At the end of the one hour call/meeting, they all say:
“You had me at ‘mate’“.
Antonio Nusa
- Thread starter cooperman
- Start date
“You had me at ‘mate’“.
mil1lion
This is the place to be
- May 7, 2004
- 42,493
- 78,074
I guess Son will be another who will leave a void soon too but at least Kane was just a kid when Bale left. That's the exciting thing about these young prospects, when a world class star leaves there's always hope the next breakout star comes shortly after.
Reece_Spurs
Well-Known Member
- Sep 10, 2011
- 764
- 4,887
Probably the Jo Nesbo influence. ;-)
Marcus_spur
Well-Known Member
- Aug 31, 2012
- 2,395
- 2,004
Or the king
Marcus_spur
Well-Known Member
- Aug 31, 2012
- 2,395
- 2,004
And tbf Doku has that light saber, so keeping up with him is quite impressive
What Lies Beneath
Expectation is the root of all heartache
- Jul 29, 2011
- 1,189
- 60,181
Just got back from Dinner was lovey
What Lies Beneath
Expectation is the root of all heartache
- Jul 29, 2011
- 1,189
- 60,181
Why’s that cause Paul o Keefe said so ? His info is fed from end of negiations. Also anyone close to the deal will backtrack right now just is the state of play.
FrankSpencer
Well-Known Member
- May 23, 2007
- 1,237
- 4,133
POK burned by WLB! Acronym battle over.. mic drop!
Snarfalicious
Well-Known Member
- Jul 15, 2012
- 15,721
- 72,073
I’d like to put on record I do not think the window would be a disaster if we don’t sign Nusa. It’d actually be the end of the world.
- Jan 14, 2004
- 15,105
- 9,122
- Staff
- #394
I do think Snarf had a hint of sarcasm in his post. I doubt there are too many spurs fans anywhere that think things are a disaster right now.
Aleks
Well-Known Member
- Aug 18, 2012
- 1,336
- 7,005
yeah feels like everything is a bonus right now
HNIM
Well-Known Member
- Aug 12, 2020
- 1,834
- 4,657
Ha. My wife made tenderloin fillets with cherry cream sauce, bet it was better than yours.
CantSmileWithoutYou
Well-Endowed Member
- May 20, 2015
- 3,878
- 15,507
Lovey negiations....?
i assume the wine was good too ....
Port I hearLovey negiations....?
i assume the wine was good too ....
sidford
Well-Known Member
- Oct 20, 2003
- 11,380
- 29,903
Athletic article
theathletic.com
A version of this article was originally published in September 2023
Erling Haaland is no longer the brightest young thing in Norwegian football.
That honour now belongs to 18-year-old Antonio Nusa and, week by week, more people are starting to know his name.
Naturally so. Nusa is a two-footed wide forward with gliding pace and beguiling skill, who can drive with the ball or caress it around the tightest corners. You already pity the full-backs who have to face him.
He scored his first goal for Norway on his debut in a friendly against Jordan in September 2023 and, on his second appearance, in European Championship qualifying against Georgia five days later, created goals for Haaland and Martin Odegaard.
The second of those assists sent a shimmer of appreciation through the crowd in Oslo: Nusa squared up a pair of Georgian defenders, disappeared away from them with a blur of skill before cutting back for Odegaard to score. Rarely do stadiums make noises like that.
But Nusa is in that moment, at that stage of his career. His promise is overwhelming and yet unrefined and unrealised, meaning nobody can be sure what he might do next. The only certainty is that he’s appointment viewing.
He was signed by Belgium’s Club Bruges for €3million (£2.6m; $3.2m) in 2021 but was raised by Stabaek, the Eliteserien side from Baerum, just outside Oslo. He joined Stabaek when he was 13 and was initially limited in the number of training sessions he could attend. Nusa’s family lived in Langhus, to Oslo’s south, and the journey – an hour there and back by train and bus – was too much to undertake daily. Instead, he trained with Stabaek twice a week, spending the rest of his time at home, playing locally.
Gaute Larsen has worked in football for over 30 years. He coached Haaland at Bryne, the Manchester City striker’s first club, and he has been managing Stabaek’s second team since 2017. He remembers Nusa as a self-starter – a teenager “who was always studying YouTube, watching Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Neymar, and training by himself”.
That influence shows.
Nusa has unhelpfully been christened the Norwegian Neymar by the media, but – in terms of talent at least – the idea is not so outlandish. He has confidence on the ball and a habit of scoring stylish, spectacular goals. Within those moments, it is easy to spot the influence of that trio of players Larsen mentions above: the way he teases defenders, how he flows into the space, and the craft with which he constructs shooting angles.
Larsen tells a story from a youth game when Stabaek Under-14s had travelled to face their Inter Milan counterparts in a youth tournament. Stabaek managed a 2-2 draw and were celebrating a fine result in the dressing room when they heard a knock on their door. It was Christian Chivu, the former Champions League winner who is now the head coach of Inter’s Primavera – their youth academy. He wanted to know who Stabaek’s No 10 was. When Nusa raised his hand, Chivu told him what a good player he was destined to become.
