness — with Spurs now set to host Manchester United on Sunday.

Van de Ven was in contention to face Manchester United but during his absence, Ange Postecoglou’s side have sorely missed the Dutchman’s incredible recovery pace to bail them out at the back.

With Cristian Romero’s injury being a slow-burner as well, Tottenham have missed their two rocks at the back for much of the campaign.

As a result, Postecoglou would have been hoping that Micky van de Ven is deemed fit enough to start against Manchester United.

Spurs have been leaky at the back this season, something Manchester United could capitalise on.

Micky van de Ven to miss Tottenham vs Manchester United clash

While Tottenham demolished United 3-0 at Old Trafford in the reverse fixture, the Red Devils do not look as easy to play against as they were during Erik ten Hag earlier this season.

Under Ruben Amorim, the Red Devils have particularly stepped up their game when facing the ‘Big Six’ sides — beating Manchester City, restricting Liverpool to a draw and knocking Arsenal out of the FA Cup.

Ange Postecoglou will be aware of the threat Manchester United pose and be particularly disappointed about the fact that Van de Ven has been ruled out of the much-awaited clash, according to the Daily Mail.

Van de Ven returned to Tottenham’s matchday squad in the Europa League.

But since then, the pacey defender is yet to make an appearance for Spurs.

Van de Ven was rushed back from injury for Tottenham’s 4-3 defeat against Chelsea, as per the club’s medical staff; a decision that they must be ruing to this day. Van de Ven is arguably Tottenham’s most important player and his absence in a contest against Manchester United of all sides is a huge blow for Ange Postecoglou.

The three Tottenham players back from injury vs Man United

But three Tottenham players could return from injury against Manchester United: Guglielmo Vicario, James Maddison and Destiny Udogie.

Whether all the three players are given the nod to start remains a mystery.

But Ange Postecoglou will be relieved that he has Vicario, Maddison and Udogie to call upon now.

Ultimately, Tottenham should be looking forward to the contest regardless as it gives them the chance to bounce back from their 2-1 loss against Aston Villa in the FA Cup.