Tottenham could be one of the clubs who lose players in the African Cup of Nations but one player could be given the chance of a key role.
Sign up to our LondonWorld Today newsletter
Sign up
Thank you for signing up!
Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to LondonWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
Submitting...
Tottenham have yet to find the sort of consistency needed to challenge at the sharp end of the Premier League table but there has been enough to be positive about.
Thomas Frank has added stability to a team that was capable of one-off performances with the gap between the good days and bad days narrowing compared to the extremes of last season. What the Spurs boss will be hoping for now is a run of positive results where he can pick his strongest team. The festive period is always a busy time, however, the African Cup of Nations will throw a spanner in the works for those looking for stability.
Tottenham set for AFCON squad exits
Tottenham will probably be without Yves Bissouma, Pape Matar Sarr and Mohammed Kudus with the latter being the player who Frank will miss the most in terms of what the winger has offered since signing from West Ham, not that Frank is looking for excuses: “I think it is what it is,” the Spurs boss said via The Guardian. Like the Club World Cup in the summer, the Africa Cup of Nations most of the time has been in December, January. We need to deal with it and we will. That's my take on it.”
Kudus has only scored one Premier League goal since arriving in the summer but the five assists have shown what he is capable of doing in terms of producing numbers in the final third. When he heads to Morocco for as long as four weeks, someone will need to step up to the plate and replace his output.
The favourite to take the Ghana international’s place will be Brennan Johnson who has scored two goals in 11 Premier League appearances, of those 11 games, he has started just five and Frank could well turn to the Wales cap to bolster his attack in Kudus’ absence.
Johnson backed to come good for Spurs
One man who has backed Johnson to take the step up is Wales boss Craig Bellamy who dismissed comparisons to former Spurs and Wales great Gareth Bale in the process, via BBC Sport: "There's no next Gareth Bale, he's one in a lifetime," said Bellamy. "I've not seen a Gareth Bale before him and we'd be lucky to see another Gareth Bale ever again. Hopefully we do, but I'm not hanging on to it. Brennan just has to be him and the best version of him. That's a player with real high intensity, real penetration and goals.
"It's been a change for him with a new manager coming in," said Bellamy, “Last season wasn't a great season for Spurs, but he excelled in certain parts and his numbers and goals were exceptional. I've been there myself and it's difficult when someone new comes in and you see one or two other players come in. So I feel he's adjusting to that and the new manager is adjusting to him as well.
"I always believe quality will shine through and for Brennan I'm sure that will be the case." One thing is certain, Johnson won’t have a better chance to prove that he can be the main man and cement his place back in the Spurs starting XI.