TBR Football

Both Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea were very busy towards the tail end of the transfer window, even if it was for different reasons.

Tottenham were determined to improve Ange Postecoglou’s squad and Chelsea were attempting to trim down Enzo Maresca’s at Stamford Bridge.

Of course, the London rivals were also embroiled in some negotiations over centre-back Axel Disasi who eventually moved to Aston Villa on loan instead.

Tottenham wanted Disasi even after recruiting Kevin Danso given that Radu Dragusin has just suffered a season-ending injury.

Spurs tried hard to sign Disasi, but were ultimately unsuccessful.

And whilst Chelsea were relatively quiet on deadline day in terms of incomings, they did try to snatch one deal away from Tottenham at the last minute according to reports in France.

Chelsea made a late attempt to steal Mathys Tel from Tottenham

According to L’Equipe, Chelsea actually made a late play to sign Mathys Tel before he arrived in N17 to sign for Tottenham on loan until the end of the season.

Tottenham signed Tel with an option to buy, an exciting youngster who Bayern Munich didn’t expect to lose at the beginning of the window.

But according to the report, Chelsea tried to hijack Tel’s loan move to Spurs when he was waiting at the airport to fly to London.

Unfortunately for Maresca’s side, it was too late and Tel had already chosen a move to north London.

Of course, Spurs’ rivals Arsenal were also interested in a move for Tel in the final days of the window.

But ultimately Arsenal decided not to pursue Tel, a club who have gambled on the fitness of Kai Havertz for the rest of the season.

Tel could make his Tottenham debut at Anfield

Given Tel has arrived at Tottenham, it will now be interesting to see if he immediately starts against Liverpool in the club’s crucial second-leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final.

Postecoglou might replace Richarlison with Tel, aware that scoring one or two goals might be crucial to progressing in the tie.

Spurs take a 1-0 lead to Anfield but Liverpool have scored in every single home game this season barring their defeat to Nottingham Forest in September, which went down as a bit of an anomaly.

Of course, Kevin Danso could also come into the eleven, perhaps at the expense of Archie Gray.

Postecoglou may even decide to deploy a back three – given that he does now have the luxury of some choice.

Tottenham Hotspur take on Liverpool in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on Thursday.

The game at Anfield is arguably Spurs’ biggest fixture of the season now. Their Premier League form hasn’t been great, while there’s still a long way to go in both, the Europa League and the FA Cup.

A win against the Reds will send them through to the final, and Tottenham have a big advantage thanks to their 1-0 lead in the first leg.

However, Liverpool are still the favourites to go through in many people’s eyes, and Mohamed Salah will be the Reds’ main man against Spurs on Thursday.

Djed Spence is finally showing Tottenham fans why he was brought to the club.

The Englishman has been on Spurs’ books since 2022, but he had played just 43 minutes of senior football for Spurs before the start of this campaign.

Even Ange Postecoglou wanted to sell Spence last summer, but no move materialised for the 24-year-old back in August.

Spence didn’t get many opportunities in the first few months of the season, but after Destiny Udogie and Ben Davies’ injuries, Postecoglou gave him a chance.

The full-back has been absolutely amazing for Tottenham. He has been playing at left-back, which is not his natural position, but his performances there have been fantastic.

On Thursday, Spence is expected to come up against Salah, and the Tottenham star is not backing down.

“I back myself against anyone, whoever,” Spence told The Mirror.

“He’s a great player, a top player. He’s in good form but you’ve just got to nullify what he’s good at really. He’s good at a lot of things, I just gotta stay focused on it and hopefully come out on top.

“We’ve got to be confident and we’ve got to be ready to fight and hopefully, we make it to the final.”

Spence’s stats vs Liverpool in the first leg

Spence and Salah came up against each other in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final in January at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Spurs defender did a decent job in that game as well, and the stats prove it.

In his 90 minutes, Spence had 78 touches of the ball and completed 36 of his 43 attempted passes, thus maintaining a healthy 84 per cent passing accuracy.

He also won eight of his 12 duels, made two tackles, an interception and six clearances against the Reds.

More importantly, throughout the game, Spence wasn’t dribbled past a single time despite coming up against arguably the best right winger on the planet, Salah (Sofascore).

