Football London

The Tottenham Hotspur injury list has got another name on it after one of the first team players pulled out of their international duty

Mathys Tel has become the latest name on Tottenham's long injury list after withdrawing from France U21 duty.

The 20-year-old has been a bright spark during a difficult spell for Spurs, but was forced off 67 minutes into Sunday's 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest. The Frenchman appeared to be holding his groin before leaving the pitch and was replaced by his compatriot Randal Kolo Muani.

Spurs assistant coach Bruno Saltor said after the game of Tel: "Now, it's still assessing and seeing if he can go with the national team."

The attacker had to be assessed by the France physios ahead of the U21s' European Championship qualifiers against Luxembourg and Iceland and Tel has now withdrawn from the squad, with the France Football Federation naming it as a thigh injury. Lens forward Rayan Fofana has been given his first call-up to replace the Tottenham man.

Tottenham have a break in their season with three weeks between the Forest match and the trip to Sunderland on April 12, which gives Tel longer to recover.

He will return to Hotspur Way where a large number of players are working on their injury recoveries. Guglielmo Vicario underwent his hernia surgery on Monday with the hope of being back in action within the next month.

With Tottenham on the hunt for a permanent manager, Jurgen Klopp's name has been mentioned

Jurgen Klopp could be set for a sensational return to management months after Tottenham were urged to hire the former Liverpool boss. Since January 2025, Klopp has been serving as Red Bull's Head of Global Football, overseeing operations across its network of clubs, including RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg and New York Red Bulls, among others.

The German has previously insisted he was finished with management, but has recently left the door ajar. Amid speculation linking him with Real Madrid, Klopp dismissed the rumours, saying: "That is all nonsense. They didn't even call - not once. They didn't even call my agent."

However, he added: "As for the future, I'm not quite finished as a coach yet. So who knows what might come up in the next few years. But there are absolutely no plans in that regard."

Klopp has been linked with a sensational return to Liverpool throughout the season. But former Spurs owner, Lord Alan Sugar, would like to see him in north London. In December, he said: "With the massive fortune of the Lewis family [who own Spurs], it would be a win-win situation if they hired Jurgen Klopp in January. Loads of money for players and a great manager. Who agrees?"

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At the time, then-manager Thomas Frank was under pressure after a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest left Spurs 11th in the table. Three months on, the situation has worsened dramatically: Tottenham now sit 17th following another 3-0 loss to Forest.

That result - a sixth defeat in seven league games - has left interim boss Igor Tudor fighting to keep his job. Appointed in February after Frank's departure, Tudor has managed just one win in seven matches - a chaotic 3-2 victory over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, which ultimately proved meaningless as Spurs lost the tie 7-5 on aggregate.

Tottenham are now in very real danger of losing their Premier League status in what would arguably be the biggest top-flight relegation shock since Manchester United went down in 1974.

When domestic action resumes after the international break, Spurs take on Sunderland - a match that could prove decisive for Tudor's future. With his contract set to expire at the end of the season, Spurs are already expected to search for a permanent manager this summer - but the appointment may have to be moved if Tudor leaves before then.

Names such as Mauricio Pochettino and Roberto De Zerbi have been linked. However, the looming threat of relegation could complicate any potential appointment.

Despite Sugar's suggestion, Klopp has effectively ruled out managing another English team. After leaving Liverpool in 2024, he explained: "If you ask me, 'Will you ever work as a manager again?' I would say now no.

"What I know definitely - I will never, ever manage a different club in England than Liverpool, 100 per cent. That's not possible."

Klopp enjoyed a trophy-laden nine-year spell on Merseyside, winning the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020. Despite lifting just one league title, his side consistently operated at an elite level, surpassing 90 points in three separate seasons - only to be denied twice by Pep Guardiola's dominant Manchester City team.

Alan Sugar purchased his boyhood club, Tottenham, in 1991 amid significant financial turmoil. While his investment helped stabilise the club off the pitch, success on it proved far more elusive.

