Tottenham Hotspur have been incredibly active in the transfer window so far this summer, but they have now pulled the plug on one deal according to Sky Sports Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg.

Spurs have already brought in Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Martin Dubravka on free transfers, while they also signed Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton and broke their club-record to sign Mateus Fernandes from West Ham in an £85m deal.

The club also agreed a £100m deal to sign Newcastle star Sandro Tonali this week, cementing their ambitions to climb up the table after back-to-back 17th-placed finishes in the Premier League, but they have now backed out of a deal for another signing.

Tottenham Pull Out of Move to Sign Palhinha

via Reuters

Tottenham are pushing to strengthen their squad, and new manager Roberto De Zerbi had previously stated that he wanted the club to retain Portugal international Joao Palhinha as part of the squad following his loan spell in 2025/26.

The holding midfielder was described as ‘one of the best’ by the Italian coach, and had made a return to north London his priority for this window despite having agreed terms with Sporting CP over a potential move, with Bayern Munich desperate to cash in on a permanent deal.

But after completing a deal for Fernandes and agreeing terms over a move for Tonali, Spurs have now pulled the plug on any return.

“Joao Palhinha is set to return to FC Bayern for now,” Plettenberg wrote. “The Tottenham deal is now 100% off following the signings of Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes.

“A possible move to Sporting is also complicated due to Bayern’s asking price. There are further interested clubs. Talks are ongoing.”

Tottenham Make Right Decision

via Reuters

Palhinha proved what everyone already knew last season with his performances. The 30-year-old is a strong defensive player, who covers ground well, but has limitations with his passing.

The fact that he scored the goals that ultimately kept Spurs in the Premier League may have made the sentiment of keeping him at the club difficult to ignore, but ultimately they have signed major upgrades on him now, and it makes sense to let him leave.

With Tonali and Fernandes joining the likes of Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray, Rodrigo Bentancur, and Pape Matar Sarr in the squad, there is no space for Palhinha and it makes sense to put that money towards strengthening other areas of the squad instead.

The Egyptian FA have released a statement after ‘shocking’ footage of their team director, Ibrahim Hassan, clashing with US police in Dallas emerged.

Egypt are enjoying a fine World Cup. The Pharaohs opened up their campaign with an impressive 1-1 draw against Belgium.

They then won their first ever match at a World Cup as they defeated New Zealand 3-1, before drawing 1-1 with Iran to secure a second-placed finish in Group G.

Egypt’s reward for finishing second in their group is a last 32 tie against Australia, which is set to take place at Dallas Stadium on Friday, July 3.

However, there have been some ugly scenes involving police and Hassan ahead of the match.

Egypt Respond to Hassan’s Clash With US Police

REUTERS/Albert Gea

In footage posted to social media, former Aston Villa ace Trezeguet can be seen signing a shirt and then posing for a selfie with a youngster when team director Hassan walks over to join him.

But tensions escalated when an individual with ‘Dallas Police’ on the back of his shirt made his way to Hassan to have words with him. After a brief exchange, the police officer appeared to shove Hassan backwards before shouting “Back off!” multiple times.

The two were quickly separated, with Hassan being dragged away by Trezeguet and other individuals present at the scene.

A source within the Egyptian national football team has spoken to Egypt Independent to explain exactly what happened. The source said:

The source added that the situation was minor, quickly resolved, and that no boundaries were crossed by either party.

Mohamed Salah Available To Play Against Australia

Ken Blaze (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters)

There were doubts whether Mohamed Salah, considered one of the greatest African players in football history, would be available to play against Australia due to a hamstring issue he sustained against Iran. However, the 34-year-old will feature in the match, according to manager Hossam Hassan.

He said, per ESPN: “Against Iran, we learned that he suffered a hamstring strain during the second half of the match and asked to be substituted. Our very distinguished medical department took care of that, and we tried to introduce him to partial team training as of yesterday only.

“But Salah is a passionate player; he is very much looking forward to making his own contributions with his teammates tomorrow.

“But of course, I am not going to run any risk unless I am sure that he is 100 percent sure of the fact that he is fit and raring to go tomorrow. We look forward to him playing tomorrow, not sure though whether he is going to be in the starting lineup.”

The winner of the match between Egypt and Australia will play either Argentina or Cape Verde in the last 16.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has now issued a strong reaction to Folarin Balogun’s controversial red card, which has ruled the USMNT’s leading 2026 World Cup goalscorer out of the last 16 clash against Belgium.

Balogun was shown a straight red card by Brazilian referee Raphael Claus during USA’s 2-0 victory over Bosnia & Herzegovina in the Round of 32 earlier this week.

Slow-motion replays of Balogun’s foul on Bosnia defender Tarik Muharemovic convinced Claus that a red card was warranted. However, US head coach Mauricio Pochettino insisted “it’s never a red card”, adding: “Watching after on TV… there was never intention to step on the player. [It’s] a normal action in football that happened by accident. It’s never intentional.”

VAR expert Andy Davies said Balogun “can feel unfortunate to be red carded in this situation as, in my opinion, this was not a red card offence.”

He also claimed that a VAR protocol was broken during the review that resulted in the former Arsenal player’s dismissal.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio Speaks Out

REUTERS/Marco Bello

FIFA’s rules mean that US cannot appeal against Balogun’s red card. USMNT fans have urged Donald Trump to intervene, but even the US President may be powerless in this instance.

Meanwhile, Marco Rubio, Washington’s top diplomat and prominent member of Trump’s cabinet, has now reacted to the controversial decision. He said:

Indeed, it’s extremely unlikely at this stage that FIFA will overturn the decision. In fact, there’s even a chance that Balogun could miss further games – provided the USMNT reach the quarter-finals – should FIFA’s disciplinary committee choose to extend the suspension.

USMNT: 12th Favourites For World Cup Glory

US players via Reuters/Troy Wayrynen

The US take on Belgium at the Seattle Stadium on Monday night. Win that game and they’ll face either Portugal or Spain at the Los Angeles Stadium in the quarter-finals on Friday, July 10.

The USMNT currently have a 2.06% chance of lifting the iconic World Cup trophy for the first time at the New York New Jersey Stadium on July 19, according to Opta’s Supercomputer, making them the 12th favourites as things stand.

France are currently the red-hot favourites, followed by Lionel Messi’s Argentina and then Spain, who made light work of Austria in the Round of 32.

But with home advantage and a strong team spirit under Pochettino, one of the world’s best coaches over the past decade, the USA are dark horses to create one of the biggest shocks in football history.