Tottenham fans will be hoping there will be a repeat of that at Anfield on Thursday night.

Tottenham Hotspur had a pretty eventful January transfer window as they made three new first-team signings.

Spurs were quick out of the starting blocks with the signing of Antonin Kinsky before Tottenham then landed Kevin Danso on loan late on in the window.

Tottenham then delivered the big story of transfer deadline day as Mathys Tel joined Spurs on loan amid interest from the likes of Manchester United.

Spurs are currently struggling in the lower reaches of the Premier League table, so Ange Postecoglou will hope his new signings hit the ground running.

However, Paul Merson has now suggested that Tottenham have made a transfer mistake as he criticised three Spurs players.

Paul Merson says Tottenham should have signed midfielder instead of forward

Merson has claimed that Tottenham fans will not be happy with Mathys Tel after he joined in wake of reports saying he didn’t want to move to Spurs.

The pundit also said he thinks Tottenham didn’t need a new forward, instead claiming a new midfielder would’ve been a better shout.

Merson also claimed Yves Bissouma has not been living up to his potential and said Son Heung-min is no longer hitting the heights of a few years ago.

“The Spurs fans won’t be happy with Mathys Tel,” Merson wrote on Sky Sports.

“As soon as they heard that he didn’t want to join and those three other clubs then didn’t come in for him and then he ends up at Tottenham, the fans won’t be happy with that.

“That’s if Heung-Min Son can get back to his best – I don’t think he’s hit the heights of a few years ago.

“Dejan Kulusevski, I think he gets into every Premier League team in the country at the moment.

“Then you have Dominic Solanke, who is injured.

“But Tottenham don’t have the money to bring people in for £100,000-a-week for six months and then when everyone is back, they don’t play.

“I think they needed a midfield player. I think they don’t dominate that area.

“Pape Sarr is a young lad, Yves Bissouma is not fielding his potential that we thought when he came over from Brighton.

“They get overrun in midfield, that’s why they’re defensively all over the place – there’s never a midfield there.

“The forwards look after themselves but I think they need a top midfielder who can dominate a football match.”

Alasdair Gold’s Yves Bissouma transfer prediction

In December, Alasdair Gold speculated that Bissouma could find himself on Tottenham’s list of players they look to move on next summer.

Gold wrote on football.london in wake of Tottenham’s 4-3 loss to Chelsea, in which the £30million man gave away a late penalty to hand the momentum to the Blues.

‘The problem is that Bissouma is 28 and he should be one of the inspiring leaders of this group,’ wrote Gold.

‘In truth, he’s just not and were it not for Rodrigo Bentancur’s suspension, he would be more likely playing in the Europa League matches than in the Premier League.

‘The midfielder has got all the talent in the world and the ability to dominate matches, but his game is too inconsistent as are his decisions on and seemingly off the pitch.

‘Tottenham have Archie Gray who could eventually be a long-term option in the role and Postecoglou has (also) been using Lucas Bergvall in the position.

‘There is also the option to sign Real Betis’ 23-year-old defensive midfielder Johnny Cardoso next summer.

‘At this stage, Tottenham would likely accept a decent bid for Bissouma next summer.

‘The problem is whether he would want to leave, for any move would likely be a step down and he will only have a year left on his deal next summer, putting him in the position of power.’

Tottenham Hotspur were one of the most active clubs in the world on transfer deadline day.

The North Londoners went into the market in need of reinforcements in multiple areas. Ange Postecoglou wanted to sign a new goalkeeper, a couple of defenders and a forward.

Apart from the signing of Antonin Kinsky, nothing happened in the first 32 days of the window, but Spurs managed to bring in two new players in the final two days.

However, Tottenham did miss out on the signing of one player despite making a bid for him.

Jamie O’Hara reacts to Tottenham’s transfers and Marc Guehi bid

Tottenham ended the winter transfer window with three new signings.

Kinsky was the first one and he was brought in to cover for Guglielmo Vicario. The 21-year-old has impressed since joining Spurs.

Kevin Danso was the second one who arrived, and his addition is key for Tottenham after Radu Dragusin’s ACL injury was confirmed.

