Ange Postecoglou has a large number of players back at Hotspur Way for Tottenham’s pre-season but a section of them will likely only be returning temporarily.
One noticeable aspect from the gathering of first players back at the Enfield training complex is the number of players who are unlikely to start the season with the club. Some of them are those returning from loan spells away from Tottenham while others are being linked with moves away from the north London outfit this summer.
Spurs’ non-international players were back on Saturday for their initial testing at Hotspur Way with the sports science staff before Sunday provided the return of training sessions under Postecoglou and his coaching staff. Captain Son Heung-min returned on Monday morning, the day he turned 32, after South Korea’s international matches concluded that little bit later.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Micky van de Ven, Radu Dragusin and Guglielmo Vicario are not back yet, having been involved for their countries at Euro 2024 while Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso and Rodrigo Bentancur have been in action at the Copa America in the USA.
Which players who have already returned to Hotspur Way could end up saying their farewells at Tottenham before the new Premier League season gets up and running with the trip to Leicester City on August 19. We take a look at the likely candidates.
Sergio Reguilon
The 27-year-old has only played 67 times for Tottenham since arriving four years ago in the summer of 2020. The Spanish left-back has spent the past two seasons on loan at Atletico Madrid, Manchester United and then Brentford and is not expected to be part of Postecoglou’s plans again this coming season.
Reguilon has just a year left on his contract at the club and his impressive spell at Brentford in particular should ensure there are interested parties this month in ensuring his return to Hotspur Way is only temporary.
Djed Spence
Spence was shown this week reuniting with Archie Gray on the training ground pitches after their time together at Leeds last season before the Spurs right-back enjoyed a more successful loan period at Genoa in the second half of the campaign.
Genoa want to bring the 23-year-old back to Italy on a more permanent basis but have thus far been unable to agree a price for the full-back, who has three years left on his contract at the north London club.
He played 16 times for Genoa last season in Serie A and seven times for Leeds in the Championship. He has only played six times for Tottenham since arriving two years ago.
Bryan Gil
Another 23-year-old player signed under former managing director of football Fabio Paratici who just hasn’t been able to find his place at Tottenham since arriving in 2021, with a string of loans to his name. Gil turned down a loan move to Brighton in January this year but only got 12 minutes of action after that.
He needs a move to kick-start his career again, with two years left on his contract at Spurs, and clubs across the continent have been considering him in recent months.
Troy Parrott
The 22-year-old Republic of Ireland international is yet to get involved with pre-season training. He has been at Hotspur Way though in the past week or so as he had been doing rehabilitation work on an injury picked up on international duty last month. That came after an impressive campaign in the Netherlands during which he scored 17 goals for struggling Excelsior Rotterdam despite their relegation from the Eredivisie.
football.london have previously reported that AZ Alkmaar are showing the most interest in signing Parrott this summer, but have not yet agreed a fee for the striker.
Emerson Royal
Postecoglou could need Emerson for a while this summer in the converted centre-back role he had last season because all of the senior players in that role have been on tournament duty, leaving 19-year-old Ashley Phillips as the only natural centre-back currently involved in first team training. Ben Davies can also play in that role as he did during the last campaign.
AC Milan have been showing the most interest in Emerson, as previously have Flamengo and sides in the Saudi Pro League, but the Italian side will have to meet Tottenham’s valuation if the Brazilian is to be prevented from going on the pre-season tour to Japan and South Korea later this month with the Spurs squad.
Alejo Veliz
Likely to be a loan departure here but Veliz has been back at Spurs for pre-season training this week following a near pointless spell at Sevilla in the second half of the previous campaign where game time was near non-existent.
The 20-year-old is likely to get another loan move to continue his development because his foreign player status means Tottenham might not be able to register him for the Europa League, depending on how the next few weeks go.
Jamie Donley
Another potential loan departure as Postecoglou has a decision to make over Donley. The Australian handed the 19-year-old three Premier League appearances and one in the FA Cup last season but there are a queue of clubs looking to take the talented teenager on loan next season.
That regular football and minutes could be more beneficial for Donley than the odd late appearance in the Europa League and domestic cup competitions at Tottenham in the months ahead.
Postecoglou could well have another good look at him this preseason but Championship clubs like Luton and Oxford United, as well as League One sides Birmingham City and Bristol Rovers have all been keeping an eye on Donley’s situation.
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