Frank responds to Eze rebuff with 'not interested' statement

The 27-year-old English forward looks set to sign for North London rivals Arsenal after being linked with Spurs

Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank celebrates after the match - Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v Burnley - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - Aug 16, 2025. Reuters/Matthew Childs

Tottenham Hotspur only want players who want to play for them, manager Thomas Frank said on Friday in response to Eberechi Eze's apparent rejection of the Premier League club.

Crystal Palace forward Eze had been about to join Spurs but now looks set to sign for North London rivals Arsenal, his boyhood club.

"You know of course I don't speak about specific players unless they are at our fantastic club," Frank told reporters ahead of Tottenham's trip to Manchester City on Saturday.

"To be very, very clear, I don't want any players who don't want to come to the club.

"If they don't want to come here and wear this fantastic badge, we don't want them here. That's very clear, and I imagine the fans feel exactly the same. That's a key message."

Media had reported a deal on Wednesday between Spurs and Palace for the England international only for it to be derailed hours later.

Frank said Tottenham were working hard to strengthen the squad in the transfer window, which ends on Sept 1, and believed something would happen.

"We need to do everything we can to be as competitive as possible. I am confident we will sign a player before the end of the window," he added.

Striker Yoane Wissa, who played for Frank at Brentford, has been mentioned as one possible target.

The Dane said Richarlison, scorer of two goals in Tottenham's opening 3-0 win over promoted Burnley last weekend, remained his starting number nine.

"Richy wants to stay, I want to keep him, there have been no talks about anything else," he said of the Brazilian who was reported earlier in the week to have been offered to Palace as part of the deal for Eze.

Frank said fullback Destiny Udogie, who injured his knee in a pre-season friendly last month, was training with the team and looking positive but the City game was still too early for his return.

Injured midfielder Yves Bissouma will also miss the game.

Frank was reluctant to put a timeline on the return of Dejan Kulusevski, who had knee surgery in May and was not involved pre-season.

Tottenham are already set to be without injured midfielder James Maddison for most of the season.