During his near-decade-long tenure as chairman, Spurs lifted just a single piece of silverware - the 1999 League Cup. Their highest league finish in that period was seventh, and they ended in 10th place or lower on seven occasions.

Tottenham must decide what comes next in the dugout as they approach their final seven matches of the Premier League season

Tottenham appear to be heading towards a fourth head coach in less than a year at a delicate time for the club on and off the pitch.

Spurs currently sit within a three-week hiatus in their season due to the international break and the following FA Cup weekend, with the north London side out of all cup competitions. In the Premier League they sit in 17th place, just a point above West Ham in the final relegation spot with the danger of the drop a very real possibility.

Sunday's 3-0 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest was a big one in the relegation battle as Vitor Pereira's side leapfrogged the Lilywhites in the table.

Spurs interim boss Igor Tudor has bigger things on his mind than football right now after being informed after the game that his father Mario had passed away. The Croatian's assistant coach Bruno Saltor stepped in to take the media duties after the defeat to Forest.

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It is a delicate situation and Tottenham will want to be sensitive towards what Tudor is going through. football.london understands there is a growing belief among some inside the club that a mutual parting of the ways with Tudor is the likeliest scenario with the 47-year-old then able to focus on family matters, and Spurs on the huge pressures of what lies ahead.

Any next move must be made with sensitivity and also timing. There is some time to work with due to this unusual elongated break in the season. A new coach, if appointed in the next week, would have a clear seven to 10 days to work with most of the squad after the international break and ahead of the next game at Sunderland on April 12.

Here are the potential managerial scenarios that the north London club's CEO Vinai Venkatesham and sporting director Johan Lange will have had to think about as they decide on the fourth person to step into the dugout in the past nine months and Plan C for this troubled season.

A club man

Much of the criticism of Tudor's appointment, despite his previous football firefighting experience in Serie A, came because of his inexperience in Premier League terms.

For the Tottenham supporters, many expected someone to be put in place who had more of a knowledge of the inner workings of the club. Ange Postecoglou and Thomas Frank's assistant coach Matt Wells would have been a strong candidate had he not left for his first managerial role across the Atlantic where he has won three of his opening five MLS matches with the previously struggling Colorado Rapids.

There is Ryan Mason, who was working with much of this Tottenham squad just nine months ago under Postecoglou before leaving for an ill-fated spell at West Brom, who only got worse after his departure with a long winless run until a couple of recent victories. The 34-year-old has been in this situation twice before in caretaker stints at Spurs so knows how to step in at short notice.

There are also more experienced former Spurs coaches and managers around in Chris Hughton and Harry Redknapp, while Ferencvaros boss Robbie Keane has been linked with the job but is believed to prefer to be a permanent candidate.

Another foreign coach

Spurs could also repeat the gamble of appointing yet another foreign head coach with little to no Premier League experience.

The unfortunately named Adolf 'Adi' Hutter is on the market after leaving Monaco in October last year having struggled to maintain his early momentum at the Ligue 1 club. The 56-year-old demands an aggressive style of football which has been compared over the years to that of Thomas Tuchel, Jurgen Klopp and Ralf Rangnick. Eric Dier played under Hutter at Monaco and compared his style to that he had found at Bayern.

There are also the other interim options when Tudor was appointed of Marco Rose or Edin Terzic and whether Tottenham take a second glance after deciding that the Croatian was the better bet last time around.

To appoint another coach with zero Premier League experience would be a huge gamble and the club would have to believe that someone like Hutter would have the experience and playing style to turn around the confidence of this team at a crucial time.

A safe Premier League pair of hands

There's only one obvious name in this category right now and that's the former Burnley, Everton and Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche.

Some Tottenham fans would hate the idea as Dyche-ball is not exactly what one would perceive to be the style of football associated with the north London club, while others might see it as a needs-must scenario. That's assuming Dyche himself would want the interim job and also what entanglements exist with Forest after his exit from there.