Mathys Tel was the last and most exciting one of them all, and Spurs fans can’t wait to see him in action in the coming days.

On transfer deadline day, news emerged that Tottenham had bid for Marc Guehi of Crystal Palace. That was rejected, but Jamie O’Hara is struggling to believe that an offer was even made.

Speaking about Spurs’ transfers on talkSPORT, O’Hara said: “Here’s my take on the transfers. Mathys Tel could be a good player, we don’t know, he was backup at Bayern Munich.

“We signed Danso, who we hijacked from Wolves because Dragusin has got injured until the end of the season, he’s out, so we needed a centre-half. Do I know anything about him? No. I’d be lying If I knew anything about him. Is he a top player? We don’t know. Again, you’re buying potential to be a good player.

“Apparently, they made a bid for Guehi, that’s a load of rubbish. I guarantee that never even happened.

“To say he (Daniel Levy) has been really active in the last few days of the transfer window – well, what about for the last 28 days when Spurs have sat there in an injury crisis and he ain’t sign no one. And we’ve just watched the team go further and further down in the table.

“I think we’re covering up the cracks a little bit the Mathy Tel signing. We don’t even know if he’ll be a success.”

The big mistake Tottenham made in Marc Guehi pursuit

Guehi has been a phenomenal defender in the Premier League for Crystal Palace over the last few years.

The Englishman has made a great name for himself on the international stage as well, and he is surely destined to move to a bigger club soon.

Tottenham were right to try, he would’ve been a great addition. But, Spurs waited until the final days of the window before launching a bid for Guehi. Palace were never going to let him go that late.

If Daniel Levy had taken more of an initiative and gone all out for Guehi in the first week of the window, there is a chance the Eagles would’ve agreed to let him go for the right price because he has less than 18 months left on his contract.

Tottenham finally got the new attacking reinforcement they were looking for on deadline day as they signed Mathys Tel from Bayern Munich on loan.

Tottenham had been in the market for attacking talents throughout the winter transfer window.

Indeed, Spurs wanted to sign Randal Kolo Muani at one point in January, while Spurs were also linked with Jonathan David last month too.

Tyler Dibling was also linked with Spurs, but that deal didn’t come to fruition.

Tottenham didn’t sign Dibling in January, but they could still go for the £55m man in the summer according to Dean Jones, speaking on Market Madness.

Tottenham not giving up on Tyler Dibling

According to Jones, Tottenham aren’t giving up on signing Tyler Dibling from Southampton.

However, Jones says that other clubs will look at signing the £55m man in the summer as well as Spurs.

“Southampton, their fate is pretty determined at this point. I think it’s interesting that they’ve held off on Tyler Dibling for now. There was definitely interest in him from Tottenham that they have managed to steer away for now I’d say,” Jones said.

“Largely because of the fact they wanted a big fee for him, but Tottenham, I don’t think they will give up on trying to get Dibling, but other clubs will certainly look at him too.”

Tottenham signings from relegated clubs

As the journalist says, Southampton’s fate appears to be all-but sealed and a return to the Championship appears to be all but confirmed.

However, just because a player has dropped down to the Championship doesn’t mean that they can’t be a useful signing for a top club.

Indeed, Tottenham know only too well how valuable it can be to scour the market of recently relegated players from the Premier League.

Tottenham aren’t afraid to sign players from relegated Premier League teams, and, sometimes, those players can prove to be incredible signings too.

Dibling looks like he’s the real deal, and he could well be the next James Maddison-type signing Spurs make from a recently-relegated Premier League side.

Ange Postecoglou still has problems in the centre of defence at Tottenham.

Despite Spurs signing Kevin Danso from RC Lens, a lack of depth in the centre-back department remains after Radu Dragusin was ruled out for the rest of the campaign with a knee injury.

Cristian Romero is also yet to return – while there are fresh concerns over Micky van de Ven.

Tottenham did try to sign Axel Disasi on loan from Chelsea – only for the France international to end up at Aston Villa – while Spurs also bid for Marc Guehi.

Now – however – Tim Sherwood has offered a solution to Tottenham.

