Tottenham’s pre-season is in full flow as they prepare for their first pre-season under Roberto De Zerbi.

It’s an opportunity for many players to try to impress the new manager, with fringe players looking to break into the manager’s thinking and young stars hoping to make it at senior level.

The pre-season fixtures are a great opportunity for De Zerbi to try new things, giving youngsters chances to impress and fringe players the opportunity to prove themselves.

That’s especially prevalent in the opening weeks of pre-season, when some players are given extra time off due to participating in the World Cup.

Spurs have just named a 35-man squad to head to New Zealand and Australia for some pre-season fixtures, and that squad includes a host of young talent.

Tottenham youngster impressing De Zerbi

One of the young players who is believed to have impressed De Zerbi so far is 21-year-old forward Jamie Donley.

According to reliable reporter Alasdair Gold, Donley has impressed De Zerbi and has looked really fit and sharp during training.

It has now been confirmed that Donley is part of the Tottenham squad to head to New Zealand and Australia, which shows how much he’s impressed the manager so far.

Whether that will lead to the 21-year-old forward sticking around next season remains to be seen, but it looks as though he’s certainly giving himself a chance.

A host of young players named in Tottenham squad

Donley certainly isn’t the only Tottenham youngster who has been given an opportunity to impress on their pre-season tour.

With it being a huge 35-man squad and Spurs still having injuries and players on international duty, there’s a real opportunity for many of the academy stars.

Among those are Damola Ajayi, Dane Scarlett, Luca Williams-Barnett and Mason Melia.

The full list can be seen below.

• Damola Ajayi
• Brandon Austin
• Lucas Bergvall
• Harry Byrne
• Kevin Danso
• Ben Davies
• Jamie Donley
• Martin Dubravka
• Mateus Fernandes
• Conor Gallagher
• Archie Gray
• Tye Hall
• Tyrese Hall
• Malachi Hardy
• Antonin Kinsky
• Rio Kyerematen
• James Maddison
• Mason Melia
• Mikey Moore
• Richarlison
• Andy Robertson
• Reiss Russell-Denny
• Dane Scarlett
• Dominic Solanke
• Manor Solomon
• Kota Takai
• Mathys Tel
• Dylan Thompson
• Tyler Tingey
• Sandro Tonali
• Destiny Udogie
• Micky van de Ven
• Jan Paul van Hecke
• Luca Williams-Barnett
• Yang Min-Hyeok

Manchester United could be closing in on their third midfield acquisition of the summer as they prepare for a huge 2026/27 season at Old Trafford.

Michael Carrick’s side have been active in the transfer market already after clinching deals for Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans from Chelsea and Aston Villa respectively.

Elsewhere across the pitch, the club have added Karl Darlow to their goalkeeping department and secured a deal for young Tottenham winger Tynan Thompson which could be worth £8m.

A further midfield addition remains a priority, though, with the club wanting to bring in an experienced player who operates in a deeper role and can also make an impact in the Champions League.

Agreement reached with player

via Reuters

Manchester United are keen on a deal for Roma’s Manu Kone as they look to add another midfield option to Carrick’s squad.

The Frenchman has excelled in the Italian capital since joining from Borussia Monchengladbach on an initial loan agreement in 2024.

Kone’s performances saw him called up to the France squad for the first time shortly after his switch to Roma, with the player going on to make five appearances in Les Bleus’ recent World Cup campaign in North America.

Kone is certainly not going to be short of options this summer if a Roma exit materialises as clubs such as United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Liverpool have shown an interest in the 25-year-old.

Italian publication Corriere dello Sport (via Sport Witness) reports Saudi club Al-Ahli have now joined the race for the midfield ace and have contacted his representatives and the Serie A side to understand the feasibility and conditions of a move.

In Corriere dello Sport’s report on Kone they state that Manchester United are in constant contact with the player’s camp and the two parties have reached an agreement in principle regarding personal terms.

United and the Giallorossi now need to agree on a fee, with the publication claiming that Carrick’s side are ready to offer a fee around €50m (£42.6m) but Roma want €60m (£51.2m) for their man.

Kone rated higher than Tchouameni

Kone didn’t feature for France in their opening game against Senegal but he started in four of their following five matches.

Ahead of their 4-1 Group I win over Norway, former World Cup winner Patrick Vieira dished out the praise when speaking about Kone and labelled him as “the best midfielder in France” right now.

“He had a really good season in Serie A with Roma,” the Arsenal legend told ITV. “He came to the World Cup after a couple of injuries. It has been quite a difficult season for him.

“He is for me today the best midfielder in France. I’d put him ahead of [Aurelien] Tchouameni and [Adrien] Rabiot, because he has this mobility, he is aggressive, he is a ball-winner, and he has the technical ability to be part of the build-up, has the facility with the ball to break lines and move forward.”

When labelled a ‘water carrier’ by fellow pundit Roy Keane during the coverage, Vieira responded: “I don’t really like that word, water carrier. He will win the ball, but he has something more than the others, as he can play forward.

“Sometimes Tchouameni can give you a little bit of frustration, too many passes sideways or backwards, but he’s got more passes going forward.”

Much more will be expected of Liverpool in the 2026/27 season after a nightmare year at Anfield under Arne Slot.

Having guided the Reds to the Premier League title in his debut campaign on Merseyside, Slot couldn’t build on his achievements from his first year and lost his job in May after only managing a fifth-place finish.

Andoni Iraola is the new man in charge at Liverpool following his tremendous work at Bournemouth and he is the man tasked with getting the club back into title contention.

Liverpool have so far added talented youngsters Jeremy Jacquet and Victor Munoz to their squad, with 18-year-old Austrian centre-back Ifeanyi Ndukwe also making the move from Austria Wien.

Fans will be hoping more is done in terms of transfer incomings as Iraola looks to build a squad capable of challenging on four fronts.

Player offered to Liverpool

Liverpool have been offered Paris Saint-Germain defender Illia Zabarnyi, according to Alex Crook of talkSPORT.

The ‘incredible’ Ukrainian only joined the Champions League winners from Bournemouth last August but a possible move away from the French capital could already be on the cards.

Zabarnyi, who joined PSG for £57m, featured regularly in Ligue 1 after starting 26 of their 34 games but he found game time much harder to come by in the Champions League.

Crook claims that Chelsea have also been offered the 23-year-old as they look for defensive reinforcements, meaning Liverpool won’t have it all their own way if they press ahead with a move for Zabarnyi.

The Reds saw centre-back Ibrahima Konate depart for Real Madrid on a free transfer on July 1 following the expiration of his contract at Anfield.

The talented Jacquet has added to the defensive options following his move from Rennes but Liverpool could do with a further option in such an important position on the pitch.

Zabarnyi reunion

A move to Liverpool would see Zabarnyi reunited with Iraola after the pair worked together at Bournemouth.

The centre-back was such a key figure in Iraola’s Bournemouth team, with his outstanding form at the back leading to his big-money move to the French side.

Speaking in February 2025, the Spaniard gave an insight into Zabarnyi’s journey to becoming such a key player in his team.

“Zaba for me is even easier to explain, I think,” Iraola told the Daily Echo. “I’m not sure if we decided to change him one minute in the time I’ve been here.

“So that basically says everything about the confidence we have in him and how reliable and how robust also he is and he’s the kind of player that is very easy to coach.

“For a coach, he pays attention, he comes every day to train with a great attitude and I am enjoying also his development because now when I arrived he was a great player but quite shy.

“He didn’t talk a lot and now you see him managing everything from behind, shouting to the ones in front asking for the others and this is a show of how he’s developing and he’s becoming a more important player even for us.

“I love him personally and as a player.”