There's also a line of thought that Dyche's style of coaching and football would not be that far removed from Tudor's which has seen little change in fortunes at this point.

A permanent hire

Another option is to go all out on a potential long-term appointment and push that forward despite it then ruling out the wider managerial market in the summer.

That would rule out the most popular fans' choice of Mauricio Pochettino, who has the World Cup to focus on preparing for with the USA. It would surely be too difficult to combine the two roles in the weeks ahead and give the required focus to both.

Pochettino this week confirmed reports back in the day that Spurs had contacted him in 2021 to leave PSG and re-join the north London club, only for the French side to turn down all approaches, and Tottenham appointed Nuno Espirito Santo instead. The Argentine has also been linked with the Real Madrid job this summer.

Andoni Iraola will still have hopes of getting Bournemouth into European football as the Cherries sit just seven points off fifth spot, which is likely to get Champions League qualification this season. The Basque coach has also been linked with the Athletic Club job this summer.

One available candidate is Roberto De Zerbi. The Italian left Marseille but is believed to be waiting until the summer to see what all of his options are. Could Spurs convince him now with a big financial offer and a relegation release clause? De Zerbi would bring the Premier League experience and the playing style along with the fire required - even if that sometimes proves his downfall in the long-term - but Spurs are a tough sell right now in their current state.

The wildcard

This seems the least likely option right now but there is an out of work manager who knows Tottenham and these players inside out and is one of the best motivators in the game - Ange Postecoglou.

The 60-year-old proved last season that when focusing a small squad on one competition that he can get results and these players would run through a brick wall for him.

It's not quite how he or anyone envisioned season three going but there's a big logic to his temporary return, if he were up for it, and he would be able to hit the ground running.

Such a move is more commonplace in Italy and Spain where managers return to their clubs, often because it's cheaper as they were already on gardening leave.

The problem in this scenario would be that Tottenham's hierarchy would need to go cap in hand to Postecoglou to ask for his help while also paying out more money to him on top of the compensation they had to shell out for sacking him. It just doesn't seem feasible despite the logic behind it.

It's time for a brand new episode of Talking Tottenham with our Spurs correspondents Alasdair Gold and Ryan Taylor as they discuss the Premier League club

Tottenham have three weeks to decide what comes next in their season and how they approach the final seven matches of the Premier League season.

Spurs' woeful 3-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon leaves them 17th in the table and the north London side could find themselves in the relegation zone by the time they next step on to a pitch on April 12 at Sunderland if West Ham beat Wolves at the London Stadium two days earlier.

It is unclear what the future holds for Igor Tudor, without a Premier League win to his name yet, and the Croatian received the terrible blow after Sunday's defeat that his father Mario had died.

Tottenham are believed to be putting contingency plans into place in case there is to be a change in the dugout for the remainder of the season with interim and permanent candidates being looked at for now and the summer, depending on the club's league status.

Our Spurs reporters Alasdair Gold and Ryan Taylor discussed the potential avenues that the north London club could go down if Tudor were step down or be replaced in the coming fortnight in the latest episode of their podcast Talking Tottenham.

Ryan offered the solution of a dramatic temporary return until the end of the season for Ange Postecoglou, who was sacked last summer after leading the Lilywhites to the Europa League trophy last season and replaced with Thomas Frank, who lasted only half the ensuing campaign.

The 60-year-old Postecoglou is currently out of work after his ill-fated foray at Forest who have gone through more managers than Spurs this season at this stage. Alasdair agreed on the motivational ability of the Greek-born Australian for the seven games ahead but pointed out that it would require a lot of backtracking and pride-swallowing for the Tottenham hierarchy after sacking Postecoglou and paying out compensation to him.

Not everyone at the north London club will be heading off around the world during this coming fortnight on international duty

More Tottenham players than you would expect will be working away at Hotspur Way during this international break.

