Tottenham Hotspur have provided an update on midfielder Mohammed Kudus who has been out injured since January
Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed that Mohammed Kudus has suffered a setback in his return from injury. The midfielder has been out of action since January after injuring his calf during Spurs' 1-1 draw at home to Sunderland.
It was hoped that the extended break would have given Kudus more time to get closer to a return after so long out. But he was not in the background of photos or footage from Roberto de Zerbi's first session as Tottenham Hotspur head coach - leading to fears that he had suffered a setback.
And those concerns have been realised after Spurs confirmed on Thursday evening that the former Ajax star faces a further period out, with no time frame for his return.
A club statement said: "We can confirm that Mohammed Kudus has suffered a setback in his return from injury.
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"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 he will now require further specialist review and, potentially, surgery. We will provide any relevant further updates in due course."
Spurs' former interim head coach Igor Tudor had provided a positive update on the attacker before his departure.
The 47-year-old said: "So we have this big three weeks after the game on Sunday. He will probably do some part of the things with the squad maybe 10 days [after the break].
"I don’t know I’m not sure. We need to check but he is progressing very well. Already a little bit with the ball."
The 25-year-old had provided nine goal involvements in 24 Premier League and Champions League matches for Spurs before his injury.
However, news of his injury setback is another blow to Tottenham as they look to avoid a disastrous relegation from the Premier League. De Zerbi's team currently sit 17th in the top-flight table - just a point clear of the bottom three.
And Spurs could find themselves in the relegation zone by the time they kick off at Sunderland on Sunday, with the team directly below them, West Ham, kicking off at home to bottom-of-the-table Wolves on Friday night.