Tim Sherwood tells Spurs to recall Ashley Phillips from Stoke

Speaking on Sky Sports alongside Paul Merson on transfer deadline day, the 55-year-old suggested Tottenham should recall Ashley Phillips to provide Postecoglou with another option in defence.

Also discussing Manor Solomon and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Sherwood said: “I would have called them back. Phillips is a boy they have bought from Blackburn, he has gone out and played at Stoke, he is a young boy but you just never know. Until you put them on the stage you don’t know if they can sing. This boy might be very good. He might save them £60 or £70m on someone who is not as good. You don’t know until you give them the opportunity.

“They have Solomon out at Leeds, he is a player who they could have brought back in. Hojbjerg is a very experienced midfield player, if they need someone just to sit in front. I know Ange doesn’t like that player but if there was an option to bring them back I certainly would have brought them back, I would.”

A story from the Evening Standard claimed that Tottenham did consider recalling the 19-year-old from his loan spell at Stoke in December, but clearly, the north Londoners have decided to let him continue his development with the Potters.

Tottenham have a gem in Ashley Phillips

Perhaps it is for the greater good that Spurs saw their £70m bid for Guehi fail, as Phillips seems to be a top prospect.

The £3m defender spent the first half of last season with Tottenham before moving to Plymouth on loan, receiving plenty of encouragement during his time in N17.

Phillips was praised by Postecoglou – with the Australian saying: “We think he has great potential.”

Kulusevski also hailed Phillips – even saying the England U20 international is “ready” to perform.

The Sweden international said: “He is ready. It is the coach that decides that, but I think every player is unbelievable in the training.

“Everybody is ready, everybody wants to play and it is so high level the training. So, if he will be called, he will be ready.”

In April, Tottenham will mark the sixth anniversary of the opening Daniel Levy’s magnum opus, the club’s world-class 62,850-seater stadium – but his masterpiece still doesn’t have a name.

Still clunkily referred to by the club as the ‘Tottenham Hotspur Stadium’, the venue is arguably one of the most attractive naming rights properties in world sport.

Daniel Levy, Spurs’ omniscient and chairman and co-owner, has previously confirmed that the North Londoners have explored a brand deal for the venue.

However, under-fire Levy has not spoken publicly about naming rights since the club’s annual fan forum event in September 2023.

Todd Kline – Spurs’ former chief commercial officer who left to join Chelsea in February last year – has more recently said that his main brief was to get the right naming rights deal for the club.

Some analysts have argued that the value of the rights may have dwindled after almost six years, with Tottenham believed to be looking for £20-25m per annually.

But a flurry of recent naming rights deals – such as Riyadh Air paying Atletico Madrid £25m per year or Allianz’ £10m-a-year deal with Twickenham Stadium – has breathed new life into the market.

Ask anyone in the world of football finance about naming rights, however and they will tell you that it is not just about getting the right deal, not just the biggest deal.

It was reported in 2022 that Spurs held talks with Google, while TBR Football has previously been told that Amazon, Uber, FedEx and DHL have all been contenders at some stage.

The industry mood music meanwhile is that Spurs hope to have a deal in place by the end of the 2024-25, although whether Ange Postecoglou’s side’s output on the pitch has altered the timeline isn’t known.

That said, Tottenham’s commercial performance has trended up and to the right regardless of where in the Premier League the club have finished in recent seasons.

Contrary to popular belief, their spending has increased with revenue in that time, although the gap between the two metrics is widening and Spurs still have the league’s lowest wages-to-turnover ratio.

Many fans argue that Spurs’ financial resilience is actually a symptom of their fixation with all things commercial and a reflection of the owners’ view of the club as little more than a bundle of IP to market products and experiences.

But with Levy and ENIC committed to the self-funding model, the brutal reality is that the budget given to Ange Postecoglou and sporting director Johan Lange is heavily dependent on commercial income.

A naming rights deal could, in theory, supercharge that budget. And in recent days, there has been an update in this department for the first time in a while

Naming rights misstep would be ‘catastrophic’ for Tottenham

Even without a £200-250m naming rights deal, only the two Manchester clubs and Liverpool generate more commercial income than Spurs in the Premier League.

Levy has also said that the brand benefits of having Spurs’ name above the door as the likes of Beyonce, the NFL and Formula 1 stage events at the stadium means they are in no hurry to secure a deal.

