Here are your Tottenham evening headlines for Wednesday, April 22.
Spurs target Atalanta star
Tottenham have entered the battle to sign Atalanta right-back Timothy Castagne, according to Tutto Mercato.
Sport/Foot reported that Leicester City were interested in Castagne as a potential replacement for Ricardo Pereira – should he leave the Foxes.
But Spurs may also be interested as Jose Mourinho looks to strengthen the right-back slot, with Serge Aurier the only established player in that position.
The report suggests that the club have been ‘sending signals’ to Castagne who has not yet decided whether to leave the Serie A club.
Defoe lifts lid on transfer regret
Jermain Defoe has described handing a transfer request at West Ham United as a massive regret in his career.
The striker submitted a transfer request less than 24 hours following the Hammers' relegation from the Premier League in 2003, upsetting fans after West Ham had dropped down into the Championship.
The request was turned down and Defoe stayed at West Ham, scoring 15 more times before joining Spurs in February 2004.
“I remember my agent phoning me, and he said he had a phone call from Daniel Levy," Defoe said, speaking to Sky Sports as part of a Transfer Talk podcast. "Of course it was going to be tough to leave West Ham, but it was going to happen at some point.
“I thought, I want to be playing back in the Premier League and to be playing for a club like Tottenham, I thought, yes come on, let’s make it happen.
“I remember getting a phone call about Leeds, but when I got the Tottenham call, I thought that’s where I want to go."
PL clubs urged to block Newcastle takeover
The Premier League's largest overseas broadcasting partner has written to the top flight and its 20 clubs urging them to block the potential takeover of Newcastle United.
Newcastle's takeover moved a step closer last week after Mike Ashley entered into a £300m agreement with a consortium led by American businesswoman Amanda Staveley, and backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.
But in a letter seen by The Times, Qatar-based television channel beIN has asked the Premier league to block the potential takeover, accusing Saudi Arabia of playing their part in pirate broadcasts of matches.
Yousef al-Obaidly, the chief executive of beIN, wrote to the chairmen of Premier League clubs saying: "The potential acquirer of Newcastle United [has] caused huge damage to your club’s and the Premier League’s commercial revenues.
"The legacy of the illegal service will continue to impact you going forward," the letter said. "When the Premier League season re-commences in the coming months, all of the league’s broadcasters’ content will continue to be readily and illegally available via the IPTV streaming functionality on the beoutQ set-top-boxes which were sold in significant quantities in Saudi Arabia and the broader MENA [Middle East and North Africa] region.
"There appear to be several reasons why such an investigation is being called for by other parties; our request is purely based on Saudi Arabia's past and present theft of your and your member clubs' intellectual property rights."
