After winning the Europa League last season, Tottenham Hotspur ended a boring narrative and an even more boring wait for silverware.

Ange Postecoglou would then be dismissed, and that was understandable. After all, Spurs finished 17th in the Premier League, and to say that the Australian coach’s side were imbalanced and porous would be an understatement.

Premier League 24/25 – Most Goals Conceded

Club

Final Position

Goals Conceded

Southampton

20th

86

Ipswich

19th

82

Leicester

18th

80

Wolves

16th

69

Tottenham

17th

65

Data via FBref

Thomas Frank is continuing to right those wrongs, and tying defensive mainstay Micky van de Ven down to a new deal is among his priorities heading into 2026.

But Tottenham are arguably weaker in attack, and Frank needs to bring down N17 some impactful offensive quality next month.

Spurs' plans to strengthen their frontline

While some feel a move to Tottenham would be the best move for Antoine Semenyo in his startling rise to the top, the Bournemouth talisman is headed for Manchester City.

Having lost Heung-min Son to LAFC in August, Tottenham lodged an enquiry about Semenyo’s availability. They were turned away. Frank had already welcomed Mohammed Kudus to the ranks, signing the Ghanaian from West Ham for £55m, but more elite quality was needed and still is.

With Pep Guardiola’s side honing in on Semenyo, a chance for one of the Etihad side’s wingers has ostensibly opened up, with Spurs technical director Johan Lange planning a fresh approach for Savinho.

That’s according to TEAMtalk, who claim the 21-year-old could be on the move despite City’s hopes of retaining his services. Spurs are said to be working on gauging the player’s interest in such a deal, prior to lodging any potential bid.

Savinho joined Man City from fellow City Group club Troyes, paying the French club £31m for his signature. Spurs chiefs held talks with City over a summer transfer for the Brazilian, in excess of £50m, but he was ultimately kept in Manchester.

Why Spurs should sign Savinho

An elite prospect, Savinho could benefit from regular minutes, thus opening the door for the Lilywhites to swoop.

Since joining Man City, Savinho has featured 70 times in all competitions, scoring only five goals but producing 16 assists. Described as “one of the best U21s in Europe” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, the South American star is a breathtaking asset down the flanks, so dangerous and dynamic from the left and out on the right.

He shares a tactical likeness with Kudus, and he is undoubtedly one of the most exciting ball-carrying prospects in Europe. Though Kudus is an imperfect player, he is exciting and destructive on the ball, unique in his performance and invariably willing to take on opponents.

Savinho vs Kudus (past 12 months)

Stats (per 90)

Savinho

Kudus

Goals

0.09

0.14

Assists

0.20

0.20

Shots taken

2.20

1.79

Touches (att pen)

6.82

3.89

Pass completion (%)

80.5

77.4

Shot-creating actions

3.95

3.23

Progressive passes

2.56

2.71

Progressive carries

6.69

3.57

Successful take-ons

2.02

3.17

Recoveries

4.62

5.45

Tackles won

0.54

0.92

Data via FBref

Adding someone like Savinho to the ranks would reinforce Tottenham’s flanks and provide the club with an up-and-comer who might one day take the baton from club legend Son, though it’s clear that there are many miles to cover before that potential outcome.

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With City closing in on a move for Semenyo, it’s clear that Savinho is going to find regular minutes in the Premier League hard to come by, having only started four times since the summer.

Last season, his fleet-footed creativity underlined his quality and potential as a superstar. Sofascore record that he created 11 big chances and racked up eight assists despite only starting 21 times. He completed 57% of his dribbles, and he attempted many.

There is something distinctly Kudus-esque about him, but given his youth and inexperience, it’s fair to say that Savinho could become something even more special, and Spurs have to snap him up.

Related Spurs could finally bin Brennan Johnson by signing "generational" £88m star

Tottenham need more impetus in attack ahead of the January transfer window.

