Tottenham have just two games remaining with Roberto De Zerbi wondering if he will get any of his injured players back before the season ends
Tottenham's injured players are running out of time to help Roberto De Zerbi keep the club in the Premier League with just the two games remaining this week.
De Zerbi at least managed to get James Maddison back in action this week when the 29-year-old made his return for his first 20 minutes of action since last summer when his anterior cruciate ligament fully ruptured, requiring surgery and a nine month absence from fixtures.
His new head coach De Zerbi has had no let up from Spurs ' injury problems as within his first week at the club he lost Mohammed Kudus and Cristian Romero and then watched on at Wolves as Xavi Simons suffered his own anterior cruciate ligament injury which has ruled him out of the World Cup and beyond.
The 46-year-old Tottenham boss will be hoping for no fresh injuries as he prepares his team to travel to Chelsea on Tuesday night and then welcome Everton in a week's time on Sunday.
Here's the latest on those eight players who have been in the Tottenham treatment room.
Dominic Solanke
Solanke has had a season to forget when it comes to injury after he lost most of the first half of the campaign with a persistent ankle problem and then suffered a hamstring issue during the win at Wolves last month before Xavi went off with his ACL injury.
The 28-year-old striker missed the victory at Aston Villa and De Zerbi gave football.london an update on the England striker ahead of the draw against Leeds.
"About Solanke, he's improving very quickly. I don't know, for this game, I don't know if he can be available," he said. "We hope for the next game in Stamford Bridge."
Solanke posted an image of himself in an Instagram story which many took as a suggestion that he is almost ready to return but he is yet to be spotted in the training images released by the club.
Return date: Potentially Chelsea and if not a final day return against Everton
Guglielmo Vicario
Guglielmo Vicario underwent hernia surgery in March on a problem that has dogged him for months and it looks like he is finally back in training.
Spurs announced in the days before the operation that it had been deliberately timed for the international break and the three week absence of fixtures in order to "have as minimal impact as possible". The club added that they hoped the Italian would be able to "return to action within the next month".
That was not the case though as only this week have the club released an image of the goalkeeper appearing to be back in training. The problem for him is that even though De Zerbi has maintained the Italian is the club's number one, Antonin Kinsky has been in fine form and Vicario will not be sharp.
Return date: Potentially for Chelsea but it would be a huge decision to start him
Cristian Romero
You might have spotted Cristian Romero during the Leeds game looking anything but injured. The Spurs captain has been watching games high up in the stands so he can stretch out his knee brace but there he was in the dugout and then out of it. That's because, now out of his knee brace, he could be seen on Monday night delightedly racing from his dugout seat and tackling set piece coach Andreas Georgson after Mathys Tel's goal.
The 28-year-old had been injured after being pushed into Spurs goalkeeper Kinsky by Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey just over a month ago at the Stadium of Light in De Zerbi's first game in charge.
Argentinian media outlet Dario Cronica reported on Thursday that Romero made the decision to remain in England with the team as they fight relegation rather than travel back to his homeland, which has meant the Argentina FA instead sent a member of staff to London to aid his recovery ahead of this summer's World Cup in which he will once again be a crucial player for Lionel Scaloni.
The outlet reported that initially, Romero's plan was to travel to Buenos Aires, to the Lionel Messi Training Centre in Ezeiza, to complete his rehabilitation, but his desire to be around his Tottenham team-mates during their relegation fight meant that the Argentine medical team instead sent kinesiologist Luis Garcia to the English capital to complete the World Cup winner's rehabilitation process.
Romero included an image of himself working with Garcia in his latest Instagram post and the recovery timescale from his injury was estimated by the outlet to be between six and seven weeks. That would make a Spurs return unlikely with just those crunch games against Chelsea and Everton.
It would allow Romero though to be back in time for Argentina's friendlies against Honduras on June 6 and Iceland on June 9 ahead of their World Cup opener against Algeria on June 16 in Kansas.
Return date: Maybe too late for Spurs but not the World Cup
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Dejan Kulusevski
Dejan Kulusevski had hoped to be back playing in time for this summer's World Cup after his knee injury but we now know that will not be the case.
The Swede injured the patella in his knee back in May last year and after a couple of setbacks following his initial surgery, is yet to return to action for Spurs. At the end of last month he was spotted limping while in Spain meeting his international team-mates ahead of their World Cup play-off semi-final win against Ukraine and the 25-year-old revealed afterwards that he had undergone a small operation to clean out the knee.
