Tottenham Hotspur

Pedro Porro revealed he spoke with his good friend and our new signing Joao Palhinha ahead of his move to north London.

Pals from their Sporting CP days where they played alongside each other between 2020 and 2022, the duo are now set to be reunited after Joao completed his loan move to the club from FC Bayern.

First meeting as Pedro made the loan move from Manchester City to Sporting five years ago, the pair went on to play over 50 times together in the green and white hoops of the Lisbon-based side – and became good friends in the process.

So, we thought there could be no one better to give us a bit of insight into our new Portuguese midfielder than our Spanish full-back… only for it to be revealed that Joao had already reached out to him to find out more about our storied club.

“I’ve spoken with him already!” Pedro smiled as we asked for his reaction to the signing. “He asked me everything about Spurs. Things as well like where you live… Of course, Palhinha lived in London when he was at Fulham but that’s a long way away from our training ground. It may be London, but the traffic is crazy so he asked me, I spoke with him, and he was relaxed.

“I spoke with him and told him that the club is amazing. You have everything here. The most important thing is that when you play well, it is incredible. Of course, I’m happy he’s coming. When you have a team-mate maybe three years ago… I’ve since played against him when he was at Bayern and against him when he was with Fulham. He’s a good guy. I like him.

“He’s also excited to come here. When I arrived at Sporting, Palhinha is the one person in my life that I had the best relationship with in the dressing room. We’re good friends. For us, this signing is very, very good because he is a good person. That is the most important thing, that he is a good person. I think the people here will like him.

“On the pitch, he is consistent, a hard-working person, a little bit aggressive. I like Palhinha because, to play in his position (central midfield), you need that aggression when the ball is in your half. And that is the best attribute of Palhinha – that aggression. I’ve seen it in training and it’s similar in games. If there’s one person who likes aggression and intensity, it’s Palhinha – and that is good for us.”

Thomas Frank found the perfect words to sum up the spectre of emotions in football following James Maddison’s injury and Heung-Min Son’s farewell in Seoul on Sunday.

Described as a ‘beautiful moment’ afterwards by Thomas and Sonny, the 1-1 draw against Newcastle United at Seoul’s World Cup Stadium was somewhat overshadowed by an injury late in the game to Madders, who collapsed in agony holding his right knee and was stretchered off.

Thomas gave an honest assessment post-match on the injury, ‘most likely he has a bad injury’ as he spoke to SPURSPLAY in the tunnel as it poured down outside.

“I would say that today's game is the perfect picture of life in football can be so brutal and so beautiful,” he said. “So brutal with Madders that most likely he has a bad injury, we need to be honest with that, it’s the same knee as the previous injury. Of course, we don't know the full assessment of it, so we need to see that.

“Then it’s so beautiful with what happened to Sonny from his team-mates, the fans, Newcastle players, they showed fantastic respect. So, that's life in football in in one situation.”

It was put to Thomas that you couldn’t help but be drawn into the pure emotion with Sonny in his home city. “It was extremely emotional, I must say. There was nothing planned there. I just know that he had to have a single substitution, that was the only thing, and then he started with one walk, then another, then all the Newcastle players came over, then they had the tunnel where they all clapped him and patted him on the back.

“I thought that was that was extremely beautiful, the fans as well, and then after when they went around, the players went to him, and they threw him the air and everything. It was a proper send off. I didn’t have to say too much, just ‘well done’, there wasn’t too much to say, he had to absorb it all, a fantastic, beautiful moment.”

João Palhinha said he’s “really motivated for the next steps” as he savoured the early hours of his Spurs career.

The tough-tackling midfielder arrived on loan from Bundesliga champions FC Bayern on Sunday, returning to the Premier League 12 months after a highly-impressive two-year stint at Fulham.

Upon touching down once again in the English capital, he spoke of his joy at becoming a Spurs player and quickly cast his mind towards the future.

