Every word Thomas Frank said on Daniel Levy, Solanke injury, Xavi, Kolo Muani and Mathys Tel

Thomas Frank had plenty to discuss at his press conference on Friday afternoon ahead of Tottenham's return to Premier League action at West Ham United.

It has been a drama-packed international break Spurs with Daniel Levy stepping down from his role as executive chairman after 24 years at the top of the north London club as the Lewis family in charge of owners ENIC pushed through plans to modernise the hierarchy. CEO Vinai Venkatesham is the man in charge of that power structure with help from part-time non-executive chairman Peter Charrington.

It was the first press conference for Frank since the transfer window closed with Randal Kolo Muani arriving on loan on deadline day, and the France international plus fellow new recruit Xavi Simons are set to make their debuts at the London Stadium on Saturday.

The Tottenham boss delivered the latest injury news as players returned from international duty as well as an update on Dominic Solanke's ankle problem.

Our Spurs correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Frank. Here is the full transcript from the press conference at Hotspur Way.

How is the squad looking with injuries?

Everyone is fine, everyone returned from international duties well so that's always positive. Very happy about that. Everyone seems to be in a good place. Dom will not be available still, don't expect it to be too long but he will not be available for this game.

What will Daniel's legacy be?

Daniel deserves massive praise. He's been here 24 years, must be one of the longest chairman that has been in the Premier League ever. The things he's built, the success he's been a massive part of, you can't praise that enough. I think the two big, big things is he's actually laid I would say the foundation for the future in terms of this fantastic world-class training centre and of course a world-class stadium. Both those two we are at a top level so we can build from there to hopefully compete with the best clubs in the future. That is Daniel.

Did you say goodbye?

Yes, I've spoken to him. I've only of course known Daniel, but not known Daniel if that makes sense, I've known of him I would say. The last three months is where I've spent more time with him so it's been brief. I've said thank you. I know it's not only him appointing me but he had probably the decisive words so I can only appreciate that in every aspect. I'll always be appreciating of that, very pleased with that. I wish him all the best going forward.

Does talk of takeover moves filter down and unsettle you and players?

I would say as Vinai was saying and quoted from on this going forward, it's not a new ownership, it's the same ownership. It's just the majority shareholders have more influence. They're very committed to the club, they want to build something good for the future. I would say for me the main thing I can do to do my job well is to focus on now and tomorrow against West Ham, huge London derby. That's my main thing. I'm probably also a bit of a problem where I just focus with what is in front of me.

You just mentioned West Ham tomorrow, how excited are you to experience that London derby for the first time as Spurs manager?

Very excited, I know it means a lot for the fans. We will go there and do everything we can to of course try to win the game. I think we're facing a West Ham team which I think maybe didn't have the best start. I think they got a very good win against Nottingham and I think they did well.

I think they've got some top players. I've known Graeme Potter for years and I've followed his fantastic work all the way from Sweden to Swansea to Brighton to Chelsea to now here. So big respect for him and his staff.

I know it will be difficult and I know this game tomorrow will be extremely difficult because no matter if West Ham were top of the league or bottom of the league or middle of the league, this game will just make them raise their level. So I expect an extremely difficult game, but we'll be ready for it and we're ready to attack.

Mohammed Kudus will return to the London Stadium for the first time since making that move from West Ham to Spurs, he said it's just another game for him, how do you think he'll handle that potentially hostile reception and atmosphere tomorrow?

I don't think they will applaud him. Maybe not. I'm pretty sure players and myself included, sometimes you feel the extra tension or extra noise. But then at a certain stage you get into your zone and then you don't really hear it.

I'm pretty sure it's the same for Kudus tomorrow. I'm pretty sure it's the same for all players that are playing in hostile environments. The thing he should do is focus on his game. That's what he can control.

Xavi Simons and Randal Kolo Muani, are they in line to make their debut tomorrow?

Yeah, both of them are looking good. Both of them are definitely in contention to be ready for the squad. Xavi, for natural reasons, is further down the line. He just started the first game for Holland and played a few games for Leipzig. Definitely in terms of Randal, it's been a while since he's played. Last time was in the Club World Cup. Hasn't trained really with PSG. So he is not as fit as Xavi, but he looks good.

With Daniel it seemed to catch everyone by surprise, what does it mean for you and the club going forward when it comes to transfers?

