Tottenham Hotspur have enjoyed a great couple of weeks on the pitch but off it, they have endured a frustrating sequence of injuries.
Ivan Perisic could miss the rest of the season with the anterior cruciate ligament injury he suffered in training last month, and yesterday The Athletic reported that Manor Solomon faced at least a couple of months out with a torn meniscus, another injury suffered at Hotspur Way. Surgery is scheduled for this afternoon.
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Earlier in the day, The Athletic revealed that Brennan Johnson would be out of Saturday’s trip to Luton Town with the hamstring issue he picked up in the north London derby on September 24.
The volume of these injuries would have been frustrating enough. But the fact those ruled out all play in similar positions makes the situation even harder to manage, leaving head coach Ange Postecoglou light in the wide forward area. It’s especially tricky as James Maddison and Son Heung-min have been managing knocks and niggles for the last few weeks.
With an awkward trip to Luton Town coming up on Saturday, this is a breakdown of the various Tottenham players managing fitness issues.
Perisic and Solomon are long- and medium-term absentees, but Johnson should be back a lot sooner.
Before Saturday’s win over Liverpool, Postecoglou said that Johnson’s injury was “nothing too serious but he won’t be right for this weekend”. The winger was then not called up for the Wales squad for their forthcoming international matches, and will sit out Saturday’s trip to Kenilworth Road. The hope, though, is that he will be back for Tottenham’s first game after the international break — against Fulham on Monday, October 23.
Son and Maddison have been taken off in Spurs’ last two matches — in Son’s case, Tottenham’s last four league games and five out of their seven this season. That has raised some concerns, especially as he required groin surgery at the end of last season and revealed that he played with pain for pretty much the entirety of the 2022-23 campaign. Postecoglou said after the Liverpool game that Son, who came off after 69 minutes, “wasn’t 100 per cent” and that “he was never going to play the whole 90”.
The situation is that Son has been dealing with a groin issue, which is why his game time and training have been managed more carefully. Encouragingly, though, he told Korean media after the Liverpool game that he felt fine — just not 100 per cent — when he came off and he could have played a bit more. He has been called up by Jurgen Klinsmann for South Korea’s two friendlies in the forthcoming international break.
Maddison has been dealing with various knocks since the start of the season, most recently when he took a whack to his knee from Jorginho against Arsenal. So he, along with Son, had an interrupted training week, but was fit enough to play 89 minutes against Liverpool.
Elsewhere, the injuries to Perisic, Solomon and Johnson have meant more focus on Bryan Gil and his return. Gil has not played since undergoing a groin operation in August, but is back in training and was the “21st man” for the Liverpool game — so he was with the squad but not on the bench. Given Solomon is another casualty since that game, the expectation is that Gil will be a substitute against Luton. If not, Postecoglou’s main attacking options on the bench will be Alejo Veliz, the 20-year-old who only made his debut as a late substitute against Liverpool on Saturday, and 18-year-old Jamie Donley, who is yet to play for the first team.
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Another creative player who has been missing is Giovani Lo Celso. Lo Celso has not returned to full training but he is said to be coming back soon. It has been a difficult month or so for Lo Celso, who picked up a quad injury against Fulham in the Carabao Cup in late August and was initially hoping to be back a couple of weeks later.
Instead, here we are more than five weeks on, and, unless he returns to training today or tomorrow, we will not see him before the Fulham game on October 23 at the earliest.
Of the players that are recovering from more serious injuries, Rodrigo Bentancur has stepped up his rehabilitation over the last few weeks from the ACL injury he suffered in February and has taken part in warm-up exercises with the rest of his team-mates. He has been desperate to join in the proper sessions, but his recovery is being carefully managed and he is still only joining the squad for the warm-ups.
November remains the timeframe for his return, but Postecoglou and everyone at Spurs will make sure he is not rushed back. Players recovering from ACL injuries often need more time to get up to speed, even after returning to match fitness — but every case is different.
Ryan Sessegnon has actually been out for even longer than Bentancur, last playing on February 5 against Manchester City, a week before the Uruguayan suffered that knee injury against Leicester City. Sessegnon has been out with a hamstring problem that required surgery in the summer, but started light training work last month. He is still a way off a first-team comeback, however, and continues to train on his own.
Reserve goalkeeper Alfie Whiteman, meanwhile, suffered an ankle injury during Spurs’ pre-season tour in July that required surgery he is still recovering from.
After Saturday’s game against Luton, the focus will turn to the international matches — with everyone at Spurs praying their players come through unscathed.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