“I’m really, really happy,” he beamed. “It’s such an amazing feeling that I had when I arrived here at the training ground and I’m really motivated for the next steps, so I just want to enjoy it with my team-mates, start to work with the coach and start to win matches with this club.

“It’s an amazing feeling to return to the Premier League and to return to London as well. I really loved to live here before and I’m so happy to be here again and to enjoy the Premier League because in my opinion – as I’ve always said – it’s the best league in the world. It’s what me and my family wanted at this moment and I’m really happy for this.”

A dominant force in the centre of the pitch, João arrives with a wealth of accolades under his belt. He won the Taça da Liga in his early days at Braga, tasted glory in the 2020/21 Primeira Liga with Sporting Lisbon, lifted two more Taça da Liga titles and the Supertaça with them, then won the Bundesliga at Bayern last season. Over the summer, he was part of the Portugal national side that secured the UEFA Nations League title.

Fulham’s Player of the Season in 2022/23, he made 79 appearances, scored eight goals and made more tackles than any other player in the Premier League during his two years at Craven Cottage.

“I think my type of game, it belongs to the Premier League,” said the 30-year-old, discussing what he hopes to bring to our team on the pitch. “I’ve always said that I really enjoyed the two seasons that I had at Fulham, it was a dream come true and probably one of the best memories I have in my football career belonged to the Premier League. I really enjoyed playing against top teams, also against Tottenham in that moment and now I can be part of this, such a great club.

“I’m a player with a lot of hunger to win tackles, as you know. It’s one of my main focuses in the game, to try to help my team-mates without the ball to recover as soon as possible and of course when we have the ball, try to play simple, to try to give the team the best options. If I need to choose a word to describe me, it’s going to be a “hungry” player for sure.”

João added that he can’t wait to meet his new team-mates upon the squad’s return from pre-season tour and says he’s excited to bring his combative style to our fans at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“Of course, I have a few players who I’ve played with before – Mathys Tel, Pedro Porro – and other players I have played against in the Premier League. Probably some of them will not have such good memories of me on the pitch! We had some duels together but I’m just really happy to be here and meet my new team-mates,” he smiled.

“Personally, I just want to play, to show again what I am capable of doing here in the Premier League and at this top club. As a collective, as a team, I just want to try to win titles. I think that we have all the potential here to do something really special. Of course, it’s not easy, we all know that this is the most competitive league in the world but with all the potential that we have in the team, I’m really motivated to try to achieve some really good things for this club.

“The crowd motivates me as well. I think the moment, in my case, when I make a tackle and I feel the crowd pushing me, I don’t have words for this because it’s what gives me a lot of power and it’s really special here in the Premier League from the crowds. I just want to experience in our stadium the people pushing me and my team-mates in each tackle we make.”

Watch | João Palhinha discusses his arrival at Spurs

We are delighted to announce the signing of João Palhinha on loan from FC Bayern, subject to international clearance and work permit.

The 30-year-old Portugal international joins the Club on loan until the end of the 2025/26 season with an option to make the move permanent next summer.

The defensive midfielder began his professional career at Sporting CP, making his debut for the club’s B team aged 18 before his first team bow followed in January, 2017. Across his early years, he also picked up experience on loan at Moreirense, Belenenses and Braga. At the latter, João played an integral role in securing the 2019/20 Taça da Liga.

Returning to Sporting in 2020, he helped Leões win the 2020/21 Primeira Liga – the club’s first league title in 19 years – while he was also named in the Primeira Liga Team of the Year in recognition of his performances. During his time at Sporting, he also helped the club to two Taça da Liga titles and the Supertaça.

In 2022, Joao headed to the Premier League, joining Fulham. He quickly became one of the league’s most dominant defensive midfielders and was named Fulham’s Player of the Season after his first campaign. Over his two seasons at Craven Cottage, he made 79 appearances for the west London side, scored eight goals and made more tackles than any other player in the Premier League.