I would say it's nothing that I expected. I don't think anyone expected it. A decision is made. We move forward. I think transfers going forward, of course, need to be, how can you say, not reconstructed, because that's not the right word. It was very clear how the roles were, let's say, for this window. There's somethings Daniel is involved in, something he's not involved in or was involved in. So that just needs to be changed a little bit.

I don't see it as a big thing. Definitely not impacting me too much that we find out what kind of players we'd like to get, and then someone needs to find out to negotiate that.

Does that mean you maybe want a bigger say, possibly, in some of the new targets you'd like to bring in? Is that fair?

No, I don't think that's fair. I think that's quite unfair. I think this window, I only experienced a good collaboration between me, Daniel, Vinai and Johan, where we were agreeing on what kind of targets we went for. So I expect the same going forward.

You left Mathys Tel out of your Champions League squad. You called him, but I was just wondering if you could explain why you'd done it and what you said to him?

Yeah, I think, first of all, that was an extremely difficult decision to make. I also think, in many ways, it was a bit unfair. I also think that the UEFA Champions League lists are not big enough. We know the load on the players is getting bigger and bigger. We have said it many times, we are hopefully playing 60-plus games. That's without international games.

So some of them can be involved in up to 70 games. So I think that we need probably a bigger squad. I can't understand why we need to limit ourselves.

I actually like the idea of the club-trained players. I think it's a good thing, every team needs to develop their own players. So I think that's good. Of course, that limits us a little bit as it stands. Hopefully, we get it after that, but because we had a less number, I had to make a decision now instead of making a decision before a team selection.

Before I name, for example, I name 20 or 23 players tomorrow. For Champions League, you can name even more. So anyway, the squad you're naming before every game, it's, you know, performance, all that. Now I need to name it before I really know Mathys and I think he's done well. I just had to take a tough decision.

I think he's been extremely mature. He's 20-years-old. The way he handled it, the way he trains, everything about him, extremely impressive.

With Xavi and Randal Kolo Muani, they're very versatile players, have you got in your mind yet where you see them performing on the pitch for you more often than not?

I have some ideas. I think it's still a team I'm learning. I get to know better and better. Of course, I have key ideas, but, you know, something is to look from the outside, another thing is to, as I say, feel them. You're around them. You speak to them. You watch them live, training, games. You watch the game back with, like, a very specific view.

And then I have some ideas how I want to do it, and then you get surprised. Okay, that could look good, and other times you need to change a bit. So I learn about the team and the players.

Xavi, I see him mainly as a 10 or a left-sided player or left winger. Whereas Kolo, I see he can him playing as striker and he can play both wings, I would say.

Dominic Solanke, this ankle injury has been going on since the summer, how are you dealing with it and is there the potential to have surgery down the line?

I think right now we are doing everything we can – the medical team - to get on top of it and that’s what we’re focusing on. I get a feeling he is not too far away, but he’s just fallen short for this week.

You said you would name your leadership group after the transfer window, have you?

It’s a big note on my paper and I need to do that. The answer is no. Very honest huh?

How do you reflect on transfer window as a whole now with Kolo Muani coming in on deadline day? Did you want more players?

I would say I am really happy with the squad. I think the club have done a very good job and the club is especially Daniel and Johan. Of course there is Vinai but Daniel and Johan are the two main guys that have been the driver of it. I think actually it is very impressive with what they’ve been doing and how committed they have been to improving the squad. I think it is two big signings Kudus and Xavi Simons, two top players I am convinced will help us massively and then we have two very good loan deals on two other good top players. Yeah, I’m pleased with the squad.

The whole world found out on that Thursday around 6pm that Daniel Levy was leaving – when did you find out? I'm guessing it wasn’t the notification on X?

No, no (smiles). I was of course involved but it was not early, early. It is something between the shareholders and CEO and then they informed us who would take care of the football side of things at the right time.

Is it business as usual as Vinai says? Was he who you dealt with before anyway and how much did you speak with Daniel Levy on a day-to-day basis?

I would say the whole idea of getting Vinai is was to have a day-to-day person to speak to and I speak a lot with Vinai, but he’s like the CEO and then there is Johan, who is the technical director. So, with all due respect, I think I speak more football with him (Lange) which is the way it should be. Then of course because Daniel has been so integral and such a big part of Tottenham, of course it was natural I had conversations with him.