Here are your Tottenham Hotspur evening headlines for Thursday, January 7.
Hugo Lloris exit tipped
Hugo Lloris has been tipped to leave Spurs in the near future as he enters the final 18 months of his current contract.
The Frenchman has been Spurs' number one shot-stopper for just short of a decade, but Darren Bent believes that he could be about to leave now that Jose Mourinho is in place of Mauricio Pochettino, who the players had great respect for and loyalty to.
"We know how much players loved him at Spurs," the former Spurs striker told Football Insider. "I did an interview with Hugo Lloris and I tried to touch on the impact that Mourinho’s had coming in on the players’ mindset and he didn’t want to address it at all because they’ve all got this loyal relationship with Pochettino.
"He took them to a Championship League final and he absolutely loves them too. So I think that might be a slight concern: him going to PSG, one of the richest teams about, him being French as well and getting on in age. He’s probably thinking ‘I wouldn’t mind maybe going there.’
"If Poch gives them a phone call, how can you turn down Champions League football and the chance to go and work with someone that took you to the next level, believed in you."
Roy Keane on Carabao Cup final
Roy Keane believes that Spurs will not play scared when they face Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final - because of Mourinho's ruthless winning tactics.
Spurs and City qualified for the final with midweek wins over Brentford and Manchester United respectively. The pair will meet later this year, and Keane believes that Mourinho's tactical approach will provide his players with a fearless attitude against the insatiable City.
"Brilliant, I think it’s a great final," he said on Sky Sports. "I think it’s exciting with City’s record in the competition, Pep and obviously Jose - it’s brilliant. It’s set up for a great game. Spurs obviously have a number of years without a trophy, it should be a fantastic game.
"Spurs won’t be fearful of playing Man City. Jose will set up for it in terms of playing on the counter-attack which they’ve done previously and got results against them. They’ll have no fear, they have the attacking duo of Son and Kane who fancy their chances against anybody.
"We talk about Pep’s CV, look at Mourinho’s CV - absolutely fantastic."
Mourinho's nightmare coming true
While Spurs' progression in the Carabao Cup provides the team with the chance to end a 13-year trophy drought, something supporters will be eager to see the team achieve, it could yield a nightmare situation for Mourinho and his players, as revealed by ESPN's Dale Johnson.
In an already truncated schedule, Spurs face the prospect of playing 38 games between now and May if they reach the finals of the FA Cup and Europa League.
Both league matches will need to be rearranged after their New Year's Day affair was postponed due to Covid-19 and the Carabao Cup final clashes with the return fixture. Meanwhile, deep runs in the FA Cup and Europa League could yield a nightmare schedule for Mourinho.
This comes after the typically packed festive period, as well as a hectic four games in eight days earlier in the season during Europa League qualifying which Mourinho labelled "inhuman".
