/https://sportsmole-media-prod.s3.gra.io.cloud.ovh.net/uploads/2025/08/tottenham-hotspur-manager-thomas-frank-on-july-31-2025-688f536486124962223912.jpg "Video: Spurs 28-year-old missing from training before - Sports Mole")
Tottenham Hotspur striker Dominic Solanke was not seen in training ahead of the Lilywhites' Champions League showdown with Villarreal on Tuesday evening.
The £65m attacker has endured a disrupted start to the 2025-26 season, playing just 49 minutes across two Premier League appearances and one UEFA Super Cup substitute outing.
Solanke made second-half cameos against Burnley and Manchester City in Spurs' first two top-flight outings of the campaign, but he has since been sidelined with an ankle injury.
The 28-year-old is expected to be the next cab off the rank in terms of Tottenham's injury victims, as Thomas Frank revealed before the weekend's 3-0 Premier League win over West Ham United that he was "not too far away" from returning.
However, the visit of Villarreal may come too soon for Solanke to make his comeback, as he was not seen in open training with the rest of the squad on Monday morning.
Solanke missing from Tottenham training ahead of Villarreal clash
Frank will be expected to give a firm update in his pre-game press conference, but the signs are that Solanke will not be available for the meeting with Marcelino's side at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The former Liverpool striker will be one of at least seven absentees for the Lilywhites in midweek, as Kota Takai, Radu Dragusin, Yves Bissouma, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison are all nursing injuries.
In any case, the latter five were all left out of Tottenham's squad for the league phase of the Champions League, as a result of both their injuries and Spurs' well-documented problems signing and promoting home-grown players.
Mathys Tel was also omitted from Frank's 22-man selection for the first stage of Europe's premier tournament, during which Spurs will also take on Bodo/Glimt, Monaco, Copenhagen, Paris Saint-Germain, Slavia Prague, Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Randal Kolo Muani or Richarlison up front for Tottenham?
With Solanke likely absent and Tel ineligible for the league phase, either Richarlison or Randal Kolo Muani can be expected to lead the line for Tottenham in their first Champions League clash of the season.
Tel was given the nod up front for the weekend's victory over West Ham, briefly playing alongside Richarlison after the latter replaced Xavi Simons in the 71st minute, shortly before Wilson Odobert came on for Tel.
However, new signing Randal Kolo Muani was left to watch proceedings from the bench as an unused substitute, meaning that the Paris Saint-Germain loanee has not played since Juventus' Club World Cup last-16 loss to Real Madrid on July 1.
As a result, Richarlison will almost certainly get the nod over his French counterpart to start against Villarreal, although Kolo Muani can feel optimistic of making his Spurs debut as a substitute on Tuesday.
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