Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank has refused to comment on allegations of Yves Bissouma inhaling nitrous oxide.
Frank said instead that the club are internally “dealing with” Yves Bissouma after The Sun published footage of the midfielder on Saturday.
This is not the first time that Bissouma has come under scrutiny for similar allegations as last year, Bissouma was given a one-game suspension by the north London club following him posting a video on his social media of him appearing to inhale laughing gas. He apologised after the incident at the time and called it a “severe lack of judgement”.
When asked about the Mali international on Monday, Frank said: “It’s an internal matter that we are dealing with at the moment, and when we have dealt with that, then I will have a comment on it.”
After the previous occasion where Bissouma was punished by the club for the act, Tottenham’s then-head coach Ange Postecoglou said: “He has made a really poor decision. “You want to understand that and try to help him through that, and as a club (see) what we can do to make sure he doesn’t make those kinds of choices and decisions in the future.
“He has a responsibility to his team-mates, to our supporters and to everyone associated with the club — and he failed in those duties.”
The recreational use of nitrous oxide — a Class C drug in the United Kingdom — has been a criminal offence since 2023, carrying a maximum two-year prison sentence.
Bissouma was dropped for Tottenham’s opening game of the season in the summer for the second year in a row, sitting out the European Super Cup defeat to Paris Saint-Germain as a punishment for repeated lateness under new head coach Thomas Frank.
After being considered likely to leave in August, he is yet to make a competitive appearance for Tottenham this campaign.
Frank also confirmed that left-back Destiny Udogie will be out until January with a hamstring injury. The 23-year-old missed his side’s 2-0 victory over Brentford on Saturday due to the issue.
“Destiny I said after the game, he picked up a hamstring injury at the end of the Newcastle game,” Frank said on Monday before his side’s Champions League game against Slavia Prague on Tuesday. “So, he’s out until January, unfortunately.”
The Danish coach confirmed that Brennan Johnson is “touch and go” for Tuesday’s game after the Wales international missed training on Monday and also entertained the idea of replacing Dominic Solanke with Mathys Tel in the team’s Champions League squad.
Solanke, 28, has only made three appearances this season, all off the bench, and has only played 59 minutes in total while dealing with an ankle injury. The issue caused him to miss all of Spurs’ preseason and he was forced to undergo minor ankle surgery on October 1, while Tel, 20, was omitted from the squad in September.
Frank said: “Of course, if I knew back then, what I what I know now, is maybe would have changed the decision. No doubt about that. Of course, it’s something we can have into consideration. We need players that are fit and available, so we have enough players to shoot with from the bench.”