Thomas Frank will want to press on in 2026 and the Tottenham boss may have a secret weapon to call upon
There's no question about it. Injuries have plagued Tottenham's season so far, with several first team stars out of action at one point or another.
James Maddison, Dejen Kulusevski, Radu Dragusin, Destiny Udogie, Yves Bissouma and Archie Gray are just some of the names to have missed large periods this campaign. Another is Dominic Solanke.
The 28-year-old has only racked up three appearances this term, with the England international managing just 49 minutes on the pitch. That has meant Thomas Frank has relied heavily on Richarlison, with the former Everton man scoring seven goals in 25 appearances for the Lilywhites.
An ankle injury disrupted much of Solanke's pre-season and the striker ended up having "minor surgery" to try and rectify the issue at the end of September. It means the former Bournemouth star has not led the line for Tottenham for four months.
Solanke scored 16 goals and grabbed eight assists in his first year at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and he was expected to thrive even more under Frank. The £65million signing has just not been able to get going under the Dane, however, and that is simply down to injury.
There had been hope Solanke would return at the end of November, but a minor setback meant Frank had to continue to rely on Richarlison and Randal Kolo Muani. The Spurs boss did provide an update on his striker earlier this month though and it seems his return is getting closer.
"I guess it's good news, his injury was picked up in July, so it's dragged on for a while," said the Spurs boss. "Sometimes it's not so easy and straight forward, maybe it's a minor setback, maybe it's taken a little bit slower.
"Without being too boring and talking about details, the thing is it's more positive now and I'm looking forward to him on the training pitch and involved in the squad."
Frank added: "I would love to have Dom out there. To have a quality player like him in the squad, that would just help even more for competition, for rotation, for everything in the team. The good thing is I'm not in doubt he'll be out there."
Spurs travel to Crystal Palace on Sunday, December 28 before going to Brentford on New Year's Day. They then welcome Sunderland to north London on January 4 before travelling to Bournemouth three days later.
It promises to be a busy festive period for Frank and his squad, and the Dane will want Solanke to return sooner rather than later. The Englishman will essentially feel like a new signing given he has played so little and really could be Tottenham's secret weapon going into 2026 if he gets himself fit and remains injury free.