Japan tour just one part of Tottenham's busy pre-season plans to help Postecoglou preparations

While there are still six matches remaining of Tottenham's season, plans are already being finalised for the preparations Ange Postecoglou will undertake for the next campaign.

Spurs have a number of big matches still to go in this Premier League season and remain on the edge of the top four in fifth spot with what will be three games in hand on Aston Villa by the time the North London Derby kicks off on Sunday afternoon. In the background, plans are already being laid and now confirmed for matches ahead of next season with all of the travel and logistics required as well as sorting out which opponents Tottenham will play in those games.

Here is what is being lined up in the months between the two seasons and around a summer that will also contain the Euros and the Copa America for some of Postecoglou's squad.

May

In a decision that has drawn some criticism on this side of the world, Tottenham are set to fly straight off across the globe after the end of the Premier League season and the final game at Sheffield United's Bramall Lane on May 19 to play a friendly match a couple of days later in the city where Postecoglou grew up.

After a 22 hour flight down under, as part of Global Football Week Melbourne, Spurs will take on their Premier League colleagues Newcastle United once again after the defeat at St. James' Park this month, but this time it will be in the surroundings of the world famous Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday, May 22 (7.45pm kick-off local time).

Melbourne is a place well known to Postecoglou, having moved there from Greece as a child, and the city adores him, with various murals of the Tottenham boss across a place that already had a strong contingent of Spurs fans before his appointment.

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The north London club have played post-season games before, including one in Hong Kong in 2017 and another in Malaysia in 2015, and that tight turnaround between the Sheffield United match and the one against Eddie Howe's Newcastle, with the long flight in between, will likely see the whole squad given minutes across the friendly encounter.

"We leave straight after the last game [at Sheffield United] and we'll be taking everyone who's fit," Postecoglou said. "We thought that with our season being so disrupted and not a lot of games, this was a unique opportunity for us.

"I wouldn't see this as something that would happen on a regular basis unless we felt the benefits would outweigh the costs. On this occasion when we balanced everything up, we felt it was a good opportunity to take the club to the other side of the world and help us continue to grow the football club."

It will be the last chance for many of the players to spend together before they head off to join up with their international squads ahead of the Euros and Copa America or countries' friendlies that are to take place in early June.

July

After spending June from the club either on international duty or on holiday, those Tottenham players not competing at the Euros or Copa America will reconvene at Hotspur Way for the beginning of pre-season training in July with Postecoglou and his coaches.

A string of friendlies to prepare the team for the campaign ahead will then ensue as the month progresses and into early August. Some of the tournament players will be missing to begin with before some of them start filtering back into the squad in the weeks before the season kicks off, depending on how far their countries went in the Copa America or Euros.

Skipper Son Heung-min should be among those available to play, barring injury, with the Asian Cup having already been played in January.

football.london has previously reported that Spurs are aiming to play a friendly in Scotland in mid-July before embarking on an Asian tour soon after.

The first game of that tour has been confirmed as a match in Japan against reigning J1 League champions Vissel Kobe. That will take place at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo on Saturday July 27.

It makes the second return in the months ahead to a country where Postecoglou has previously managed, the Australian having led Yokohama F. Marinos to the league title in 2019.

"I'm delighted to be taking Tottenham Hotspur to Japan this summer for an exciting fixture against Vissel Kobe. This friendly will be another step in our preparations for the 2024/25 season," said the 58-year-old.

"Japan is a country I know well from my time managing there. It is full of passionate football fans and I'm looking forward to the players not only sampling the atmosphere of the Japan National Stadium but also experiencing some local culture and supporting good causes while we are there."

After that game, Spurs will jet across Asia for two more matches in Son's homeland of South Korea, once again taking part in the Coupang Play Series tournament as they did two years ago.

The first match in Korea is, according to reports in that country, set to be a friendly with Team K League in a K League All-Star game towards the end of July.

August

The second match in South Korea was reported back in February in that country as being a game between Tottenham and Bayern Munich a few days after the K League friendly. A reunion between Harry Kane and Spurs would seem unlikely on this occasion unless England exit the Euros at a far earlier stage than hoped.

However, it remains to be seen whether Bayern will still be the opposition that day as it would mean Tottenham playing the German side twice within nine or 10 days because all of the key names should be available - including Kane and Eric Dier - for a confirmed showpiece friendly between the two clubs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday August 10 in the Visit Malta Cup with a 5.30pm kick-off.

Last year, Spurs then played another match at Barcelona in the final midweek for a different starting XI to get minutes before kicking off the campaign at Brentford, and it is yet to be confirmed whether they squeeze in another game before the new Premier League season begins this time around.

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