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Adama Traore determined to push for Tottenham Hotspur move

Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Adama Traore has reportedly urged his agent to push through a move to Tottenham Hotspur in the closing stages of this summer’s transfer window.

The 25-year-old has been on Tottenham’s list of potential targets this summer since Nuno Espirito Santo – his manager at Wolves – took over in North London.

Wolves’ asking price of at least £40m has so far proved to be a major sticking point in any negotiations, and new boss Bruno Lage recently insisted that no key players would be allowed to leave the club before Tuesday’s 11pm deadline.

However, Spanish outlet Cadena SER claims that Traore has instructed his agent Jorge Mendes to secure a move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium so that he can reunite with Nuno.

Wolves remain reluctant to lose their star man, and are unlikely to lower their demands for a player who still has two years remaining on his contract at Molineux.

Traore has been one of the team’s standout performers in their three Premier League games so far this season, despite Wolves still searching for their first point and first goal of the new campaign.

The Spain international has previously been linked with Liverpool, Chelsea and Leeds United, but Spurs are now considered the clear front-runners for his signature should he leave Wolves.

Wolves, meanwhile, are understood to be considering a move for Valencia forward Goncalo Guedes as a replacement for Traore.

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Harry Kane wants release clause in any new Tottenham Hotspur deal

Harry Kane reportedly wants a release clause to be inserted in any new deal he signs at Tottenham Hotspur.

The England captain announced on Wednesday that he would be staying in North London this summer, in spite of strong interest from Premier League champions Manchester City.

Following the news that the 28-year-old is set to remain at the club for the time being, Spurs supposedly want to tie him down to a new deal worth £330k per week, even with his existing deal not due to expire until 2024.

Now, The Telegraph claims that Kane is open to discussing a new deal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but he would want a release clause to be included after a supposed gentleman’s agreement with Daniel Levy was not honoured.

Levy was thought to be demanding a fee of £150m to part ways with Kane and supposedly stopped taking calls from Man City earlier this month, which could lead Pep Guardiola’s men to turn their attention to Cristiano Ronaldo.

Kane made his first appearance for Tottenham this season off the bench against Wolverhampton Wanderers and boasts 221 goals from 337 games in white.

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Gabriel Jesus set to remain at Manchester City this summer

Manchester City attacker Gabriel Jesus has reportedly done enough in the early stages of the 2021-22 season to convince head coach Pep Guardiola to keep him at the club this summer.

The Brazil international was strongly linked with a move away from the Etihad Stadium earlier in the transfer window, with Juventus believed to be the favourites to sign him.

However, talk of a switch to Turin has cooled in recent weeks, and according to Eurosport, Jesus is no longer available for transfer, even if Harry Kane arrives from Tottenham Hotspur.

The report claims that Guardiola views the South American as an option in the wide areas, and the Man City boss wants to keep hold of him for the current season.

The 24-year-old has scored 82 goals and registered 36 assists in 197 appearances for the Citizens since arriving from Palmeiras in 2017.

Guardiola lavished praise on Jesus for his performance in Saturday’s 5-0 win over Norwich City, which saw the English champions pick up their first points of the season

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Daniel Levy refusing to lower Harry Kane’s £150m asking price

Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy is reportedly refusing to lower his £150m valuation of Manchester City target Harry Kane.

The Premier League champions are believed to have had a £100m bid – with only £75m guaranteed up front – rejected for the England captain earlier in the transfer window.

City are now preparing a fresh offer worth around £120m, however the Daily Telegraph reports that Levy could continue to reject bids for Kane even if they get close to £150m, as he is determined to keep hold of the striker.

Levy is also unwilling to let the 28-year-old leave as he does not feel that the club would be able to find a replacement in the final seven days of the transfer window.

Kane, who has spent his entire career with Spurs but has yet to win a major trophy, has expressed his desire to leave the club this summer with Pep Guardiola’s side believed to be his preferred destination.

The striker was not named in Tottenham’s squad for their opening day victory against Man City, but he did come off the bench in their 1-0 win away at Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend.

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Result: Harry Kane makes first appearance of season as Tottenham edge Wolves win

Harry Kane made his first appearance of the season for Tottenham as they claimed a 1-0 Premier League win on Nuno Espirito Santo’s return to Wolves.

The England captain was not involved in the opening two games of the season following his late return from holiday amid his desire to join Manchester City.

But with Spurs holding firm, he came on in the 72nd minute of a match that was decided by Dele Alli’s 10th-minute penalty.

Alli struck home from 12 yards after he was fouled by Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa as Nuno’s side made it two 1-0 wins from two Premier League matches.

It is two 1-0 defeats for Wolves as Bruno Lage waits for his first points since becoming Nuno’s replacement, but there were positive signs as they dominated large parts of the game.

Adama Traore was their biggest threat, but he missed the biggest chance as he was denied by Hugo Lloris when through on goal.

