Football London

Tottenham discover 'one big problem' about Mykhailo Mudryk as Roberto De Zerbi talks revealed  Football London

Mohammed Kudus, Savio and the key Tottenham question Roberto De Zerbi must answer  Football London

EXCLUSIVE: Tottenham suffer Mykhailo Mudryk injury blow as Roberto De Zerbi learns return timeline

Mykhailo Mudryk has picked up an injury in Tottenham training and faces a spell on the sidelines

Tottenham winger Mykhailo Mudryk has suffered an ankle injury in training and is expected to be sidelined until after the international break.

Mudryk reunited with old Shakhtar boss Roberto De Zerbi at Spurs after he moved across London on a season-long loan from Chelsea on transfer deadline day.

The move came just a matter of weeks after a 20-month ban for returning an “adverse finding” for banned substance meldonium was lifted.

The Ukrainian then made his debut last weekend when he came on as a second-half substitute in the 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest for his first match in 646 days following the overturned drugs ban.

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But football.london understands that Mudryk has picked up an injury during a Spurs training session. He's out of action until after the international break, meaning he will miss this weekend's clash with Everton, as well as the Carabao Cup meeting with Liverpool and the league showdown with Aston Villa.

It will be a blow for De Zerbi and Mudryk, who is looking to get his career back on track after a tough spell both on and off the pitch.

The Ukraine international signed for Chelsea at the start of 2023 for £89m, but has struggled at Stamford Bridge and scored only 10 goals in 73 appearances.

After making his debut for Spurs, De Zerbi admitted that Mudryk will need time to show his best after making his first appearance in almost two years.

Mudryk, whose last appearance was in November 2024, replaced Mathys Tel in the City Ground stalemate, but De Zerbi is willing to be patient.

“He’s not ready yet. He’s working to reach the best physical condition,” the Italian said. “He needs time, he needs work. In that position, we have Mathys Tel, big potential. But also Mathys takes too many wrong decisions, and Mudryk. So, two big players, two big potential players.”

After joining Spurs, an injury expert said that Mudryk can expect setbacks on his return to competitive action - but backed him to get up to speed quicker than an injured player.

Injury expert and founder of Premier Injuries website Ben Dinnery told the Press Association: “He hasn’t been playing within an elite professional environment, but that’s not to say he hasn’t had some kind of exposure to game play in that time.

“Mudryk should be better placed because he hasn’t been inhibited by any injury setback, it is more around the rules and regulations and governance of the game which hasn’t allowed him to perform at peak level and at the top level. He did have the ability to undertake alternative ways to maintain fitness and focus.

“That transition from working in isolation and on an individual programme, to then into team training and then finally crossing the white line into a highly competitive and intense environment of the Premier League, rarely are you going to move across and it go smoothly.

“It is rare you have a straight line from A to B and there will be setbacks and bumps along the road, particularly when you’re talking about a player like Mudryk who is highly explosive with dynamic movements.

“So, yes, he should (get up to speed quickly), but am I expecting that seamless transition into first-team and optimum levels of performance on a consistent basis? Absolutely not. It could still be several games or even several months depending on how much exposure he will be afforded by Roberto De Zerbi.”

Dejan Kulusevski was out of action for nearly 500 days for Tottenham

Sweden head coach Graham Potter has provided a positive injury update regarding Tottenham Hotspur star Dejan Kulusevski. Earlier this month, the winger returned to full training after a complicated knee problem kept him out for 477 days.

North London medical staff opted to remain cautious integrating the Swede back into first-team training and not pushing him with a strict timeline. Roberto De Zerbi named him in his squad for the trip to Nottingham Forest.

The Italian conceded that a 'small problem' forced him to sit out of preparations. However, Kulusevski is closing in on a Spurs return in an almighty boost for the frontline.

And Potter's comments show how increasingly close the 26-year-old is to making a much-awaited competitive return.

He said via: “He is actually very close. I am so impressed with him, how he has handled his injury.

“Of course, we have to be careful with him. I hope he comes with us, but we have to talk to Dejan and Tottenham first.

“He is incredibly important to the team. We love him, his character and qualities. He is a world-class player, and it helps enormously to have him with us."

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The international break returns this month and Potter will lead Sweden into their four UEFA Nations League matches in September and October.

The former Brighton, Chelsea and West Ham boss isn’t ruling out Kulusevski's inclusion for these fixtures but communication will be needed between all parties.

Kulusevski's last appearance for Tottenham came in a defeat to Crystal Palace in May before undergoing knee surgery later that month forcing him to miss the historic Europa League win over Manchester United.

Speaking about the returning international, De Zerbi said: "Kulusevski started with us in the beginning of the week, and then the last two days, a small, small problem, stopped, but I think he’s in a good way. It’s going very well.

