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Welcome to the first edition of Sportskeeda’s Tottenham Hotspur news roundup – a one-stop shop for all the current stories relating to Spurs, be it their push for a top four finish in the Premier League or any transfer rumours currently surrounding Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
As always Tottenham have been in the news a lot recently, for one major reason in particular – which we’ll get to in a second – but in all honesty, the stories surrounding the club are posing more questions than answers right now. Let’s get to it.
The new stadium is finally ready to open!
Fans of Tottenham will be please to hear that the new White Hart Lane stadium – which has been in development for a few years now and has faced numerous delays in 2018/19 – is finally good to go, and Spurs will play their first game there against Crystal Palace tonight.
That means, of course, that those infamous Tube posters stating that the stadium would be “the only place to watch Champions League football in London” will finally be correct, as the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final with Manchester City will be held there.
A couple of trial games have already been played at the stadium, of course – most notably a match between a team of Tottenham legends and a team of legends from Inter Milan. Tottenham lost the game 4-5 in the end but it didn’t really matter, as most of the news coming out of the match surrounded the cameo performance from cult hero Paul Gascoigne – who looked relatively healthy for his standards.
Other club legends to make appearances included Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane, Jurgen Klinsmann and David Ginola.
The BBC have produced a short video to explain the stadium “in numbers”, but outside of the capacity – 62,062, the biggest in London – it seems more focused on refreshments, as the video reports that the 65m bar will be the biggest in Europe – but won’t serve plastic straws.
Spurs fans will hope that the opening of the new stadium will encourage an upturn in their side’s form, which has dipped of late, but The Telegraph has some worrying statistics that suggest the opposite could happen – their analysis of 10 teams who moved stadium in the past 20 years shows that home form initially slips upon the move.
What does the future hold for Poch?
The future of Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino has seemed up-in-the-air a couple of times this season, most notably when he was linked with the vacant manager’s jobs at both Manchester United and Real Madrid. With those jobs now filled by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Zinedine Zidane though, it appears that the Argentine’s future will definitely remain at Tottenham for the time being.
Pochettino himself appears to be bullish about his future at the club; in an interview with the BBC, the manager stated that he has “no doubt” that his side will be in the Champions League next season despite their recent struggles. That doesn’t sound like a man whose commitment to the cause is wavering at all – and suggests that he’s probably in it for the long haul.
However, noted journalist Guillem Balague – who co-authored Pochettino’s book Brave New World, which detailed Tottenham’s 2016/17 campaign – has written a piece in which he suggests that Pochettino may have taken the current Spurs team as far as it’s possible for them to go. Balague suggests that the next few weeks could be “the most important of Pochettino’s footballing life”.
Whether Pochettino has really taken Tottenham to their limit remains to be seen, but with everything surrounding the club and the manager right now, it’s hard to disagree with the assessment of how important the next few weeks could be.
Frenkie De Jong rejected Spurs last summer?
Dutch midfielder Frenkie De Jong has made some serious noise this season. Not only has he been outstanding for Ajax – contributing heavily to their stunning Champions League Round of 16 victory over Real Madrid – but he’s also finalised a big-money move to Barcelona at the end of the season.
Could things have been different for the Dutch wonderkid, though? Apparently so.
De Jong has told FourFourTwo that he could’ve joined Tottenham last summer and was tempted to do so after an offer came in for him, but despite seeing Spurs as a “stable club who are only getting better” and praising Mauricio Pochettino, he stated that he didn’t feel comfortable with a move as he felt he owed Ajax another season at least.
Given Barca have had to pay a huge £65m fee for De Jong however, it’s hard to see that Tottenham would’ve paid in the same ballpark for the player last summer!
Costa, Grealish and Sessegnon latest players to be linked with Spurs
We’re still months away from the next transfer window opening but rumours are already flying around regarding which players could be on Tottenham’s shopping list this summer. Given that the club didn’t sign anyone in the previous two windows, it’s easy to take these reports with a pinch of salt – but you never know.
Firstly, various sources are linking Douglas Costa of Juventus with a move to North London, as the speedy winger has only appeared in 17 league games for the Old Lady this season due to fitness concerns.
Pundit Steve Nicol has suggested that he’d be a similar signing to Lucas Moura – but with Paris St. Germain and Chelsea also apparently interested, Spurs would face some stiff competition for the signing – particularly if the reported fee Juventus are looking for of upwards of £54m is correct.
Jack Grealish of Aston Villa was another player Spurs were interested in last summer – but the long-winded saga ended when the Midlands club received an injection of cash from new backers, meaning they no longer had to sell, and Grealish decided to sign a new deal at Villa Park rather than leave.
However, things haven’t gone Villa’s way this season thus far and while a play-off spot remains a possibility, the chance of automatic promotion may have gone. If Villa do miss out and remain in the Championship next season, Grealish may have to be sold in order to comply with Financial Fair Play rules, and so it’s hardly a shock that it’s being reported that Spurs could come back in for the player.
West Ham and Bournemouth are also reportedly interested but it’s hard to see them pipping Spurs for the England youngster – who has been told by Gareth Southgate that his chances of an England call-up depend on him being in the Premier League – despite his form inspiring Villa to 5 straight wins.
Finally, there’s no concrete reports of any interest just yet, but with Fulham’s relegation from the Premier League now confirmed following their loss to Watford last night, HITC has collated a lot of Tweets from Tottenham fans demanding that their club make a move for the Cottagers' young prospect Ryan Sessegnon.
The England u21 international has only shown flashes of his potential this season, but given it was his first season in the Premier League – and at a club who have struggled from the off – he can probably be forgiven. Whether Tottenham would want to make a move for a youngster who may cost up to £50m is a question mark, but it’s clear from the report that Spurs fans would love to see him at White Hart Lane.
