The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Monday, July 22

Hi, all!

I’m towards the end of surviving a heat wave as I write this. Hope everyone else has managed the same, and will do so for (unfortunate) future heat waves.

Ramble of the Day

Talking about Gareth Bale feels like an offseason tradition at this point. It doesn’t help that, for whatever reason, Zinedine Zidane doesn’t seem to like him very much, but however realistically it actually is, it always feel like there might be a chance that he ends back in Tottenham. At least for now, we’re in the middle of a saga that Zidane says is reaching its conclusion, but is treating us like a nice mystery novel that is doing a very good job of concealing its ending.

While we’re in the middle of it all, though, there have been so many developments. We’ve gotten some normal ones, such as ones about which teams are and aren’t — and might be! — interested, but the beauty of our modern transfer season is that there is just so much random content to consume. Social media really takes things to the amusingly absurd, with people sharing who’s following whom on Instagram, who liked a tweet, and even some Instagram direct messages. It really is so bonkers that it’s so fun.

I can’t speak for all, but while I’m enjoying the endless updates, I’m not always so surprised when I see these things. One thing that has surprised me, though, is Bale’s old Tottenham friends tweeting support for him.

I don’t have a negative thing to say, honestly. I’ll admit that I didn’t expect it, but it’s honestly nice, isn’t it? In a way, it’s fun to have people pick and choose sides in something like a transfer saga; the more silliness the better, I say. What is really nice about it, though, is that after years of hearing about how Bale lives a lonely life in Madrid and barely speaks a word of Spanish, it’s nice to be reminded that he has friends somewhere.

tl;dr: An unforeseen development in the Gareth Bale transfer saga.

Links of the Day

Hervé Renard has stepped down as the Morocco coach after a disappointing Africa Cup of Nations.

Transfer updates: Sheffield United has signed Lys Mousset from Bournemouth; Liverpool has signed Andy Lonergan on a free

Today’s longer read: Stuart James on the life of Wesley Moreas as he navigated adversity, adulthood, and pressure before becoming Aston Villa’s record signing for The Guardian