Monday’s briefing: Tottenham worry over Maddison injury and Chelsea sign Hato | OneFootball

Tottenham midfielder James Maddison sustained a “bad” injury before manager Thomas Frank bolstered his squad with the arrival of Joao Palhinha.

Chelsea signed Netherlands defender Jorrel Hato, while Newcastle boss Eddie Howe is unsure what the future holds for wantaway striker Alexander Isak.

Elsewhere, Scottish Premiership champions Celtic scraped past St Mirren.

Maddison suffers fresh injury setback

James Maddison sustained a serious-looking knee injury as Tottenham’s pre-season tour of Asia concluded with a 1-1 draw against Newcastle in Seoul.

The England international, who missed the closing stages of last season with a knee problem, was carried off on a stretcher after going down unchallenged late in the game.

Manager Thomas Frank said the issue appeared to be a “bad injury” before Spurs later announced the signing of Portugal midfielder Joao Palhinha on loan from Bayern Munich.

Sunday’s friendly was otherwise notable for the emotional reception departing South Korea forward Son Heung-min received from fans in his home city.

Teenage Dutch defender moves to Stamford Bridge

Chelsea completed the signing of Netherlands defender Jorrel Hato from Ajax in a deal worth a reported £37million.

The 19-year-old, who has been capped six times by his country, signed a seven-year contract at Stamford Bridge.

He became the Blues’ eighth signing of the summer transfer window.

Hato, who can operate in central defence or at left-back, said: “I thought a lot about my future and wanted to take the next step in my career. Chelsea is the best place for me to do that.”

Howe leaves door open for Isak

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe is hoping to see striker Alexander Isak back in training in the coming days.

Isak, who has been the subject of interest from Liverpool, missed the Magpies’ pre-season tour of Asia amid speculation over his future.

Newcastle are returning home after their trip concluded against Spurs on and Howe hopes the Sweden international will report back as normal.

Howe told The Chronicle after the game: “Of course I’d like him to but whether or not he will, I don’t know at this moment in time. Other people have been dealing with that situation back at home.”

Late deflected strike secures narrow win for Celtic

William Hill Premiership champions Celtic left it late before beginning their title defence with a 1-0 victory over St Mirren at Parkhead.

Luke McCowan’s deflected strike three minutes from time finally broke the visitors’ resistance.

The substitute collected Daizen Maeda’s square pass on the edge of a crowded penalty box and fired a shot which appeared to spin off Mark O’Hara’s leg and nestle into the bottom corner of the net.

Celtic had earlier hit the frame of the goal through Benjamin Nygren, Reo Hatate and Adam Idah, while Callum McGregor had a goal disallowed following VAR intervention.

What’s on today?

Hearts host Aberdeen at Tynecastle in the final match of the opening round of fixtures of the new Scottish Premiership season.