Now, in a glowing analysis of Tottenham’s commercial performance in 2024-25, industry publication Sport Business has said that embarking on a bad partnership would be “catastrophic” for the club.

Significantly, the article was shared by several senior member of Spurs’ commercial team on LinkedIn, suggesting they agree with the sentiments expressed.

‘With premium hospitality, high matchday spending, and state-of-the-art digital signage, the stadium provides brands with one of the most immersive sponsorship platforms in the Premier League,’ reads an excerpt.

“There is no pressure to sell the naming rights, and the impact of doing a bad first deal would be catastrophic,” added Dan Haddad, head of commercial strategy at Octagon.

“Spurs can develop and monetise its stadium footprint on the US model with fan zones and plazas over the next five years […] and continue to release new assets to market.”

Daniel Levy’s competition in Spurs naming rights auction as Premier League rivals seek deal

The naming rights market is saturated at present, with Everton and West Ham also looking for deals and Man United likely to enter the fray too.

A risk-reward analysis might conclude that, given that Everton and West Ham’s rights would likely come cheaper, they might be a more cost-efficient alternative to Spurs.

From a brand’s perspective meanwhile, United are the real big-ticket item.

However, Spurs have been granted license to increase the number of non-football events they can hold at the stadium from 16 to 30, which could theoretically significantly enhance the value of their rights.

With the NFL deepening its relationship with Tottenham, there is a good chance that we will see even more American football – the world’s most commercial lucrative sport – at the ground in future years too.

With Daniel Levy still looking for fresh investment, a new minority equity partner may well want a say in what would be a seismic statement about the club’s commercial direction.

Patience, therefore, will likely be the watchword in N17 for a little while yet.

Tottenham attempted to sign a centre-back on transfer deadline day.

Spurs tried to land Axel Disasi – but the Frenchman did not want to join and eventually signed for Aston Villa on loan from Chelsea.

Before that happened – however – Tottenham bid for Marc Guehi. Spurs are said to have offered £70m to take the England international from Crystal Palace, but the south Londoners rejected the bid.

Tottenham did manage to sign Kevin Danso on the Sunday before deadline day – but Ange Postecoglou was not handed another central defender to cover for the loss of Radu Dragusin, who is out for the season with a serious knee injury.

Despite the transfer window closing, Tottenham can still sign free agents whenever they want, so let’s take a look at some central defenders who are currently out of contract.

Sergio Ramos among three standout options for Spurs

Sergio Ramos

The legendary Sergio Ramos is currently a free agent and can be signed whenever.

Sevilla opted not to renew the 38-year-old’s contract at the end of last season, meaning he is likely to be severely lacking match fitness, although the Spaniard would bring a wealth of experience to N17.

Tottenham actually tried to sign Ramos after he left Real Madrid in 2021.

Kenneth Omeruo

A man familiar with London having spent 2012 to 2019 as a Chelsea player, Kenneth Omeruo is another option Spurs could sign to bolster the centre-back department.

The 31-year-old Nigerian has been without a club since leaving Kasimpasa in January, so he has not been out of contract for a long time by any means.

Daniel Amartey

Daniel Amartey was actually part of the Leicester squad who beat Tottenham to the Premier League title back in 2016.

Still only 30 years of age, the Ghana international saw his contract at Besiktas terminated in September for undisclosed reasons, but is said to be on the lookout for a new club.

After the dust settles from Tottenham Hotspurs’ exploits on deadline day, the club will be quickly turning their attention to the second-leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final with Liverpool.

In the space of four days, Tottenham will face Liverpool and then Aston Villa in the FA Cup, two incredibly important ties for Ange Postecoglou’s project.

After a good win against Brentford and the signings of Kevin Danso and Mathys Tel, it’s almost been overshadowed that Postecoglou is fighting for his job.

Previously it was reported that Postecoglou’s future could hinge on getting past Liverpool, a situation that may have been calmed by an impressive clean sheet away to Brentford.

That being said, Spurs do have two exciting new options for that tie, and Postecoglou suddenly has the luxury of some choice.

