Pedro Porro sends wordless message over Maddison and Kulusevski replacement for Europa League final

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The big talking point from a Tottenham perspective ahead of the Europa League final is who will play in the creative No.10 role for Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian will be without his first choice options in James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski, both of whom have been ruled out with knee injuries.

Lucas Bergvall would probably be the next choice to move forward from his No.6 or No.8 role, but he too is injured and highly unlikely to return in time for Wednesday night's clash in Bilbao, despite the teenager's desire to make it.

Wilson Odobert played there after Kulusevski went off injured against Crystal Palace, but did not look comfortable in there. The likelihood is that one of Rodrigo Bentancur or Pape Matar Sarr will be asked to play a bit further forward.

However, there are a couple of other options being touted about on social media.

Dominic Solanke could drop back into the 10, with Richarlison pushing into the striker role, given the former Bournemouth striker's ability to hold the ball up.

There's another rogue choice too - Pedro Porro moving into midfield, with Djed Spence potentially coming in at right-back.

Porro has an incredible delivery and an eye for a pass, and his defensive nous would see him easily slot in to potentially come looking for the ball from the defenders like Maddison does and progressing the play from deep.

Only Dejan Kulusevski (65) has created more chances for Tottenham in the Premier League than Porro (56) this season, while only Son Heung-min (14) has created more big chances than the Spaniard (9) according to FootMob.

Postecoglou refused to rule out a curveball decision when naming his team lineup for Bilbao. Speaking on Thursday, ahead of the game with Villa, he said: "I think it's all in the realms [of possibility]. When you're in this position you go through all the different scenarios. A lot of it will depend on seeing how we get through tomorrow night [at Aston Villa], see how people get through the game.

"There’s obviously a few players who will play tomorrow night who haven’t played regularly or a lot lately who will get an opportunity.

"There could be a performance tomorrow night that convinces me to go one way or another. You consider it all. At the same time, even if you do something radical, whether it’s a positional change, it’s always better done in the confines of having a real solid foundation there."

And Porro has already sent a wordless message of sorts that he can fill the void left by Maddison.

The Spaniard admitted it was a cross, rather than a shot, that looped over the Bodo/Glimt goalkeeper to put Spurs 2-0 up on the night and 5-1 up on aggregate in the second leg of the Europa League semi-final last week.

And after celebrating his goal with his teammates, he beckoned the cameraman behind the touchline and mimicked Maddison's darts-throw goal celebration.

It was a message to Maddison, who had been ruled out for the season, that his role in the team will not be forgotten, but it could also have been an indication to Postecoglou that Porro can step up into a new role.