Yves Bissouma has been left out of Tottenham Hotspur’s squad for the UEFA Super Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain due to disciplinary reasons.
Tottenham’s new head coach Thomas Frank told the media at a press conference ahead of Wednesday’s game against PSG that Bissouma has been punished for poor timekeeping.
“He has been late several times and now this latest time was one too many,” Frank said. “With everything, you need to give your players a lot of love but also have demands and there also need to be consequences and this time there was a consequence for that.
“For me, there has been a consequence and that is for this trip. I will follow up on that when I come home. I will park it for now because there is a relatively important game tomorrow.”
This is not the first time that the Mali international has been in trouble since he joined Spurs from Brighton in June 2022.
The midfielder was suspended by the club for their first game of the 2024-25 season after video footage appeared on social media that appeared to show him inhaling nitrous oxide.
Following a 2-0 defeat to Fulham in March, when Bissouma was substituted at half-time, then head coach Ange Postecoglou said that he allowed “games to drift him by.”
Bissouma started Spurs’ Europa League final victory over Manchester United in May but his future is uncertain with less than 12 months left on his contract.
Joao Palhinha’s arrival on loan from Bayern Munich only pushes Bissouma further down the pecking order and this incident will not have helped him to convince Frank he deserves an extension.
The positive news for Spurs is that Dominic Solanke is available to feature against PSG. The England international has only played once for Spurs in pre-season back on July 19 when they beat Reading 2-0.
He travelled with the squad for their pre-season tour of Hong Kong and South Korea but was unable to play due to an ankle injury. Frank said that left-back Destiny Udogie is “getting closer to training with the group” too.
Tottenham’s ‘different cat’
Analysis by Jay Harris
Bissouma will probably go down as a cult hero for a section of Tottenham’s fanbase.
The midfielder is always posting videos of himself dancing in the dressing room and cracking jokes with his team-mates. He acts like an older brother towards the young, French-speaking players in the squad including Pape Sarr, Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel.
Former head coach Ange Postecoglou described him as a “different cat” but he delivered when it mattered in the Europa League final. Afterwards, he walked through the mixzone topless with a speaker strapped to his back while wearing sunglasses.
This latest disciplinary incident feels like the end of his time with Spurs though. You could argue that Bissouma is the most frustrating player at the club. There are moments in games when he wriggles between opposition players effortlessly and others when it feels like he is not concentrating. There is no consistency which means managers cannot rely on him.
Throw in the repeated disciplinary issues under multiple head coaches and it becomes clear that Spurs need to cut their losses. Frank’s decision to leave Bissouma at home for the Super Cup might impact the price they can ask clubs for him but it is obvious there is no place for him in this new era.
With Joao Palhinha, Lucas Bergvall, Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Sarr and Archie Gray, Frank has more talented and, crucially, more focused alternatives to work with.
(Photo: Alex Davidson/Getty Images)