Spurs face three weeks without a fixture as the weekend after this current fortnight-long break is dominated by FA Cup ties and the north London club are no longer in that competition. That means Tottenham's next Premier League game after Sunday's disappointing defeat to Nottingham Forest will not arrive until April 12 and the trip to Sunderland.

In the mean time the following players in the first team will head out on international duty: Xavi Simons and Micky van de Ven (Netherlands), Cristian Romero (Argentina), Dominic Solanke and Djed Spence (England), Pedro Porro (Spain), Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal), Radu Dragusin (Romania), Kevin Danso (Austria), Lucas Bergvall (Sweden), Randal Kolo Muani (France), Mathys Tel (France U21s) and Archie Gray (England U21s).

Both Tel and Gray took big knocks in the defeat to Forest, with the former forced off, so whether both end up remaining away with their respective U21s squads remain to be seen.

Then there is Guglielmo Vicario, who underwent his hernia surgery on Monday with the hope of being back in action within the next month.

Stepping up into the final stages of their rehabilitation before joining team training at Hotspur Way will be Mohammed Kudus, Rodrigo Bentancur and James Maddison, while Yves Bissouma, Ben Davies, Dejan Kulusevski and Wilson Odobert, who was on crutches at Sunday's game, are all working on their recoveries.

That leaves seven other fit and available first team players who have not been called up for international duty and will be working on getting as fit as possible for the final seven matches of the Premier League season to help keep Tottenham up and, for some of them, potentially earn a spot in their counties' World Cup squads. They are Destiny Udogie, Conor Gallagher, Joao Palhinha, Richarlison, Souza, Antonin Kinsky and Brandon Austin.

The players will get some time off in the days ahead but will then continue to work on their fitness and train with U21 players filling out sessions.

Then the full first team squad will have 10 days or so after the international break concludes to train and prepare for that match at Sunderland with hopefully some returning faces from injury among them and no further issues from international duty.

Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with Adi Hutter as their potential next manager

Tottenham Hotspur are continuing to be linked with a new manager amid speculation surrounding Igor Tudor’s future. Spurs were handed a major blow to their hopes of avoiding relegation from the Premier League with the 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

Spurs are now just one point above the relegation zone and dropped to 17th place in the table after being beaten by Forest.

Former Monaco boss Adi Hutter has been linked with potentially taking charge at Tottenham if the club decides to make another change of manager before the end of the season.

Hutter has been out of work since leaving Monaco in October last year, and has been widely linked as a potential replacement for Tudor if a change is made.

The 56-year-old has also coached Red Bull Salzburg in Austria, Young Boys in Switzerland, Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany, as well as Monaco, in recent years.

There have also been comparisons from Hutter’s playing style to that of England boss Thomas Tuchel, as well as former Manchester United coach Ralf Rangnick and ex-Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

Hutter has already outlined what he wants from his players, as the former Monaco manager outlined his clear vision and playing style at his last job.

“I like for my teams to play aggressive football in a good way, to be proactive, with a clear idea of how to play,” Hutter said in 2023 when he was named Monaco boss.

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“This must go with the desire to have a conquering state of mind, to show character, when you lose the ball for example. It is important that everyone finds their place in this vision.”

He added: “In the end, it’s me who makes the decisions, but I have to make everyone come together, all of these energies, towards the same objective. I also like to maintain a relationship with my players, to speak with them, because behind everyone there is a human being.

“So I want to create this link, because in the end it’s the players who are on the pitch, not me. We must therefore do everything to ensure that they are all in the best condition.”

Hutter has faced English opposition in the past, having taken on Arsenal in the Champions League in December 2024.

It was after the 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Gunners that Hutter praised Mikel Arteta’s team.

“I would say that it was important to see what separates us today from the best teams in Europe,” Hutter said.

“You mentioned Eliesse Ben Seghir and Maghnes Akliouche, and I think they delivered a very decent performance. They play beautiful football and I like that. Today they showed again that they are very talented.

“For their development, I think that this match at the Emirates Stadium was a good thing, against a top team in Europe.”

