It continues to be a very exciting summer for Tottenham Hotspur and their players at this World Cup, with plenty of topics to discuss. What offseason, right?
So let’s take a spin through the latest news and notes items making the rounds on the internet today.
-In a few hours, England will take on Belgium in a match that will determine the group stage winner. However, with both sides already through to the knockout round, each team will rest a lot of their starters.
Additionally, the path forward for the Group G winner will actually be much more difficult than the road ahead for the runner-up. The group winner will likely see Brazil, the highest ranked team left in the tournament and new current favorite, in the quarterfinals.
Thus, both teams might want to treat this game a bit like a friendly. England manager Gareth Southgate made eight changes from his side that destroyed Panama. Harry Kane is among those who will sit.
-Kane is on the same level as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, according to Tottenham legend Ledley King. The Daily Express has more in this interview feature piece.
-Next we shift from the World Cup to the transfer window, and discuss two transfer rumors that involve the same team. Spurs want Manchester United forward Anthony Martial, and United want Spurs defender Toby Alderweireld. SB Nation’s Tottenham community, the poetically titled Cartilage Free Captain, have a post discussing a Manchester Evening News report claiming that United rejected an overture from Spurs for Martial.
This rejection is apparently retaliation for Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy living up to his reputation as a hard nosed negotiator in regards to the idea of Toby Alderweireld going the other way.
It basically boils down to this: United approached Spurs with a £55m bid for Toby, but Spurs insisted that any deal should include Martial. United boss Jose Mourinho is fine with that and has no problems selling to a rival, but the United front office would rather sell Martial overseas. Without Martial, Spurs have quoted United “silly prices” for Toby, and the whole thing goes on and on.
Well, this is exactly why it’s called the silly season, and it should be a lot of fun to see this all play out between now and when the transfer market officially closes.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud and YouTube. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to any and all of his.