Tottenham's Rodrigo Bentancur is expected to be sidelined for at least the next three months due to a hamstring injury that requires surgery. The 28-year-old midfielder sustained the injury during Spurs' loss to Bournemouth last week, just before Antoine Semenyo scored the winning goal for the home team.
The Uruguayan now faces surgery and a lengthy rehabilitation period, which will likely keep him out of action for most of the remainder of the season. Bentancur has been instrumental under Thomas Frank, starting all but four of Tottenham's Premier League matches and every Champions League game this season, making a total of 28 appearances. He was on track to complete his fourth full match in 11 days when he suffered the hamstring injury.
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The former Juventus player missed nearly nine months of play due to an ACL injury during Tottenham's 2022/23 season, and this is set to be the second-longest absence of his career. Bentancur hopes to return in time for the final months of the Premier League season and to regain match fitness ahead of Uruguay's World Cup fixtures in the summer.
Despite being awarded a lucrative, long-term contract by Spurs in October, Bentancur now joins the growing list of injured players currently unavailable to Frank.
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The Dane has lost £55million summer signing Mohammed Kudus until April due to a quad issue, while Richarlison was forced to leave the pitch in the first half of the FA Cup defeat at home to Aston Villa on Saturday with a hamstring problem.
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Frank has only recently welcomed Dominic Solanke back into the squad after nearly five months out with an ankle injury, but still has James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski in the treatment room as long-term casualties.
Spurs were already considering adding another midfielder to their ranks, and this has now become a priority following this latest injury, with Lucas Bergvall also missing the cup defeat to Villa due to what appeared to be a re-injured groin against Bournemouth.
Archie Gray and Joao Palhinha are currently the only fit central midfielders for Spurs, with the out-of-favour and soon-to-be out-of-contract Yves Bissouma on his way back from the Africa Cup of Nations following Mali's exit, and Pape Matar Sarr still there with Senegal.
Long-time target Conor Gallagher is thought to have been identified as a potential midfield target, according to football.london, although Spurs would face stiff competition from high-flying Villa for the 25-year-old England international, who has struggled for regular starts this season at Atletico Madrid.