"I already said the medical staff is very high level. So I think we can be positive with him. I’m looking forward to having Deki in the squad."

Tottenham are just one of three clubs in England's top four leagues not to score a single goal this season. That is despite splashing out £394million in the summer transfer window.

It means Spurs have now failed to score in their opening three league matches for the first time since 1974. Roberto De Zerbi did not seem too concerned, however, after watching his side draw 0-0 with Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

"We could have scored three or four goals today, because if you take the wrong decision, you don't score. But for me it is a chance to score," the Italian said.

"I think we played well, but in the last third we have to improve. We have to take the better decisions. We have to keep more calm when we are very close to doing something important in the last third."

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So, what needs to happen in order for Tottenham to start making better decisions in the final third? Of course, more time on the training pitches at Hotspur Way will help due to the likes of Savio, Omar Marmoush and Mykhailo Mudryk all relatively new arrivals.

Another option to De Zerbi is to tinker with the starting XI. In the opening league game against Brentford, Richarlison started up top but the Brazilian is now not training with the first team squad after a deadline day move to Everton fell through. Since that 3-0 opening day defeat, Marmoush has been deployed in the No.9 role but has been inconsistent and wasteful.

De Zerbi could move Marmoush back into the No.10 role in place of Conor Gallagher and instead use Dominic Solanke just ahead of him, with the former Bournemouth man more of a natural striker and goalscorer. The 28-year-old has played just 43 minutes in the league this season and deserves a chance from the start given Spurs' attacking woes.

Solanke's only start this season came in the 5-1 pounding of Charlton in the second round of the Carabao Cup. He scored and assisted in that game so has already shown his attacking abilities this season.

The move would most probably benefit Marmoush, too, who is more of a creator than a finisher. Former Spurs star Mido, who has watched Marmoush closely with Egypt as he has progressed through the ranks, told the Sun: "His best position is a No.10 and a left-winger. He is not great playing with his back to the goal. I’m sure the manager realised that."

So, it could well be that for the game against Everton, Marmoush is deployed just behind Solanke, with Savio on the right and Tel on the left. Mohammed Kudus and Mudryk are also option in the forward line for De Zerbi.

Tottenham train ahead of Everton as Savio fights with Pedro Porro and Dejan Kulusevski absent  Football London

Tottenham's classy gesture as they deliver huge help to fellow club  Football London

Tottenham flop in 'crisis' after transfer as pressure builds on striker  Football London

Tottenham player training alone, Mason Melia issue and Vicario makes 'fantastic' De Zerbi claim  Football London

Just over two weeks ago Richarlison was playing up front for Tottenham at Brentford on the opening day of the season and now he finds himself unwanted and in limbo.

The Richarlison situation has been a messy one for the club and the player. The 29-year-old played a full part in pre-season throughout the summer, scored goals and was the man up top for the visit to the Gtech Community Stadium as Spurs kicked off their Premier League campaign.

However, the cracks had already started to show out in Sydney during the club's summer tour when football.london asked Roberto De Zerbi what was happening with the Brazilian's future and his contract situation.

"I don’t know. I like him as a player, as a guy, it’s unbelievable his attitude, behaviour, but at the end we have to respect what he wants to do. We know, every one of us knows what he wants to do, but for me he’s still an important player because it’s not so easy to find another striker like Richarlison because Richarlison scored goals and he knows the way," said the Italian.

When football.london pressed on whether the striker had asked to leave, De Zerbi added: "I don’t know, I didn’t understand well because sometimes he said to stay, sometimes he leaves and we have to speak anyway. There is not any problem. He’s a lovely guy. All of us love him. The team-mates, the club, the staff, because he works hard every day, seriously every day, and we can’t say anything on the pitch."

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De Zerbi was then critical of Richarlison's performance at Brentford on the opening day of the season, as he was with most of his players that day, and the forward would not play another minute in the next two games against Charlton and Newcastle. He was left out of the squad for the latter game entirely.

When football.london asked why, the Spurs boss would only say: "Richarlison, I don’t know. He said too many times he wants to leave."

Tottenham thought they had found an exit for the player as talks progressed with Everton but it never reached its conclusion, with Richarlison unhappy with how it was dealt with.

The player took to social media, posting: "After everything I’ve been through in the last few years, I’ve decided that NEVER AGAIN will anyone decide my future for me. I went through a lot of bad things, and almost all of them happened because decisions were made by other people. Pressure, threats, retaliation - none of that scares me. I’ve been through far worse, believe me.

"I’ve always made it clear, every time I had the chance, that leaving for another club would only happen if it was also good for the club. If it wasn’t, I would never accept it… just like I didn’t accept it when everything was going badly and they needed me. I stayed and gave everything. So I hope they treat my situation with the same respect I’ve always shown Spurs and everyone who worked with me during this period. Just don’t try to decide for me."

