Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank said he is taking it “day by day and week by week” with Dominic Solanke, who had minor ankle surgery on October 1.
Solanke missed most of pre-season with an ankle injury before returning as a substitute in Tottenham’s UEFA Super Cup penalty shoot-out defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on August 13.
He then featured as a second-half substitute in their opening two Premier League matches against Burnley and Manchester City, but has not played since their 2-0 away win at the Etihad Stadium on August 23.
The 28-year-old has returned to individual training after his ankle procedure, but Frank is keen not to rush the England international back to action.
“Dom’s progressing well after the surgery,” Frank said in his Friday press conference ahead of Tottenham’s home match against Aston Villa on Sunday. “(He’s) been on the pitch, actually don’t know if he was today, but definitely was the two days before that. So, the detail is, he’s progressing and he’s going forward. So that’s good.
“He’s progressing now, but he’s still training on his own, so I don’t want to be too excited or too negative either way. So I’m actually taking it a little bit day by day and week by week to see how quickly he progresses. Dom is a naturally fit player. There are some players that naturally get that fitness up to a high level.
“But of course, we also need to take into consideration he basically hasn’t trained with the team since July. But that’s not saying it will take three months to get up to pace. It’s just that it will take a little bit of time to get up to pace. How long? I don’t know.”
Mathys Tel started as the central striker in Spurs’ 2-1 away win against Leeds United before the international break, scoring the opening goal. He continued his goalscoring form with France’s Under-21s by netting once in each of their fixtures, a 6-1 win against Estonia and a 6-0 win against the Faroe Islands, where team-mate Wilson Odobert also starred. Richarlison, who has scored three goals in five league starts for Spurs this season, played 26 minutes for Brazil over the break.
Randal Kolo Muani, who signed for Tottenham on a season-long loan from PSG on deadline day, played 45 minutes in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Watford over the break, stepping up his recovery from a dead leg. He is in contention to make his league debut for Tottenham on Sunday.
“Kolo Muani has trained now for two weeks with the team,” Frank said. “So that’s good. He looks better and better. He will be in contention for the squad. That’s positive.”
In less positive news, Yves Bissouma sustained an ankle ligament injury while on international duty with Mali. Bissouma, who has not featured for Spurs this season, was a second-half substitute in Mali’s 4-1 World Cup qualifying win over Madagascar, but was stretchered off shortly after entering the pitch.
“Biss, unfortunately had a situation with the national team,” said Frank. “I think everyone saw that. He’s got a ligament injury to his ankle, that will keep him out for weeks.”
Mali, who have failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup next summer, will compete in the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco this winter.
Bissouma was left out of the Tottenham squad for the UEFA Super Cup due to disciplinary reasons and was also omitted from their roster for the Champions League initial phase.