His consistent high-calibre displays for Fulham earned him a move to FC Bayern in July, 2024, where he was part of the squad that secured the Bundesliga title last season.

Internationally, he made his senior debut for Portugal in 2021 and has since earned 34 caps for his national side, appearing at UEFA Euro 2020 and 2024, and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He was part of the Portugal side that lifted the UEFA Nations League trophy in June.

Thomas Frank relayed the unfortunate news that James Maddison ‘most likely has a bad injury’ as he waits for the full assessment of the damage inflicted in our pre-season match against Newcastle United in Seoul on Sunday.

Just back from a knee injury sustained on 1 May - an injury that kept him out of the UEL final - Madders returned to action for the final 10 minutes against Arsenal in Hong Kong on Thursday and entered the fray at Seoul’s World Stadium with 75 minutes on the clock only to collapse in agony 10 minutes later, clutching his right knee. After treatment, he was stretchered off.

Speaking to SPURSPLAY afterwards, Thomas told us: “It’s most likely he has a bad injury, we need to be honest with that, it’s the same knee as the previous injury. Of course, we don't know the full assessment of it, so we need to see that.”

Watch - Spurs vs Newcastle highlights

Our visit to Asia ended in in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle United on an emotional evening for skipper Heung-Min Son, appearing in his hometown just a day after announcing his intention to leave the Club.

Following Thursday’s defeat of Arsenal in Hong Kong, we rounded off this year’s pre-season tour with a competitive clash against the Magpies in Seoul, South Korea, with Brennan Johnson’s early goal cancelled out by Harvey Barnes in the Coupang Play Series.

Following his announcement on Saturday, Son was selected to start by new Head Coach Thomas Frank and wore the armband at a venue he knows so well as captain of his country, with his substitution from the pitch in the 64th minute a poignant moment.

Unfortunately though, James Maddison left the pitch on a stretcher in the closing stages after pulling up with no-one around him, clearly in distress.

We made a great start to the contest and had already gone close when Nick Pope had to parry away Pape Matar Sarr’s effort from a cleared corner before we took the lead in the fourth minute. Kevin Danso nicked possession deep inside Newcastle’s half and the ball ran straight to Johnson who advanced towards goal before striking a controlled, low right-foot finish into the bottom corner. He paid tribute to his skipper with a trademark Son celebration to the delight of the packed crowd!

Newcastle then enjoyed a spell of possession, Joelinton almost on the end of an Anthony Gordon cut-back before the latter flashed a shot into the side-netting via a deflection. We had a glorious chance to double our lead in the 18th minute as Mathys Tel won the ball from Dan Burn and was suddenly through on goal with almost half the pitch in front of him. Pope stood up tall though, didn’t commit and was able to save Tel’s effort with his legs.

Joelinton sent a header a fraction wide from Bruno Guimaraes’ cross with 23 minutes on the clock and Pedro Porro produced a sensational 50-yard cross-field ping to release Son but his eventual shot was blocked before Newcastle levelled it up with a fine goal. Some quick passing in midfield opened us up, the ball going out to Barnes on their left and he cut inside before rifling past Antonin Kinsky at his near post. The Magpies’ forward almost added a second but this time Porro was on hand to block and it was all square at the break.

The early stages of the second period saw Newcastle in the ascendency, Gordon jabbing just wide before having a close-range finish ruled out for offside on 54 minutes. Not a great deal was happening in the forward areas and, in the 64th minute, a significant moment as Son was substituted off, replaced by Mohammed Kudus. There were hugs all round for the skipper from both sets of players and an emotional standing ovation as he left the pitch.

The final stages didn’t produce much in the way of goalmouth action, Pope saving comfortably from Lucas Bergvall the only real attempt of note as it finished honours even.

Thomas Frank has named his side to face Newcastle United today in Korea.

Like in our 1-0 win over Arsenal a few days ago in Hong Kong, Thomas Frank has made seven changes for our penultimate pre-season friendly.