Posts 1 ByAngus Sinclair

Inspirational captain Jamie Cox made a fluent half-century and held three catches as Somerset cruised home by 53 runs to replace Worcestershire at the top of the National League First Division.Now the West Country team are on course for a first double in the new era of two-division cricket. With four matches to play, they can add the overall title to last year’s promotion success.Cox scored 57 and shared in a partnership of 74 with Michael Burns (51) to put Somerset on the way to a more-than-adequate total of 227 for nine on a slow pitch.Equally important was the catch taken by Cox at cover point to complete a bad day for Graeme Hick on his unexpected re-appearance from England duty at Headingley.Hick faced only eight balls before his dismissal by Steffan Jones, and though Vikram Solanki and David Leatherdale rallied the home side, slow left-armer Ian Blackwell rubber-stamped Somerset’s win with a League-best return of four for 36.The batting slump only compounded the problems that Hick had faced in the field. Young new-ball bowlers Chris Liptrot and Kabir Ali were persisently called for wides while conceding 36 runs in the first four overs.Marcus Trescothick and Mark Lathwell made the most of the gifts to put on 68 before Lathwell and Peter Bowler appeared on a list of four batsmen who were run out during the innings.Leatherdale was responsible for three of these mishaps and also bowled his medium-pace to remove Cox and Burns in successive overs as Somerset lost six wickets for 40 at the end.

Ricky Ponting, the former Australia captain, has called upon Cricket Australia to use English Dukes balls in Sheffield Shield matches as a way of helping young batsmen to cope better with the swinging, seaming ball than they could manage in a humiliating Ashes defeat to England.At Cardiff, Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, Australia’s batsmen were repeatedly undone by the moving ball, which messed with their Antipodean techniques and then their minds. The only success in the series occurred at Lord’s on a surface that did not offer too much seam movement, while swing was also less prevalent than at the other grounds.Based on his own recent experiences of domestic cricket but also the scenes he witnessed in this series, Ponting believes that the Dukes ball needs to be used down under, for it permits greater swing than the Kookaburra, which has for years been the ball of choice for CA. He told ESPNcricinfo that batsmen needed to be faced with questions relevant to the international experience.”One thing I am going to recommend as soon as I get home is that we actually change the balls we use in Australia,” Ponting said. “I think we should be using Dukes balls in Australia now. I think it’s been highlighted enough times that we struggle when the ball swings and seams. You go back two, three years ago when I was playing Shield cricket, Hobart got heavily criticised for doing too much but I batted there, but you could still make runs.”Ed Cowan’s making runs almost every time he batted on that wicket. You just have to change your game and work out how you’re going to get runs in those conditions. The Gabba’s been the same for as long as I can remember in Shield cricket and that’s why Matthew Hayden [in the past] and Usman Khawaja now, who’s opening the batting up there, someone like Joe Burns bats up there as well as a top-order batsman.”Their techniques will stand up in these conditions because they’re used to playing in these conditions but we have to look at these conditions I think because it just looks like this generation of Australian players just haven’t got the technique to survive the best quality bowling in difficult conditions.”Domestic pitches have been a matter for conjecture for some time. Result-oriented pitches were thought to have stopped batsmen from having the chance to build their innings, leaving CA to encourage drier surfaces. However, Ponting said batsmen needed to experience the sorts of surfaces that would test their techniques, and wanted to see a greater contrast in the sorts of pitches prepared for the Sheffield Shield.”There’s got to be a fine balance there obviously,” he said. “We went one way completely with the greener wickets and because of the greener wickets as well, there were more results in those venues which wasn’t good for the competition. But it might have been good for the players that were playing in that competition. It might have been Hobart and Brisbane only, you might have had only the two wickets for that year that you had to find ways to score runs and then you go to Adelaide where it was flat and Melbourne was pretty flat.”It’s been one of the great things I think in Australian cricket history the differing conditions we have all around the country. I think just changing the ball will be a good start because even when the wicket hasn’t seamed here the ball’s still swung and it’s been swing I think as much as anything that’s got our players out. So if we can find a ball in Australia that’s going to swing for longer, then surely that’s going to help the batsmen and it’ll teach the bowlers how to bowl with it as well.”Among emerging batsmen in Australia, Ponting nominated Khawaja, Cameron Bancroft, Travis Head and Peter Handscomb among those who should be granted an opportunity at international level over the next 12 months. “I’d start with Usman Khawaja,” he said of the Australia A captain on the concurrent tour of India. “I think he’ll get an opportunity somewhere at the top of the order for Australia and pretty soon, I think.”He started last Sheffield Shield season in probably career-best form. He had a bad injury that put an end to his season last year. He’s in India at the moment as captain of the Australia A team and is scoring runs over there so I think he’s someone they’ll definitely look at. There are a few other younger guys, Cameron Bancroft in WA made a big impression last year I know on Shield cricket. Justin Langer speaks really highly of him and Justin doesn’t give too much praise unless it’s needed.”Guys like Travis Head and Peter Handscomb, young guys like that I think. You know I think the time might just be right to take a punt on a couple of these young guys and give them a chance and thinking that the next Ashes is a couple of years away it’d be nice to get some experience into these younger guys and see if we can just start to regenerate things a little bit.”

The Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad, is being pulled down with the view of building a new stadium with a greater capacity in two years time. The demolishing of the structure began on September 10 and is likely to take four months.The stadium, built on 50 acres of land on the banks of the Sabarmati river, has hosted 12 Tests and 24 ODIs between 1983 and 2014. The venue provided the setting to some historic moments, including Sunil Gavaskar becoming the first-ever batsman to score 10000 Test runs in 1987, and Kapil Dev breaking Richard Hadlee’s then world record of 431 Test wickets in 1994. The Sardar Patel Stadium also hosted the second quarter-final of the 2011 World Cup, where India beat Australia by five wickets.The new stadium is likely to have improved infrastructure for both players as well as spectators with increase in number of air-conditioned boxes and parking facilities.

ScorecardMark Pettini continued his fine form since his Essex recall•Getty Images

Jack Winslade marked his first-class debut with a four-wicket haul to put Essex on course for victory after Derbyshire collapsed spectacularly on the second day of the LV County Championship match at Derby.The 20-year-old medium pacer took four wickets in 19 balls as the home side were skittled for 94 in 33 overs with Tom Moore doing the early damage with 3 for 12.Derbyshire lost nine wickets for 56 and although they showed more fight in the follow-on, were 102 for 3 at the close, still 268 behind Essex who declared on 464 for 7 with Mark Pettini top scoring with an unbeaten 117.The hosts had been up against it before a ball was bowled on day two with the attack already reduced to two seamers by injuries to Tony Palladino and Shiv Thakor which forced skipper Wayne Madsen to employ his occasional medium-pace after seven overs.Madsen did take the only wicket to fall in the morning but, by then, Pettini and James Foster had taken their stand to 120 to pave the way for the mayhem that followed in the afternoon.Pettini’s form since his recall to championship cricket after a year’s absence begs the question why he was ignored for so long; his second century in five innings was a major factor in Essex seizing control of a game they should win in three days barring a remarkable turnaround.Foster passed 11,000 championship runs before he scooped Madsen into the hands of Mark Footitt at deep fine leg and although Derbyshire looked untroubled at the start of their reply, the introduction of Moore sparked a startling collapse.Ben Slater’s flick off his hip to a diving square leg was the first of three wickets to fall without a run scored in 19 balls with both former Essex batsman Billy Godleman and Chesney Hughes falling to reckless shots.When Madsen also departed to a loose stroke, the innings was beyond repair with doubts over whether Palladino or Thakor would be able to bat. Thakor did hobble out at the fall of the eighth wicket but looked in considerable discomfort before he became Winslade’s fourth victim.There was never any question that Essex would enforce the follow-on and the pattern of the first innings was repeated with Derbyshire starting confidently in bright sunshine before Godleman cut hard at Jesse Ryder and was caught at first slip.Slater and Hughes restored some order but the former was caught behind off Ravi Bopara who then yorked Hughes to leave Derbyshire staring at a heavy defeat inside three days.