As Nusa got older and his balance, technique and acceleration were fortified by height and a developing upper body that allowed him to protect the ball, his progress through Stabaek’s system hastened. He was playing for their under-19s side when he was 15, in autumn 2020, and by the beginning of the following year, he was training with the first team full-time.
The Nusa family were still living in Langhus, so Larsen would drive the kid to and from training each day, 30km (nearly 20 miles) there and 30km back, six days a week.
It was more than worth it.
He made his debut for the first team as a 16-year-old substitute against Bodo/Glimt, punctuating the game with a goal of ludicrous quality. In his first senior start, away to Viking Stavanger, he scored twice more.
The original plan had been for him to stay in Norway for a further year.
He was still just 16 when Club Bruges made a €3million offer in the summer of 2021 and Nusa, his mother, father, and the coaching staff at Stabaek were all initially apprehensive about him moving to another country at such a young age.
Club Bruges helped assuage those concerns. Their standing in European football and reputation for developing young players was a reassurance in itself.
In recent years, they have either raised or otherwise helped to develop AC Milan’s Charles De Ketelaere, Lois Openda of RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen’s Odilon Kossounou, among others. Noa Lang was sold to PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2023, too, and Tajon Buchanan, a Canada international, has recently earned a move to Inter. Club Bruges have proven that their environment is nurturing; they could also offer regular first-team football.
They actually have two professional teams. The senior side play in the Belgian top flight, but Club NXT – their under-23s – compete in the second division, meaning players not ready for the first team can still be exposed to competitive football against adults. Highly-rated Augsburg midfielder Arne Engels played for NXT before moving to the German club. Maxim De Cuyper, a Belgium Under-21 full-back, is another alumnus who has just broken into the Club Bruges first team.
Importantly, both squads train together at Belfius Basecamp, the new €13million training base opened in 2019 which offers a quality and range of facilities many clubs outside Europe’s elite do not. Ensuring Nusa had the benefit of those surroundings as early as possible was important to Club Bruges and a reason why his departure from Stabaek was accelerated.
So far, the move has been a success.
Nusa made an initial breakthrough last season, playing over 700 minutes across the Pro League. He also had his first experience of Champions League football, scoring against Porto in the group stage, all before he had turned 18. This year, he has continued to be gradually eased into the first team, starting 12 games, making 14 further substitute appearances, scoring three goals and providing three assists.
Inevitably, the interest from higher on the game’s food chain is coming.
In fact, it has already arrived.
Over the summer, Chelsea made an approach that was worth 10 times what Club Bruges had paid for Nusa just two years before. Arsenal and Liverpool have also been credited with having him on the radar, as well as Borussia Dortmund. And now Tottenham are in negotiations with Club Bruges, who are seeking €30million for Nusa and a guarantee he remains with them on loan for the remainder of this season as part of the deal. Nusa signed a new contract in April last year that runs until the summer of 2027.
He has yet to appear in too much of a rush to move on.
That level-headedness does not surprise Larsen. He speaks fondly of many of the players he has worked with, and remains in regular contact with Nusa. His early success and those first thrilling steps on the international stage have evidently meant a great deal to his old coach – and not just because of how brightly Nusa’s talent has flashed.
“I’m very proud because I know how hard he has worked by himself,” Larsen tells The Athletic. “My philosophy has always been to develop players as humans and for them to play with respect, kindness and everything else.
“When you see that kind of person succeed, it warms your heart.”
Who is Spurs target Antonio Nusa? Meet the next big thing out of Norway
The Norwegian starlet seems fast-tracked for greatness – and now Tottenham are trying to negotiate a deal
theathletic.com
A version of this article was originally published in September 2023
Erling Haaland is no longer the brightest young thing in Norwegian football.
That honour now belongs to 18-year-old Antonio Nusa and, week by week, more people are starting to know his name.
Naturally so. Nusa is a two-footed wide forward with gliding pace and beguiling skill, who can drive with the ball or caress it around the tightest corners. You already pity the full-backs who have to face him.
He scored his first goal for Norway on his debut in a friendly against Jordan in September 2023 and, on his second appearance, in European Championship qualifying against Georgia five days later, created goals for Haaland and Martin Odegaard.
The second of those assists sent a shimmer of appreciation through the crowd in Oslo: Nusa squared up a pair of Georgian defenders, disappeared away from them with a blur of skill before cutting back for Odegaard to score. Rarely do stadiums make noises like that.
But Nusa is in that moment, at that stage of his career. His promise is overwhelming and yet unrefined and unrealised, meaning nobody can be sure what he might do next. The only certainty is that he’s appointment viewing.
He was signed by Belgium’s Club Bruges for €3million (£2.6m; $3.2m) in 2021 but was raised by Stabaek, the Eliteserien side from Baerum, just outside Oslo. He joined Stabaek when he was 13 and was initially limited in the number of training sessions he could attend. Nusa’s family lived in Langhus, to Oslo’s south, and the journey – an hour there and back by train and bus – was too much to undertake daily. Instead, he trained with Stabaek twice a week, spending the rest of his time at home, playing locally.
