A tiny supporter in a white shirt peers through a giant magnifying glass at an enormous blank stadium wall while two anonymous footballers contest the ball on the pitch beside him.

TransfersThe High Road Herald

Football Insider Omits Tottenham From Nusa Race, So Supporter Checks Stadium Wall For A Small Mention

Barry Napier · Transfer Correspondent17 October · Reading time: one pint

Football Insider reports that Arsenal, Aston Villa and Newcastle United are interested in RB Leipzig's Antonio Nusa, at a fee of at least £60m, and does not mention Tottenham, who have scored three league goals this season.

A Tottenham supporter spent Saturday morning on the stadium forecourt examining the outer wall for a mention of Antonio Nusa, after a report said there was none.

Football Insider reported that Arsenal, Aston Villa and Newcastle United have an interest in the RB Leipzig winger, who has four goals and three assists in eight games and, the report says, plays a bit like Neymar. Arsenal and Villa are said to hold the edge over Newcastle, as they can offer Champions League football.

The fee is put at at least £60m. The report, the Herald understands, contains no mention of Tottenham, a point the supporter has chosen to treat as the opening of a line of enquiry.

If nobody's saying we're interested, somebody's told them not to say it. That's the story.

He began at the north turnstiles with a magnifying glass roughly the length of a road atlas, and proceeded east at the pace of a man reading small print. The forecourt was otherwise empty. A pigeon watched from a lamp post.

The same report observes that Tottenham appear to have cooled their interest since the summer, when they were linked with the Norwegian. The supporter regards this as consistent with his theory, and also with the opposite of his theory, and has not ruled between them.

By half past eleven he had covered one hundred and forty metres of brickwork and found a gap in the render about the size of a thumbnail. He has described it as inconclusive but not closed.

He will check the wall again on Tuesday.

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A big lifebuoy hangs on a goal net in front of an empty stadium, with a tiny distant player in white on the pitch.

TransfersThe High Road Herald

Estadio Deportivo Says Spurs Monitor Parrott And Supporter Hangs Lifebuoy On Stadium Railings Until January

Barry Napier · Transfer Correspondent17 October · Reading time: a half

Spanish outlet Estadio Deportivo reports that Tottenham and Manchester United are monitoring Troy Parrott at Real Betis, where his release clause is reported at around €80m.

A Tottenham man has hung a lifebuoy on the railings outside the stadium after reading that Spurs and Manchester United are monitoring Troy Parrott, who joined Real Betis from AZ Alkmaar this summer.

The Herald understands the claim originates with the Spanish outlet Estadio Deportivo, and that other outlets have since repeated it. The man regards the repetition as corroboration.

Spain's a long way off. You want something ready on the bank.

The lifebuoy, taken from a garden shed on Tuesday, is secured by forty metres of washing line. Our correspondent measured the line and can confirm it reaches as far as the kerb.

The man has been briefed on the release clause, reported at around €80m, and has filed it under knots. Betis reportedly paid about £17m for the striker, whose contract runs until 2031. Balls.ie has reported that the club expect to reject approaches from both English sides.

He has noted the rejection and describes it as an opening position.

The report also says neither link represents confirmed transfer negotiations, and that Spurs considered signing the player last summer before deciding against. The man says he recalls being broadly in favour at the time, although nobody has asked him.

By mid-afternoon he had brought out a flask and a second, smaller line.

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