He then added: "If they reach an agreement between Spurs and Everton, I will return to my beloved club. My intention was to go back to the place where I was very happy, yes, but the negotiations happened only in the way certain people wanted, and it will no longer be like that. Despite all this turmoil, I am under contract at Spurs and will remain at the club’s disposal."

Richarlison did not go to Everton and he is not at the club's disposal as when the English transfer window shut, along with many of Europe's, De Zerbi decided to leave the Brazilian out of his registered squad for the Premier League season ahead. Instead Xavi Simons, currently out until the turn of the year with an ACL injury, took the 17th and final non-homegrown player spot.

Richarlison is now training away from his team-mates, but on the same first team pitches at Hotspur Way as a solution is sought.

De Zerbi made it clear where the fault lay for the situation.

"Richarlison he decided everything alone. He spoke with me at the beginning of the pre-season and told me his idea and desire was to leave," said the 47-year-old. "At the end we go to bring another striker and like I said at the beginning of the pre-season, I want to keep the players, just the players that want to stay and be proud and with the right passion to stay here. Then for everything and other problems, it is not my business and not my job.

"It is the responsibility of the club. I can’t say nothing because I didn’t decide anything. The message of Richarlison from the beginning of the season has been very clear. I accepted that and for me nothing [to say]."

He added: "You don't know one important thing, at the beginning of pre-season I spoke to Richarlison and asked him if he wanted to extend his contract because I was happy to keep him with us, and he didn't want to. Richarlison is a good player. He was important last season. He's a good guy, but in the end, I had to stop myself putting pressure on the players if they show me they want to leave. So I'm sorry for him but we have to go to another page and work with Dominic Solanke and Omar Marmoush."

The problem now is where can Richarlison go?

"If a player says 'I want to leave, I want to leave, I want to leave', you have to have an offer behind you otherwise what are you doing?" De Zerbi explained. "And the right offer for him I think arrived after the transfer market closed. We received an offer before the transfer market closed and he didn't accept."

That other offer was believed to be from Trabzonspor but in the end no move materialised to the club before the Turkish transfer window closed last Friday.

So what's left? The Saudi Pro League was one potential destination with interested clubs in recent years. However, despite some suggestions online that the window remains open until next month, the league itself announced it had shut on Sunday evening.

The Portuguese window also closed on September 4, with a later deadline next week for youth players, which rules out a reunion with Marco Silva at Benfica.

The only realistic transfer option remaining is a move home to Brazil, with their transfer window open until this Friday. Flamengo have been credited with interest before and his friend and former Spurs team-mate Emerson Royal is at the Rio club.

Supporters of Vasco da Gama, the Brazilian club Richarlison supported as a youngster, have tried to push a #RicharlisonNoVasco (#RicharlisonAtVasco) campaign on social media in recent days. Richarlison also has close ties to Fluminese where he came to prominence before his move to Watford and the Premier League in 2017.

For the moment, Richarlison is no longer posting his own words on social media but instead reposting videos on TikTok of his goals and also a telling one of Brazilian ESPN journalist Renato Senise explaining the situation from the player's perspective.

In that video the reporter claimed that Richarlison had good offers to leave Tottenham last season, including one from the Saudi Pro League, but Spurs wanted him to stay because of their situation in the table. The player is said to have agreed to do so in order to help the side and ended up as their top scorer last season.

Then Senise reported that Richarlison went to De Zerbi this summer and said that if any good offers for him and the club came in then he might leave if it suited all parties.

So when the Tottenham boss came out with the comment to football.london about Richarlison being confusing as he sometimes says he wanted to leave and others that he wants to stay, Senise said that upset the player. The reporter claimed that the striker never asked to leave, only saying that if an offer came in that was right for all concerned then he would go.

Senise also reported that the Everton offer to Richarlison was very low compared to others the player had received from other clubs so despite being happy to return to a club close to his heart, the offer made no financial sense for him and his family, but he felt in the aftermath as if the narrative was formed to make him the villain in the story.

So now Richarlison will be waiting to see what arises in the final days of the Brazilian market otherwise he will spend the next four months on the sidelines watching on as his career is paused and his international prospects harmed.

He could sit out his contract until January or next summer, as Danny Rose once did after being left out of the club's squad, but Spurs do hold an option to extend Richarlison's deal if they wish.

There have been suggestions in the media that they could come to a mutual conclusion to end his contract, as they did with former record signing Tanguy Ndombele a couple of years ago, but that's a big financial hit to take on a striker who does have clubs interested in him unlike the Frenchman.

It's a sad situation for a player, who despite his injury issues before last season, always gave everything to the Tottenham cause. It's a mess for all concerned and when that Brazilian window closes on Friday we will know just how awkward it could yet become.