Tottenham Hotspur have been offered the chance to sign AC Milan forward Rafael Leao by super-agent Jorge Mendes, according to reports in Italy, via Sport Witness.

Spurs have been incredibly busy in the window so far, breaking their club record to sign Matheus Fernandes in an £85m deal from West Ham, while they have also agreed a £100m deal to sign Sandro Tonali, having already completed deals for Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi, Martin Dubravka, and Jan Paul van Hecke.

But the club are now looking at options to strengthen their attack for Roberto De Zerbi, and they’ve been given the opportunity to complete another mega deal.

Tottenham Offered Rafael Leao

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Leao, who has been described as a ‘superstar’, looks certain to leave AC Milan this summer as he enters the final two years of his contract at the San Siro, after the club failed to reach the Champions League for next season.

The Portugal international is currently representing his country at the World Cup, but has publicly spoken about his desire for a new challenge this summer, with a move to England understood to be at the top of his wishlist.

Mendes helped to broker the deal that took Fernandes to Spurs, and it’s understood that he is likely to have made the offer of taking Leao to the club during those talks.

Milan want around €60m (£51.4m) to let Leao leave, but with limited interest currently it’s reported that they would be open to a loan deal with an obligation to buy too, which could help Spurs as they prepare for a hugely impactful summer of spending to bolster their squad.

Currently there has only been concrete interest in the 27-year-old from Turkey, but he isn’t interested in moving there at this stage of his career, and Spurs could be an ideal landing spot for him later in the window.

Leao Would Be Game-Changer for Spurs

Tottenham need attacking reinforcements as a priority now, having addressed their defence and midfield areas nice and early.

Dejan Kulusevski missed the entirety of last season due to injury and there is no update on his return, while Mohammed Kudus missed a large chunk, and both Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert are recovering from ACL tears.

Leao would bring the ability to win a game on his own, and De Zerbi’s system tends to make the wingers the most important components, isolating defenders to get them one-on-one regularly. That’s where Leao thrives, and a loan being an option means this is a deal to keep a close eye on as the summer goes on.

Every World Cup scoreboard carries the same shorthand: three letters that stand for a nation and most are instantly recognizable.

England, for example, is ENG, Brazil is clearly BRA and GER stands for Germany, and so on. However, it isn’t as black and white for every country in the tournament.

Some seem to make little to no sense at all. There are those that possess codes that don’t match how English-speaking fans say their name — and the logic behind it is surprisingly more interesting than it looks.

Here’s a look into some World Cup trivia.

Why Are Spain ESP?

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This one is easily explained, but Spain features an ESP rather than SPA. In this case, it comes from the country’s own name for itself: España.

The FIFA country codes are typically built from a nation’s official name rather than the English translation. Spain is one of the clearest examples of this. Yet, if FIFA had gone with the English word, the code would more plausibly read SPA.

Why Are Switzerland SUI?

Switzerland‘s case is a little deeper. The country has four national languages (German, French, Italian and Romansh), but FIFA’s code doesn’t borrow any of the obvious options.

SUI comes from Suisse, which is the French name for the country. It also isn’t SWI, the English-based abbreviation that fans would assume, and it isn’t CHE either (Switzerland’s separate ISO code taken from the Latin title and used mainly for postal and diplomatic purposes rather than sport). Hence, why Switzerland is SUI.

List of World Cup 2026 Team Abbreviations

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Spain and Switzerland aren’t the only outliers; they are two among a group that follow a similar pattern. Take Morocco (MAR) and Ivory Coast (CIV) as examples. Those two follow the same French-derived logic as SUI, taken from Maroc and Côte d’Ivoire, respectively.

Then there are some codes that exist purely to avoid collisions. Austria becomes AUT rather than the more obvious AUS due to the fact Australia claimed the code first.

A third group also exists; it leans into formality rather than geographic. Saudi Arabia (KSA) and South Africa (RSA) both use codes from their full official titles. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of South Africa — rather than the shorthand for the country name alone.

