Tottenham retain an interest in signing Manchester City winger Savinho, who was forced off during the 0-0 draw at Sunderland on New Year's Day
Tottenham's hopes of signing Savinho this month have been dented after Pep Guardiola hinted the Brazilian could be set for a spell on the sidelines.
The 21-year-old made only his fifth Premier League start of the season on Thursday as Manchester City were held to a goalless draw at Sunderland.
However, Savinho was unable to finish the match and was forced off in the second half due to an injury issue.
Speaking after the game, Guardiola said: "With Savinho, it doesn't look good I would say."
With Omar Marmoush currently at the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt, it seems unlikely City will consider significantly weakening their squad during this month's transfer window.
The key stipulation is that Antoine Semenyo is still expected to arrive from Bournemouth for £65million and that could mean there is scope to let one winger leave.
Oscar Bobb, however, is currently considered the favourite to depart as there have already been discussions with Borussia Dortmund.
During the summer, Savinho is believed to have been open to a move to Spurs but City blocked a deal.
While Savinho has remained on the fringes of Guardiola's starting XI, the club still have huge faith in his quality and believe he will become a world-beater in the future.
Tottenham were ready to pay big cash to land the ex-Girona attacker but even now, there is lingering doubt as to whether City would sanction a sale even if Spurs returned to the table.
With Brennan Johnson set to join Crystal Palace for £35million, Thomas Frank's side will definitely be in the market for wide reinforcements.
It seems improbable they would have pushed so hard to sell Johnson if they did not plan on bringing in another player.
The Welshman finished up as the club's top-goalscorer last season, netting 18 in all competitions but has persistently been overlooked by under-fire boss Frank.
Speaking after the 0-0 draw at his former club Brentford, Frank was asked whether he was comfortable with the attacking options within his squad, to which he replied: "I think it's fair to say that Lucas [Bergvall] and Xavi [Simons] are hopefully soon back with the team, that are attacking options. So that's some element.
"Hopefully [Dominic] Solanke at one stage also will come back and help the team and then that should be fine. And then as I said, we are in the market and we are looking for everything we can to see if we can improve the squad. But it's a difficult January window and we need to be calm and make the right decisions."