Even though he is keen to leave, Kane would have loved to have been on the pitch as Spurs were awarded an early penalty.

Sergio Reguilon’s incisive throughball found Alli and as he tried rounding Sa, the Wolves goalkeeper wiped him out with Stuart Attwell pointing straight to the spot.

With Kane on the bench, Alli assumed responsibility from the spot and confidently sent Sa the wrong way to give his side the lead, with his first Premier League goal since March 2020.

That was Tottenham’s only shot on goal in the first half as Wolves completely dominated, with Traore causing mayhem down the left.

The winger has been linked with a move to Spurs and he showcased his strengths in style with a marauding display.

He had the pace and power to beat Japhet Tanganga and as he surged into the area, he picked out Joao Moutinho, whose first-time flick teed up Jimenez but the Mexico striker curled the ball just over from the edge of the area.

Lage’s side continued to pin Spurs back and they had plenty of dangerous moments but lacked any clear-cut chances that tested Lloris.

The France goalkeeper was forced into a low save from a Ruben Neves drive from distance as Tottenham survived until half-time.

The second half followed a similar pattern as Wolves pinned the visitors back and the chances began to rack up.

Lloris had to make a smart low save to keep out Francisco Trincao’s effort from Nelson Semedo’s cut-back before the keeper proved why he has managed 300 Premier League appearances for Spurs.

Eric Dier got caught in possession on the halfway line, Neves sent Traore clean through but Lloris stayed big and saved the one-on-one chance.

The away side were on the rack but had the chance to kill the game with a rare foray forward.

Lloris’ goal-kick sent Steven Bergwijn through on goal and the Dutchman forced Sa into a fine low save with a low curling shot and then got up quickly to block Son’s rebound before another Son shot was blocked.

With Spurs up against it, Kane was introduced in the 72nd minute for his first appearance of the campaign.

Visiting supporters greeted his arrival with a chant of ‘Harry Kane, he’s one of our own’ and he immediately improved his side

He could have had a fairytale return to the side eight minutes after his arrival as he was played in after a brilliant piece of skill by Bergwijn, but his shot was saved by Sa from a narrow angle.

As Wolves pressed for an equaliser, chances opened at the other end for Tottenham as Dier had a header from a corner well saved and then Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg had a shot blocked.

Kane went over to the Spurs fans at full-time to celebrate the win and was well received as his future remains up in the air

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Tottenham Hotspur dealt major blow in Lautaro Martinez pursuit

Tottenham Hotspur’s pursuit of Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez appears to be dead in the water following the latest update from the Nerazzurri’s CEO Giuseppe Marotta.

With uncertainty continuing to surround the future of Harry Kane, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were thought to be making progress in their efforts to sign Martinez from cash-strapped Inter.

However, the Scudetto winners’ coffers have been boosted from the £97.5m sale of Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea, and Inter CEO Marotta has now confirmed that Martinez has made a decision on his Inter future.

Speaking to DAZN, Marotta said: “Lautaro Martinez has decided to stay at Inter, he strongly wants to stay also with many clubs approaching us with official bids to sign Lautaro. We’re so proud.”

The Argentine is therefore expected to pen an extension on his existing deal with expires in 2023, and he registered 17 goals and 10 assists from 38 Serie A games last season.

While Kane’s future at Tottenham is still not secure, Daniel Levy is supposedly refusing to accept Manchester City’s calls, and the 28-year-old has travelled with the team to face Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday

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Tottenham beaten by Pacos de Ferreira in first leg of Conference League play-off

Tottenham will have work to do in the second leg of their Europa Conference League play-off tie with Pacos de Ferreira after losing the first leg 1-0 in Portugal.

A much-changed team went down to Lucas Silva’s goal on the stroke of half-time and they did not have the firepower or quality to fight back, failing to muster a single shot on target.

It is not what Nuno Espirito Santo will have been wanting to see from players who are on the fringes of the side that beat Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday and he may now have to consider playing the likes of Son Heung-min, Lucas Moura, Steven Bergwijn and potentially even Harry Kane in next week’s second leg.

Spurs handed debuts to Pierluigi Gollini, Cristian Romero and Bryan Gil while teenagers Dane Scarlett and Nile John received their first starts as Nuno made 11 changes to the side that outplayed City.

There is a lot of excitement around Gil’s arrival from Sevilla and it was immediately easy to see why as inside the first five minutes he skinned the right-back and sent in a cross to Ryan Sessegnon, who could not get the ball under control and missed the chance to get a shot away.

That was as good as it got for Spurs, who struggled to keep possession and barely got into Pacos’ penalty area.

Pacos, who finished fifth in the Primeira Liga last season, began to take control and looked dangerous on the counter-attack, without ever really threatening

That changed on the brink of half-time as they took the lead with an incisive breakaway.