Starting defence, Kevin Danso and Ben Davies come in for Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence respectively while, in midfield Lucas Bergvall is replaced by Archie Gray

In our front line, there are wholesale changes as Brennan Johnson, Mathys Tel and Heung-Min Son come in for Mohammed Kudus, Wilson Odobert and Richarlison.

Our Men’s First Team will take on Newcastle United today wearing shirts with bespoke numbers designed by a local artist.

Following the success of the same initiative for our match against Arsenal in Hong Kong, the players will face our Premier League rivals at the Seoul World Cup Stadium with shirt numbers designed by local art director Jaehoon Choi.

Jaehoon’s design is inspired by the ‘Taegeuk’ Yin-Yang motif which sits prominently on the national flag of Korea and is one of the country's most iconic symbols.

'Taegeuk' elements feature inside the numerals on the typeface in a way that complements their individual shapes and structures, with each digit featuring a unique pattern to appear visually bold and weighty.

The special edition shirts are now available to purchase online on the Official Spurs Shop.

Celebrating local culture is an important part of Club tradition on pre-season tours. Our players and staff have been engaging with our fans and supporting good causes throughout our time in Asia, with special edition shirts donated to the local charitable organisations that we have supported whilst on pre-season tour, Animals Asia, Bring Me a Book and Best Buddies.

Sunday's pre-season clash against Newcastle United represents our ninth match in South Korea over five visits since 2005.

Suwon hosted our first game here on 16 July, 2005 as part of the Peace Cup where we lined up alongside Lyon, PSV, Real Sociedad, Boca Juniors, Once Caldas (Colombia), Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) and local side Seognam Ilhwa.

We were last in Seoul this time last year with two matches against Team K League and FC Bayern.

Don't forget we kick-off against Newcastle at 12noon UK time on Sunday - and you can watch live on SPURSPLAY.

Here's the rundown of our matches in Korea...

We kicked-off the Peace Cup with a 2-2 draw against Boca Juniors before beating Mamelodi Sundowns 3-1, both matches in Suwon. A 1-1 draw against Real Sociedad in Ulsan took us through to the final - our first match in Seoul - where we toppled Lyon 3-1.

We next visited Korea on a promotional tour at the end of the 2016/17 campaign with Kyle Walker, Ben Davies and Kevin Wimmer accompanying home hero Heung-Min Son, who had signed for us two years earlier.

It was goals galore in our opener in 2022 - a 6-3 goal fest against Team K League - no surprises that the dynamic duo of Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son scored two goals each in front of 64,100 fans at Seoul's World Cup Stadium. Harry struck again a 1-1 draw against Sevilla in the Coupang Play Series at the Suwon World Cup Stadium.

Guglielmo Vicario and Kevin Danso took time out to embrace local history and traditions during a cultural tour of Seoul.

The pair visited the King Sejong statue dressed in the ‘hanbok’ – an outfit once part of the daily attire in Korean society that is still used to mark special occasions, including holidays like Seollal (Lunar New Year) and Chuseok (Harvest Festival), as well as family events such as weddings.

King Sejong was the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, reigning from 1418 to 1450, and is celebrated for his contributions to the advancement of Korean science, literature and education, including the creation of the Korean alphabet.

The statue of the monarch our players visited is located on Yeouido Island in the Yeongdeungpo District and was erected in 1999 to commemorate the 600th anniversary of King Sejong’s birth.

Vicario said: “It was an amazing moment to see the statue of King Sejong whilst dressed in the hanboks – we feel even more connected to the wonderful people of Korea.”

Kevin Danso said: “This is my first time in Korea and so to have the opportunity to learn more about the history of the country with this cultural tour was fantastic. I particularly enjoyed learning about King Sejong’s influence on education through the development of the Korean alphabet.”

Embracing local culture and history has always been an integral part of the Club’s overseas tours, and we understand the importance for our Korean-based supporters to see their Club active and visible at significant landmarks.