A fast bowler making an impression on his first-class comeback from a five-year spot-fixing ban; an allrounder who is unable to bowl due to a suspect action; a player recalled after a five-year gap in his Test career; a 41-year-old captain who may be about to play his final Test series; an offspinner who has had his action reported after taking a five-for in his second ODI.That’s just the last few weeks of Pakistan cricket. They are rarely without some drama or controversy. Yet amid everything, their Test side has become a relative beacon of calmness and solidity. They start the series against England as strong favourites.The two teams are neck-and-neck in the Test rankings – just a point separates them in third and fourth – but Pakistan have their home-from-home advantage, the far superior spin attack and a batting line-up that knows how to gorge themselves on the surfaces in this region even though they have been weakened a little for the first Test by Azhar Ali’s foot problem.It is a mighty six months for England, still buoyed by an Ashes victory and a high-octane summer which helped move the game on from a horrid year-and-a-half. The challenge of South Africa, the No. 1 Test side, is on the horizon but it was more than just a sportsman maintaining a focus on the here-and-now when Ben Stokes said “UAE will be the most challenging one”.Stokes’ assessment wasn’t intended as a slight on South Africa. However, those will not be conditions in which England historically struggle. It is likely to be a style of cricket more akin to that which was witnessed during the Ashes; in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, however, an England cricket team is out of its comfort zone. The possibilities for self-improvement are vast, the obstacles similarly so.Factor in, too, that only once in the last decade – against Bangladesh in 2009-10 – have England won the opening Test of an away series. With Pakistan’s formidable record in Abu Dhabi, where they have not lost a Test, a draw would be a result to accept.Neither have Pakistan lost a Test series in the UAE since it became their surrogate home in 2010. There have been wins against Sri Lanka, England and Australia and they drew 1-1 with South Africa.Arguably, last year’s series against New Zealand was the one that got away. They were 1-0 up after a resounding 248-run win in Abu Dhabi but New Zealand, on the back of a free-wheeling double hundred from Brendon McCullum, levelled in Sharjah. Perhaps not for the first time this year, New Zealand will provide an template to follow even if replicating McCullum’s 202 off 188 balls is surely a step too far for either of England’s openers.Trevor Bayliss and Ben Stokes take a break during training•Getty Images

The New Zealand series is the only one of Pakistan’s last four that they have not won, away victories in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka continuing the upward trend. The series in Sri Lanka had a remarkable conclusion, Pakistan bouncing back from a seven-wicket defeat to chase down 378 – the sixth-highest chase of all time – to win by seven wickets despite being 13 for 2.It means a record of 10 Tests, six wins, two draws and two losses since last October – the joint-most victories in the period, alongside Australia, and fewer defeats than anyone bar Bangladesh and South Africa. That 12-month timeframe also coincides with the disappearance of Saeed Ajmal from the side, something which could have so easily debilitated the team.Yasir Shah’s emergence as a world-class legspinner has been a key reason why that hasn’t happened, but Misbah-ul-Haq has also been an impressive leader. He has scored three hundreds – all in Abu Dhabi where he averages a stratospheric 120 – but just as importantly he has cajoled the best out of his team more often than not.Against Australia last year, the platform was set in two prolific Tests in which the top order made nine hundreds between them, and that is before you factor in the wicketkeeper, Sarfraz Ahmed, who is averaging 50 at No. 7. Alongside Yasir v England’s spinners, Sarfraz v Jos Buttler is one head-to-head which starts significantly in Pakistan’s favour based on recent form.In many ways, the greater unpredictability of late has not been with Pakistan, but England. Throughout 2015, they have immediately followed strong victories – in Grenada, at Lord’s and in Cardiff – with insipid defeats, and though they broke that trend to regain the Ashes at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, they then resumed their erratic record with another heavy loss at The Oval.Still, in beating Australia, England have confounded expectations already this year and despite the Ashes success, England’s finest hour under Alastair Cook remains the 2012-13 series victory in India. Cook played a monumental role, as did the now-departed Kevin Pietersen, while it was England’s spin twins – Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar – who triumphed.What Cook would give for just one of those two spinners now (it adds to the sadness of Panesar’s situation as he tries, once again, to keep his career afloat) but he has to play with the hand he has been dealt. Cook’s batting, as a fine player of spin, will again be crucial – England can’t rely on Joe Root alone – and he will have to be at his most cunning as a captain.Moeen Ali bats in the nets ahead of the first Test•Getty Images

