Tottenham Round-Up, Friday 30th October: Maddison Passed Fit for Crystal Palace as Kane's Ballon D'Or Win Sparks Plenty of Talk
Spurs head into Saturday night's home clash with Crystal Palace on the back of back-to-back Premier League wins, and Roberto De Zerbi has used his press conference to warn against complacency, saying his side "can't ask for time" to keep improving (Spurs Web). The head coach also revealed there was an honest squad discussion before the turnaround in form, which began with the draw at Manchester United (Spurs Web).
The big team news is that James Maddison is available after his injury scare in the win at Chelsea, with De Zerbi confirming the playmaker is fit to feature (ESPN) (BBC Sport). Several outlets picked up on the manager's "three-word" update and general positivity around Maddison (Sports Mole) (Spurs Web) (TeamTalk) (Football.London) (TottenhamHotspur.com) (Football.London) (Spurs Web), with the club's official site also confirming there are no fresh concerns following the midweek trip and describing Maddison as a "special" player (TottenhamHotspur.com) (TottenhamHotspur.com) (Football.London). Tottenham.com further confirmed Destiny Udogie is back available, while Lucas Bergvall, Savio and Tosin remain out for the Palace game (TottenhamHotspur.com). Elsewhere, De Zerbi gave his thoughts on Mathys Tel, praising the forward while also pointing to two areas he still needs to work on (Spurs Web), and it's been reported Tel is putting in extra effort behind the scenes to improve (Spurs Web). The Guardian's weekend preview also namechecks Tel as one of the new arrivals catching the eye in the Premier League this season (The Guardian).
Dejan Kulusevski has been speaking candidly about his long road back from a serious knee injury, revealing there was a point during his 526 days out where he couldn't even walk up stairs and admitting he feared his career might be over (ESPN) (Spurs Web). Spurs Web also note that De Zerbi's summer plan for Micky van de Ven appears to be paying off, according to early-season stats (Spurs Web).
Harry Kane's Ballon d'Or triumph continues to generate headlines around the club. Tottenham have marked the achievement with a digital mural of their former captain at the training ground (Evening Standard), while a Tottenham insider has described it as a "shame" that former team-mate Dele Alli's situation has been overshadowed by Kane's success (Football365). The Sun claims Spurs may miss out on a financial windfall after failing to include a Ballon d'Or bonus clause when Kane moved to Bayern Munich (The Sun). Separately, Kane has named his pick of the best strikers of all time, a list that includes a Spurs icon (GiveMeSport), while a former Tottenham forward has spoken about how difficult he found it competing with Kane during his own time at the club (Football.London). Former manager Tim Sherwood also weighed in on a different old boy, suggesting Mousa Dembele was good enough to have played for Real Madrid (Spurs Web).
On the transfer front, Pedro Porro has again addressed his future, insisting he would "love" to return to Spain one day despite having signed a new Tottenham contract, while denying he received any offers from Real Madrid or Barcelona over the summer (ESPN) (GiveMeSport) (Evening Standard) (Football365). Spurs have also been linked with Sporting Lisbon's highly-rated winger, with reports suggesting his release clause has emerged amid interest from several Premier League clubs (Spurs Web). Bournemouth striker Eli Junior Kroupi remains on Tottenham's radar too, though Spurs Web report he now faces extra competition for his signature and that the player himself has dropped a hint about his future (Spurs Web) (Spurs Web). Besiktas defender Emirhan Topcu, also linked with Spurs, is reportedly attracting interest from Hull City and Nice (Spurs Web), while reports continue to link the club with Nicolo Tresoldi, with suggestions a cheaper January option could be needed (Spurs Web). Away from the first team, Tottenham have confirmed a new contract for Tandberg (TottenhamHotspur.com), and Wales captain Ben Davies has spoken about an unusual move he may consider once he retires (Football.London).
Looking ahead to Saturday, former midfielder Jamie O'Hara has backed De Zerbi's Spurs to challenge for a Champions League spot following their recent upturn in form (Spurs Web), and pundit Chris Sutton has offered a score prediction for the Palace game that fans will enjoy (Spurs Web), with a supercomputer also giving its verdict on Tottenham's chances of making it three league wins in a row (Spurs Web).
This round-up is written with the help of AI, using only the day's headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.