Gaute Larsen has worked in football for over 30 years. He coached Haaland at Bryne, the Manchester City striker’s first club, and he has been managing Stabaek’s second team since 2017. He remembers Nusa as a self-starter – a teenager “who was always studying YouTube, watching Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Neymar, and training by himself”.
That influence shows.
Nusa has unhelpfully been christened the Norwegian Neymar by the media, but – in terms of talent at least – the idea is not so outlandish. He has confidence on the ball and a habit of scoring stylish, spectacular goals. Within those moments, it is easy to spot the influence of that trio of players Larsen mentions above: the way he teases defenders, how he flows into the space, and the craft with which he constructs shooting angles.
Larsen tells a story from a youth game when Stabaek Under-14s had travelled to face their Inter Milan counterparts in a youth tournament. Stabaek managed a 2-2 draw and were celebrating a fine result in the dressing room when they heard a knock on their door. It was Christian Chivu, the former Champions League winner who is now the head coach of Inter’s Primavera – their youth academy. He wanted to know who Stabaek’s No 10 was. When Nusa raised his hand, Chivu told him what a good player he was destined to become.
As Nusa got older and his balance, technique and acceleration were fortified by height and a developing upper body that allowed him to protect the ball, his progress through Stabaek’s system hastened. He was playing for their under-19s side when he was 15, in autumn 2020, and by the beginning of the following year, he was training with the first team full-time.
The Nusa family were still living in Langhus, so Larsen would drive the kid to and from training each day, 30km (nearly 20 miles) there and 30km back, six days a week.
It was more than worth it.
He made his debut for the first team as a 16-year-old substitute against Bodo/Glimt, punctuating the game with a goal of ludicrous quality. In his first senior start, away to Viking Stavanger, he scored twice more.
The original plan had been for him to stay in Norway for a further year.
He was still just 16 when Club Bruges made a €3million offer in the summer of 2021 and Nusa, his mother, father, and the coaching staff at Stabaek were all initially apprehensive about him moving to another country at such a young age.
Club Bruges helped assuage those concerns. Their standing in European football and reputation for developing young players was a reassurance in itself.
In recent years, they have either raised or otherwise helped to develop AC Milan’s Charles De Ketelaere, Lois Openda of RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen’s Odilon Kossounou, among others. Noa Lang was sold to PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2023, too, and Tajon Buchanan, a Canada international, has recently earned a move to Inter. Club Bruges have proven that their environment is nurturing; they could also offer regular first-team football.
They actually have two professional teams. The senior side play in the Belgian top flight, but Club NXT – their under-23s – compete in the second division, meaning players not ready for the first team can still be exposed to competitive football against adults. Highly-rated Augsburg midfielder Arne Engels played for NXT before moving to the German club. Maxim De Cuyper, a Belgium Under-21 full-back, is another alumnus who has just broken into the Club Bruges first team.
Importantly, both squads train together at Belfius Basecamp, the new €13million training base opened in 2019 which offers a quality and range of facilities many clubs outside Europe’s elite do not. Ensuring Nusa had the benefit of those surroundings as early as possible was important to Club Bruges and a reason why his departure from Stabaek was accelerated.
So far, the move has been a success.
Nusa made an initial breakthrough last season, playing over 700 minutes across the Pro League. He also had his first experience of Champions League football, scoring against Porto in the group stage, all before he had turned 18. This year, he has continued to be gradually eased into the first team, starting 12 games, making 14 further substitute appearances, scoring three goals and providing three assists.
Inevitably, the interest from higher on the game’s food chain is coming.
In fact, it has already arrived.
Over the summer, Chelsea made an approach that was worth 10 times what Club Bruges had paid for Nusa just two years before. Arsenal and Liverpool have also been credited with having him on the radar, as well as Borussia Dortmund. And now Tottenham are in negotiations with Club Bruges, who are seeking €30million for Nusa and a guarantee he remains with them on loan for the remainder of this season as part of the deal. Nusa signed a new contract in April last year that runs until the summer of 2027.
He has yet to appear in too much of a rush to move on.
That level-headedness does not surprise Larsen. He speaks fondly of many of the players he has worked with, and remains in regular contact with Nusa. His early success and those first thrilling steps on the international stage have evidently meant a great deal to his old coach – and not just because of how brightly Nusa’s talent has flashed.
“I’m very proud because I know how hard he has worked by himself,” Larsen tells The Athletic. “My philosophy has always been to develop players as humans and for them to play with respect, kindness and everything else.
“When you see that kind of person succeed, it warms your heart.”
Last edited:
inclineyid
Well-Known Member
- Dec 5, 2006
- 618
- 1,396
He looks like the player scum fans kid themselves star diver Saka is… had a bit of Diaz about him with hopefully better end product. Looks like he could develope to world class something saka will most definitely not do