It will be fascinating to see how Pakistan play Moeen Ali. Should they work him around and test his endurance, or follow Australia’s lead in trying to attack him with an attitude bordering on the disrespectful (an approach which, ironically, often played into Moeen’s hands)? If Pakistan are able to stop Moeen bowling long spells Cook’s task could become forlorn.However, if England are to win, against the odds, it will be a miracle if their spinners play the decisive role. In 2012, James Anderson and Stuart Broad were England’s outstanding bowlers but that series took place in the UAE’s winter – January – as opposed to the oppressive late summer this time. They were also three years younger.The relative whipper-snappers, Mark Wood and Stokes, with their skiddy pace and ability to find reverse swing, will have to help make up for the lack of a proven matchwinning spinner while Steven Finn’s four wickets in the second warm-up match have provided a late conundrum, or a nice headache, for Cook and Trevor Bayliss.But the bowling won’t matter much without runs on the board. Since England last visited the UAE and contrived to lose after bowling Pakistan out for 99 in Dubai, the lowest first-innings total to win a Test in the region is Pakistan’s 341 against Sri Lanka in 2014, a game in which they chased down 302. In the last 12 months, in the same number of Tests, England’s top seven have scored nine hundreds against Pakistan’s 24.The recall of Shoaib Malik, with a Test average of 33, suggests the future may not be quite so rosy once Misbah and Younis Khan, who is on the verge of becoming Pakistan’s leading Test run-scorer, depart the scene. However, in the immediate future, it represents quite a gap for England to bridge.

Basil Williams, the former West Indies opening batsman, has died at the age of 65. Williams played seven Tests during 1978 and 1979 when the West Indies line-up was weakened by the defection of many leading players to World Series Cricket and he proved an effective replacement, scoring 469 runs at 39.08.He also became the tenth West Indian to score a century on Test debut, when he struck 100 off 118 balls in the second innings against Australia in Georgetown in 1978. He performed well in that series and was picked for the tour of India later that year, where he scored 111 in Kolkata, but after the return of the WSC players he was dropped.The report of Williams’ debut hundred noted that he “kept on playing his shots in spite of several narrow escapes, particularly against [Jeff] Thomson”, and that having scored his century he hooked the next ball and was caught at fine leg.”We mourn the loss of another servant of the game in the Caribbean,” WICB president Dave Cameron said. “Indeed, the Jamaica Cricket Association and the Kensington Cricket Club family of which he was a part for all of his life will miss him.”I knew ‘Shotgun’, as he was affectionately known, having been a member of Kensington for so many years. He was captain of the first team and I had the honour of playing with him. He was a tough, but fair captain and a no-nonsense guy.”Williams made his debut for Jamaica in February 1970 and ended his first-class career in 1985. He struck five centuries in his 46-game first-class career and averaged 36.02.

