Tottenham are being ravaged by injuries yet again of late.
The Lilywhites have made a bright start to the new Premier League season, but the lack of depth in their squad is being exposed at the moment as fitness issues are beginning to set in across the team.
Club captain Cristian Romero returned for Tottenham in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Chelsea, but the injury list in N17 is still lengthy and features some high-profile names.
Thomas Frank has had to manage his group carefully of late, and he will be desperate to get one particular star back available and firing on all cylinders.
Dejan Kulusevski will quickly return to Tottenham starting XI
Dejan Kulusevski was a vital player for Tottenham last season, as he shouldered the creative burden for the majority of the campaign for the North Londoners.
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However, the Sweden international hasn’t made a competitive appearance since May, and is still sidelined with the knee injury that he suffered in the penultimate league game of that season against Crystal Palace.
The 25-year-old has joined the likes of James Maddison and Dominic Solanke on a Spurs treatment table that features several big-name stars at the moment.
However, Lilywhite Rose owner John Wenham – speaking exclusively to Tottenham News – believes that Kulusevski provides such quality that he will have no issues regaining his place in the starting XI when he eventually returns.
“I think Kulusevski, until his injury last year, was not only Tottenham’s outstanding player, but one of the best in the Premier League,” Wenham said.
“He was so dominant in the strength that he has, his technical ability, his passing, and scoring a few goals as well.
“He’s an outstanding player; he has the ability to be a world-class player as well if he can gain consistency in his game time.
“The ability is absolutely there, he’s got big club experience having played at Juventus as well as Tottenham. For me, I think he’s so good that once he does get up to speed, he walks into our strongest XI.”
Dejan Kulusevski return is still a way off for Spurs
Jamie O’Hara acknowledged Tottenham’s need for Kulusevski after their recent Carabao Cup exit away at Newcastle, but they will have to live without the attacker for several weeks yet.
Frank confirmed in his press conference ahead of the Chelsea defeat that the former Juventus man is not even back on the grass yet.
With that in mind, by the time he is back in full training and the coaching staff feel that he has been built up sufficiently to avoid breaking down again in terms of his fitness, it is surely likely to be the new year.
That will be hugely frustrating for Spurs given their current lack of creativity, but the last thing that they will want is to rush Kulusevski back ahead of schedule and risk damaging his knee even further.