HAB RACE: Totteham has signed Strasbourg midfielder who is Aston Villa and Wolves target €150m Done Deal  NINE club transfer chase for Strasbourg’s £150m-rated starlet Habib Diarra

HAB RACE: Totteham has signed Strasbourg midfielder who is Aston Villa and Wolves target €150m Done Deal  NINE club transfer chase for Strasbourg’s £150m-rated starlet Habib Diarra

Tottenham news: Giovani Lo Celso ‘wants’ Napoli move as Premier League change announced

Here is your Tottenham morning round-up on Friday, August 18.

Lo Celso targets Napoli move to end Tottenham spell

Giovani Lo Celso is ‘hoping’ to rubber-stamp a transfer to Napoli before the summer deadline passes.

That’s according to reports from Italian publication, Tutto Mercato, as speculation on the Argentina playmaker and his future in the Premier League continues to spiral. Lo Celso, 27, signed for Tottenham permanently from Real Betis in 2020 and has spent the last two seasons on loan with Villarreal.

During that time, he made 51 appearances, adding three goals and four assists. Returning to the UK this summer, Lo Celso is reported to hold a ‘strong desire’ to move to Napoli, as the midfielder ‘sees his future’ at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium. Discussions are ‘set to resume’ in the coming days.

Premier League games moved for TV coverage

Tottenham’s supporters can start planning their travels for October after the Premier League confirmed the latest batch of TV fixtures. Starting the month off with away game vs newly-promoted Luton Town, Ange Postecoglou’s men will still visit Kenilworth Road on Saturday, October 7 – but a new kick-off time is now in place.

That match against the Hatters will now get underway at 12.30pm rather than an initial 3pm start time. It has been pencilled in for live screening on TNT Sports – with other fixtures also being switched for broadcasting.

Tottenham news: Giovani Lo Celso ‘wants’ Napoli move as Premier League change announced

Tottenham news: Catch up with the latest Spurs headlines including updates on Giovani Lo Celso, their Premier League fixtures and Harry Kane

Lo Celso returned to Tottenham following two seasons on loan at Villarreal. (Image: Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

Here is your Tottenham morning round-up on Friday, August 18.

Lo Celso targets Napoli move to end Tottenham spell

Giovani Lo Celso is ‘hoping’ to rubber-stamp a transfer to Napoli before the summer deadline passes.

That’s according to reports from Italian publication, Tutto Mercato, as speculation on the Argentina playmaker and his future in the Premier League continues to spiral. Lo Celso, 27, signed for Tottenham permanently from Real Betis in 2020 and has spent the last two seasons on loan with Villarreal.

During that time, he made 51 appearances, adding three goals and four assists. Returning to the UK this summer, Lo Celso is reported to hold a ‘strong desire’ to move to Napoli, as the midfielder ‘sees his future’ at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium. Discussions are ‘set to resume’ in the coming days.

Read the full story here.

READ MORE: Daniel Levy has 14 transfer deals to sign off for Ange Postecoglou before deadline

Premier League games moved for TV coverage

Tottenham’s supporters can start planning their travels for October after the Premier League confirmed the latest batch of TV fixtures. Starting the month off with away game vs newly-promoted Luton Town, Ange Postecoglou’s men will still visit Kenilworth Road on Saturday, October 7 – but a new kick-off time is now in place.

That match against the Hatters will now get underway at 12.30pm rather than an initial 3pm start time. It has been pencilled in for live screening on TNT Sports – with other fixtures also being switched for broadcasting.

Read the full story here.

Tottenham hero Harry Kane teases new boot deal

Harry Kane has teased a huge new boot deal following his departure from Tottenham Hotspur.

The 30-year-old sealed his transfer to Bayern Munich last week, bringing an end to a glittering career at Spurs. The England captain has already made his Bayern debut, coming off the substitutes bench in a cup defeat to RB Leipzig on Saturday night.

Eagle-eyed supporters noticed Kane had been wearing blacked-out football boots after his deal with Nike expired in July. It has been reported by Footy Headlines that Kane has signed a deal with Skechers – the footwear company that specialises in trainers.

Spurs: Postecoglou could sign £33m-rated Rasmus Hojlund upgrade

Tottenham Hotspur have kicked the rumour mill into overdrive with the sale of Harry Kane, as every outlet seeks to predict who will be the man chosen to replace the England captain…

Who will replace Harry Kane at Tottenham Hotspur?

With options ranging from young and hungry upstarts to experienced and ageing stalwarts, Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou certainly has his pick of the bunch going into this new season.

Having seen his transfer war chest likely replenished, and a squad already bolstered by his earlier additions, the Lilywhites could look decidedly different come the start of September under their new manager.

Especially if they are to opt for the latter of those two groups, with Romelu Lukaku one touted name that refuses to disappear this week, given his current exile from both his parent club Chelsea and Italian football.

The north London outfit could offer him a lifeline, although the 30-year-old hardly aligns with the fast-paced philosophy that the new manager is seeking to employ.

FootballTransfers value the Belgium international at just €38.3m (£33m), which could actually represent better value than another striker signed by their rivals this window.

How good is Romelu Lukaku?

With a glittering CV worthy of the illustrious clubs he has frequented, the former Everton star has earned a bit of a reputation as something of a journeyman. After all, he has accumulated the second-highest combined transfer fee across his various moves.

Once one of the Premier League’s most feared forwards, his stock has fallen dramatically with his recent return to Stamford Bridge which saw him swiftly shipped back out on loan to Inter Milan.

However, there likely remains a top player still inside, as he still scored 87 goals in 166 games for the Toffees, 78 goals in 132 games for the Nerazzurri, and 42 goals in 96 games for Manchester United, via Transfermarkt.

It was only a few years ago that Scott McTominay even suggested he was a “world-class striker” too, with his form in front of goal branded “deadly”.

Should Postecoglou settle on Lukaku as the man to spearhead his new-look side in the absence of Kane, then understandably comparisons would be made to Rasmus Hojliund, who is the other big-name no.9 to have joined one of the traditional ‘top six’ sides this summer.

Welcomed to Old Trafford in a £72m move, there is understandably plenty of pressure on the shoulders of the young Denmark international.

However, all the figures from last season suggest that he would struggle even to surpass the ageing marksman, who upstaged him on his return to Serie A.

In what was just a one-year loan return to the San Siro, Belgium’s all-time top scorer posted ten league strikes and assisted a further six, even aiding their historic run to the Champions League final with four goal contributions in eight games.

Meanwhile, Hojlund could only manage nine goals and four assists across seven additional games in Serie A, with what he might offer to Erik ten Hag’s system clearly preferred to someone with more proficiency.

Not only this but his average rating in the league was bested (6.73 v 7.09), as was his goal conversion rate (17% v 20%) and key passes made per game (0.8 v 1.3).

Despite FBref seeking to emphasise comparisons between the two, placing the former Atalanta ace atop Lukaku’s ‘similar players’ list, it seems that there remains a gulf in quality likely enforced by their difference in experience.

There is every reason to believe that the youngster will one day surpass the hulking forward, but for now, the latter would certainly mark an upgrade who is more likely to be an instant hit.