An almost full strength Bangladesh national team playing as CricketCommittee of Dhaka Metropolitan XI were crushed by the Overseas XI,comprising foreign players currently participating in the country’s PremierLeague. The match held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium was organized byone of the country’s oldest clubs, Wari Club as part of their Centnearycelebrations. It was curtailed to a 38-over a side encounter due to heavyrain on the previous night. Akram Khan led the Bangladesh side while TareqMehmood was in charge of the guests’ side which had ten Pakistanis out ofthe eleven.Electing to bat first, CCDM lost Naimur Rahman early for 12, beforeShahriar Hussain and Habibul Bashar added 91 runs for the second wicket.Bashar left for 37 with the score on 112 and his partner Shahriar was thenext to go, top scoring with 66, an innings which inlcuded three boundariesand two sixes.Shahriar was Pakistani left armer Mohammad Hossain’s firstvictim and more soon followed. The rest of the batsman were unable to putup any resistance against the Overseas attack, as Hossain ripped throughthe ordertaking 5/19. CCDM ended at up with a disappointing score of 182/9in their allotted 38 overs.Overseas XI started disastrously losing Mohammad Hossain, who failed toscore. But after that another good second wicket partnership, this timebetween Salim Elahi (69 off 19 balls, 10 fours and a six) and Imran Farhet(39) worth 92 put the imports in a very comfortable position. After thedeparture of both the anchoring batsman, Sarfaraz followed cheaply withjust 2. With the score on 157 and just 23 runs required, Abid Hanif (19)and Manzoor Elahi (18) played it safe and Overseas XI sailed to victorywith 3 overs to spare.

Bristol University vs UWE, Sunday 4th June
2pm – 7pm at Gloucestershire CCC, Nevil Road
Bristol University claimed the inaugural Bristol Varsity Cricket Trophy thanks to an impressive match winning performance from all-rounder Mark Farmiloe. Twice the 20 year old Middlesex player, rescued his side as UWE raced from the traps with both bat and ball. Inserted on a damp wicket, Bristol found themselves in a precarious position of 29-3, as the impressive James Hamblin tore through their top order. Farmiloe’s measured knock rebuilding the innings with Ed Grant provided the platform for lower middle order pair of Simon Whitton and in particular Rob Bruce to pile up 81 runs in the last 10 overs.Any thoughts UWE had about having let them off the hook were seemingly dispelled as some wayward Bristol bowling saw UWE race along at over 6 an over, with Extras making a serious claim for the Man of the Match award. Then Farmiloe intervened and from 92-2, UWE crashed out losing their last remaining wickets for 18 runs as the left arm spin of Farmiloe 3-27 and the swing of Richard Williams 4-25 hastened the end.All in all a disappointing day, despite fine weather the majority of Bristol’s students couldn’t be bothered to turn this day into a special day. The 300 or so mainly UWE fans that did turn up during the day enjoyed themselves immensely creating their own atmosphere. But, the organisers are left wondering how on earth over the next two weeks can cricket be sold to the 18-22 age group? The product is good, the apathy rules!

An inspired spell of bowling from mediumpacer Sadagoppan Mahesh (5/57)saw Tamil Nadu snatch a vital, if slender, three run lead in theirencounter against Goa. Starting the second day at 44/1 in response toTamil Nadu’s 204 all out, Goa were skittled out for a disappointing201. Skipper Pravin Amre (66) provided the lone resistance as wicketafter wicket tumbled.Mahesh’s first three spells yielded no wickets and read 12-4-21-0.However, Sridharan Sriram mixed his bowlers around well and thisproved a good decision at the end of the day. Mahesh’s last two spellshowever, broke the back of the Goa side. His last two spells returned5/36.In response, Tamil Nadu added insult to injury, making a thumping 104for no loss at stumps on day two. Southpaws Sriram and SadagoppanRamesh made 29 and 63 respectively as they defied Goa’s quest forquick wickets. Ramesh was easily the dominant partner in the session,his runs being scored at a run a ball with 8 boundaries. Sriram’sinnings on the other hand was a patient one, 29 (55 ball, 2 fours).The pair remained unseparated and lengthened the Tamil Nadu lead to107.