Harry Winks was beaten in a tackle, the ball ended up with Nuno Santos and Silva ran in between Romero and Cameron Carter-Vickers and finished coolly into the bottom corner.

Spurs defended better in the second half but could not get anywhere near an equaliser as they failed to have a shot on target.

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Tottenham Hotspur join Kurt Zouma race

Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly joined the race to sign Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma.

The Frenchman was initially tipped to head to Sevilla as part of a player-plus-cash deal for Jules Kounde, but a move for the 22-year-old appears to have hit a roadblock for the Blues.

Zouma has since been heavily linked with a transfer across the capital to West Ham United, although the centre-back’s wage demands are supposedly threatening to scupper a switch to the London Stadium.

Now, Sky Sports News reports that Spurs are keen to bring in a new centre-back after striking a deal for Cristian Romero, and Zouma features on the Lilywhites’ list of potential targets.

The report adds that West Ham are still in the race, but with Chelsea’s £25m valuation hindering negotiations, Zouma is happy to see out his Stamford Bridge deal, which expires in 2023.

The 26-year-old watched on from the bench during his side’s 3-0 win over Crystal Palace at the weekend, and he has registered 10 goals from 151 games in a Chelsea shirt

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HARRY KANE WILL JOIN THE SQUAD WHEN HE IS READY – NUNO SANTO

Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo says Harry Kane will join the squad when he is ready after missing the 1-0 win over Manchester City on Sunday.

Kane was not involved as Spurs beat the reigning champions 1-0 thanks to Son Heung-min’s second-half goal, putting on a show to suggest they may be okay even if their star striker gets his wish to leave.

The future of Kane, who is keen on a move to City, has been the major talking point of the summer and his late return to training meant that he was not included in the matchday squad for Spurs’ Premier League opener.

It is understood Kane was in the stadium to watch the game and he will have been left in no doubt how the fans feel about the situation following a loud rendition of “are you watching Harry Kane?”.

Kane trained on Sunday morning and Nuno said: “Harry, like (new signings) Bryan (Gil), Cristian Romero, they joined us later.

“For Cristian and Bryan it was very important to be here today. To feel the atmosphere and be in the stadium and be in the hotel, attending the meeting, but knowing they don’t have too many sessions with us.

“Harry worked this morning, he is preparing himself and when he is ready he will join the group and help the team.”

Nuno added on Sky Sports when asked about the fans’ chants: “Look, Harry Kane is one of the best players in the world, honestly.

“We are very lucky to have him. He has to get ready and help the team. We still have to go to Portugal (to play Pacos de Ferreira in the Europa Conference League play-offs) then we think about Wolves.”

While Kane was late in reporting back for pre-season training, his fellow forward Son was busy signing a new contract and endeared himself to the Tottenham fans yet further by scoring a 55th-minute winner.

The South Korean loves playing against City – this was the seventh time he has scored against them and the fourth in four games in north London.

Son earned the plaudits, but it was the performance of Japhet Tanganga that was most impressive as he kept Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish largely quiet.

Nuno added: “All the team did very well, but Japhet was huge today. He faced too many one-v-ones today against fantastic players and he dealt fantastic with the situation.

“There’s no perfection, we still have a long way to go to be perfect and probably we will never achieve it, but I’m really proud of the way the players worked and really thankful for the support of the fans.

“It was huge the way they helped the team until the final minute, helping the boys, and we are very thankful for it.”

With this game out of the way, City may well now intensify their pursuit of Kane, which has so far amounted to an opening £100million bid – some way off what Spurs want to even get to the negotiating table.

Their need for a striker was obvious in north London as they missed several chances, but Pep Guardiola, who last week revealed he wants to sign Kane, was not prepared to bite this time when asked if this performance showed why they need the Spurs man.

“We are the same people as last season, Sergio (Aguero) has gone unfortunately but we only had him for seven games,” he said.

“We are the same people. We won the Premier League and we made very good things. It is a tough rival, we did everything to win.

“It is the same people as last season and we scored loads of goals. It has happened, we were there, we arrived many times and today we could not score and it is the same mystery. We are good enough to score a goal.”

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TOTTENHAM BEAT MANCHESTER CITY WITH LONE GOAL FROM HEUNG-MIN SON

Nuno Espirito Santo started his tenure as Tottenham Hotspur manager with a 1-0 win over 2020-21 Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday.

Harry Kane, who has been linked with a move to City, wasn’t in the squad for the match.

Son Heung-Min scored the game’s only goal in the second half after a strong counter-attack from Tottenham.

The goal came against the run of play with City dominating possession and shots.

Spurs broke with the ball after Hugo Lloris had saved a City attempt. Steven Bergwijn found Son who had raced down the pitch. He slotted the ball past Ederson who didn’t have time to dive to save it.

England captain Kane only returned to training with Spurs on Friday after an extended break following Euro 2020.