Mathys Tel could make his Tottenham debut at Anfield

In goal, Antonin Kinsky will continue unless Guglielmo Vicario is ready for a surprise return, an injury update that the Spurs manager will provide in due course.

Djed Spence was brilliant against Brentford, cementing his place for Anfield.

And otherwise, it seems as if Postecoglou’s only decision will be whether to start Danso ahead of Archie Gray at right centre-back.

Gray is playing out position but is doing incredibly well, and it would be a tough first test for Danso in Spurs colours.

Otherwise, it would seem wise for Postecoglou to stick with a relatively flat midfield three as he did against Liverpool in the first leg – with Pape Matar Sarr perhaps a candidate to replace Yves Bissouma.

And in attack, Postecoglou might actually immediately succumb to the temptation to start his new #11 Tel in place of Richarlison, another tough call.

Tottenham injury situation ahead of Liverpool

Both Danso and Tel should be available for the game, the duo appeared to arrive in time and were fit for RC Lens and Bayern Munich respectively before joining.

Of course, Radu Dragusin is injured and won’t play for Spurs again this season, another bitter blow for a club riddled with fitness issues.

Micky van de Ven will be assessed before what is arguably Spurs’ biggest game of the season thus far.

Postecoglou recently confirmed that Vicario, Brennan Johnson, Destiny Udogie, Wilson Odobert and Timo Werner were all getting closer, but fans will need to wait for a fresh update from the Spurs manager.

A huge tie for the club, followed by a second chance game on Sunday if things don’t go to plan at Anfield.

Tottenham Hotspur have proven to their supporters worldwide that Ange Postecoglou’s side can attract top talent in the transfer window despite their much-discussed struggles this season.

Antonin Kinsky described Tottenham as a top club upon signing for them last month while Danso admitted Spurs’ knock is one-of-a-kind for any player.

While Tel needed convincing to join Tottenham from Postecoglou, the fact that he eventually agreed to make the move to North London suggests the Lilywhites continue to command respect within the game.

Ultimately, Spurs fans will be delighted to witness Tottenham showing ambition in the transfer market — as it would have been a shock if the 14th-placed side in the Premier League were quiet in the transfer window and completely wrote off their season.

A club of the Lilywhites’ standing in English football cannot afford to accept mediocrity and their actions in the winter transfer window have spoken louder than their words.

Tottenham had an eight-man defender shortlist in the transfer window

The fact that recently, Ange Postecoglou admitted no new signings were “imminent” and then Tottenham decided to bring in both Danso and Tel is an indicator of the work they were doing in the background.

Postecoglou is not close to being sacked and as a result, it was only right that Daniel Levy backed him to the hilt in the transfer market. So much so that Tottenham were targeting eight defenders before deadline day, as revealed by Spurs insider Paul O’Keefe.

O’Keefe told Last Word on Spurs’ YouTube channel: “As far as I understand, they went for around eight centre-backs during this window. So, they certainly wanted the centre-back position filled even though earlier in the window, they said they might not do it.”

“I think that was just a bit of a blag to be honest. But yeah, as I was told tonight, as many as eight centre-backs were looked at for this particular window which is pretty crazy.”

With Cristian Romero still injured and Radu Dragusin suffering an ACL injury, it was wise that one of Tottenham’s biggest priorities was signing defenders. Tottenham agreed a deal to sign Luca Furnell-Gill from Liverpool — who is just 18 and perhaps a young talent for the future.

Tottenham plan to try and sign Marc Guehi in the summer

Interestingly, sources have told TBR Football that Tottenham will try signing Marc Guehi in the summer of 2025.

The England international’s name must certainly have been on Spurs’ eight-man defender shortlist, with Tottenham bidding £70 million to sign Guehi — which was rejected by Crystal Palace.

However, Chelsea will try re-signing Guehi this summer as well and whether the Lilywhites can beat them to the 24-year-old’s signature could be a possible transfer tug-of-war waiting to occur.

As things stand, Tottenham’s only available centre-backs are Micky van de Ven, Danso and Ben Davies, with Archie Gray also capable of playing in defence.

If Spurs intend to go big for Guehi this summer, they must firstly climb up the league table and show the Crystal Palace skipper that he could be set to become a part of a project that is on the rise.