Then exactly a year after his injury he found out from Sweden boss Graham Potter that he was not going to be given a spot in his World Cup squad with the hope that might play some part.
"I think we have to think about what is right for the team, that's important but also Dejan is in a place where he has had a long fight and he is making progress," said Potter at his press conference to announce the squad. "I think it's important now that this time he can really focus on getting himself ready for the start of the season. Dejan is at a stage where his rehab is so important and he has made some progress.
"I think the aim for him would be to start the next season with Tottenham, hit the ground running and to get back on the pitch and do the thing he loves. I think we have to be careful about that and ultimately that is the priority for him."
Potter added: "Once those games start, you're not in an area where you can do big 11 v 11 work, so it would be very, very difficult for him to get up to where we need him to be. Sometimes you have to take a decision of what does this look like. What is the impact for the player? What is the impact for the team?
"And it just felt in my stomach it was the right thing for us and for him, but of course now it's tough to see that, because he wants to be there and he wants to play, I understand.
"He is a professional person and he accepts it, of course but it is also very difficult as it is with all the guys. These things don't come along very often, it's a dream and you're ending a dream which is not a nice thing believe me."
Kulusevski's wife Eldina posted on Instagram on the same day, shared by the player: "For the past year I have been sitting in the front row. People see the damage. I've seen someone wake up every morning with a smile on their face, even though life has been moving in a circle of uncertainties and setbacks. A body that said no but a head that refused to give up.
"That exactly 365 days after the injury to receive the message that your World Cup dream will not come true this time, it hurts. If there's anything this year has shown me, it's that people with your heart never break through adversity, they build from them. You inspire us every day. Your time will come again."
De Zerbi shared text messages with Kulusevski after the win at Villa and the Italian is hopeful that the attacker will be with the squad to cheer them on against Everton next weekend.
Return date: Hopefully pre-season
Xavi Simons
Just as he was starting to sparkle under De Zerbi so Xavi became the club's fourth ACL injury victim in the past 16 months or so. You could throw in Rodrigo Bentancur if you wanted to add on a couple of years and a fifth player.
The Dutchman underwent his knee surgery this month and will now begin the long road back and as Maddison did, he looks set to document the steps along his journey to keep the Tottenham fans updated.
Xavi posted an image of himself after surgery on that right knee with the caption: "I went missin, on a mission just perfecting my craft. Intro done. Now we rise."
Return date: Early 2027 with the same nine month timeline
Mohammed Kudus
It all looked hopeful when Kudus returned to training in De Zerbi's first week after three months out with a serious quad tendon injury. Unfortunately he then suffered a setback that ended his season and left his World Cup hopes with Ghana in tatters.
"We can confirm that Mohammed Kudus has suffered a setback in his return from injury. The Ghana international forward suffered a significant quad injury during our Premier League fixture against Sunderland in January. He had returned to team training during the past week, however will now require further specialist review and, potentially, surgery. We will provide any relevant further updates in due course. We're all with you, Mo," read a statement from Spurs.
"I started not with too big luck!" said De Zerbi. "Yes, Kudus was in my head a crucial player, especially for the position, but we have to look forward anyway."
Reports have suggested surgery has been the decision for Kudus after a season that started so promisingly for him. The Ghanaian was in the dugout for the draw with Leeds to be around the squad.
Return date: Next season
Ben Davies
Davies underwent a second operation in January on the broken ankle he suffered in the Premier League defeat that month to West Ham United.
The 32-year-old Wales international was not involved in the World Cup play-off against Bosnia and Herzegovina and was even linked with potentially taking on a coaching role if Spurs went for another interim head coach before they managed to convince De Zerbi to join the club.
With his contract coming to an end this summer it may be that we don't get to see Davies in a Tottenham shirt again unless he either heals quickly or pens a new deal.
He did travel though in a club tracksuit on Sunday with the squad to Villa, in a non-playing capacity, watching the warm-ups and going on the pitch with the team as they celebrated at the final whistle and was in the dugout again for the Leeds game.
Return date: Unknown
Wilson Odobert
Odobert joined the ruptured anterior cruciate ligament crew after doing so in his left knee in February. He underwent surgery and is now working his way through the stages of his rehabilitation with the club's medical staff.
The Frenchman's time at Spurs has been fragmented by injuries and now the 21-year-old will follow in the footsteps of Maddison, Dragusin and Bentancur, and a little ahead of Xavi, in going through at least nine months or so out of the game.
He was among that group of injured Tottenham players watching the Leeds match beside the dugout on Monday night.