Penalty shootouts are football’s ultimate psychological battle. While power and placement remain crucial, many of the world’s best penalty takers now rely on deception just as much as technique. One of the most common methods is the stutter or stop-start run-up — a style that divides opinion every time it appears on the biggest stage.

From World Cups to the Premier League, players such as Jorginho, Bruno Fernandes and Neymar have made the technique famous, while tournaments like Euro 2024 and the World Cup have again sparked debates over whether the tactic gives shooters too much of an advantage. So, why is it legal, how do players execute it, and which penalties have become the most memorable examples?

What is the Stutter Run-Up in Penalties?

A stutter run-up is exactly what it sounds like: rather than running continuously towards the ball, the penalty taker briefly slows down, hesitates or changes rhythm before striking it.

The objective is simple: before committing to a corner before the kick, the taker waits to see whether the goalkeeper moves first. If the keeper dives early, the striker can calmly place the ball in the opposite direction.

It differs from the illegal feint because the hesitation happens during the run-up, before the kicking leg begins its final swing towards the ball.

It is legal, provided it is performed correctly. The IFAB Laws of the Game state that players are allowed to feint during the run-up to confuse the goalkeeper. However, once the player has completed the run-up and starts the kicking motion, they cannot stop completely or perform another exaggerated feint before striking the ball.

If a player illegally feints after completing the run-up, they are cautioned for unsporting behaviour and the penalty is recorded as missed if the ball enters the goal.

The rule attempts to balance the contest between the taker and goalkeeper whilst preventing attackers from gaining an unfair advantage at the very last moment.

How do players perform a stutter penalty?

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Most players follow a similar process, taking a controlled rather than explosive run-up, slowing slightly one or two strides before reaching the ball. They watch the keeper’s movement rather than focusing solely on the ball, and strike into the opposite corner if the goalkeeper commits early. Issues can arise should the goalkeeper remain firm and not commit, meaning the taker must pick a side and execute clearly.

The technique demands exceptional composure. If the goalkeeper refuses to move, the taker still needs to generate enough power and accuracy despite interrupting their own momentum.

Former England goalkeeper Ben Foster has repeatedly explained why the tactic is so hard to face, saying: “Don’t dive too early because, while he’s running up, you don’t want to be moving in the direction you’re going to go because the better players will just roll it in the opposite corner.”

He recently said on The Two Robbies & Friends Podcast: “The second you stutter, you can’t get the same amount of purchase on the ball. I can wait and still save it.”

Notable Stutter Run-Up Penalties

There have been plenty of penalties during the 2026 World Cup campaign. Justin Kluivert noticeably missed his stutter penalty during the Netherlands’ penalty shootout against Morocco, which resulted in the Dutch being eliminated.

Kai Havertz and Nick Woltemade also had their stutter penalties saved during Germany’s penalty shootout against Paraguay, although Joshua Kimmich’s similar technique was successful.

The technique was made popular by ex-Chelsea midfielder Jorginho, whose penalty routine took the Premier League by storm, with the Italian scoring 51 penalties during his whole career. However, even he hasn’t been immune to mistakes, missing a penalty during Chelsea’s EFL Cup final loss to Manchester City in 2018, as well as missing two penalties against Switzerland, which would have seen Italy bag qualification to the 2022 World Cup.

The Stutter run-up remains controversial because it shifts part of the contest away from pure striking ability and towards psychology. Some argue that the technique unfairly forces goalkeepers to move first, especially given modern interpretations requiring keepers to keep at least part of one foot on the goal line until the ball is kicked.

Penalties arguably already heavily favour attackers, and varying the run-up simply represents another legitimate skill. Reading a goalkeeper’s body language, maintaining balance and still finding the corner requires exceptional technical quality under immense pressure.

As long as the players stay within IFAB’s laws, the stutter run-up is likely to remain a feature of football’s biggest occasions. Whether loved or hated, it has become one of the defining penalty techniques of the modern game — and one that continues to test the nerve of both takers and goalkeepers whenever a match hangs in the balance.