Hutter may also have, indirectly, had a role in helping Arteta become Arsenal manager. Hutter was in charge of Frankfurt when his team claimed a 2-1 win over the Gunners in November 2019 which went on to be Unai Emery’s final match in charge before the club went on to appoint Arteta.

Former Tottenham star Eric Dier also has experience working alongside Hutter during his time at Monaco this season, and explained why he liked the playing style of the Spurs-linked coach.

“Coach Adi Hutter's style at Monaco is similar to the aggressive play I performed at Bayern last year,” Dier said last year.

“I believe I showed my abilities well enough. I really like this style of play. Now I must prove that ability on the field.”

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Igor Tudor was informed of the death of his father, Mario, after Sunday's 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest.

The Spurs boss missed media duties following the defeat in north London due to an 'immediate family bereavement'. Now, Tudor's former club, Juventus, have confirmed the passing of his father in a message to the Croatian.

They wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "We are close to Igor Tudor and his family. Juventus joins in the grief for the passing of his father."

Spurs later released a statement on Monday afternoon which read: "Everyone at Tottenham Hotspur is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Igor Tudor's father, Mario. Our thoughts and condolences go out to Igor and his family during this incredibly difficult time."

football.london reported quickly after the disappointing result against Forest that Tudor was relieved of his press conference duties.

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Bruno Saltor spoke to reporters instead and provided an update on his colleague, saying: "It's a personal family issue and obviously it's a difficult moment for him. I'm just trying to support the best way we can."

Spurs suffered a damaging defeat against their relegation rivals, with Forest now ahead of them in the Premier League table.

The defeat raised more concerns over a potential relegation to the Championship for Tottenham, with them now going 13 matches without a league win.

"The players got affected by the rhythm of the game and we couldn't find that rhythm to create more chances," Saltor said.

"The first half, the first 44 minutes I thought were good, really good, creating chances, getting into the box. In the second half, probably, we were unable to deal with the weight of the game."

"I think in the small details, I thought for 44 minutes in the first half we were the better team," added Saltor, who held a similar role in the dugout during Graham Potter's spell in charge at Chelsea.

Calls for Tudor to be replaced for the final seven games of the season increased after the defeat. Former Spurs manager Tim Sherwood revealed on Sky Sports News on Monday morning that he would takeover if asked.

He said: “I don’t think it’s too late, I would keep them in the Premier League. I believe that someone with common sense keeps them in the Premier League, they have the quality to be able to do it.

“You have to get them feeling good again, you have to get the confidence in the group, and you don’t get confidence by playing (Cristian) Romero, if you’re Xavi Simons and you’re playing Romero as a right winger and Xavi Simons just had his best game in a Tottenham shirt against Atletico Madrid.

"Xavi must be saying, ‘What have I done? You’re playing someone out of position in my position where I’ve just played very well.’"

Former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood has explained what he would do to save the club in the Premier League off the back of Spurs' 3-0 hammering at the hands of relegations rivals Nottingham Forest

Former Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood has outlined how he would go about saving Tottenham from relegation in a 'come and get me' plea to the Spurs board.

Tottenham sit just one point above the relegation zone going into the final international break of the season. They fell to a damaging 3-0 home loss against fellow relegation candidates Nottingham Forest on Sunday, causing the Reds to leapfrog Igor Tudor’s men in the table.

The result piles more pressure on the Spurs interim boss, who has failed to win any of his five Premier League games in charge of the club, with four of the matches resulting in losses.

Tudor missed the post-match press conference after the defeat against Nottingham Forest due to a family bereavement.

But now, Sherwood has seemingly thrown his hat into the ring as a possible replacement, should the club decide to make a change during the international break.

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Speaking on Sky Sports News, he said: “I don’t think it’s too late, I would keep them in the Premier League. I believe that someone with common sense keeps them in the Premier League, they have the quality to be able to do it.

“You have to get them feeling good again, you have to get the confidence in the group, and you don’t get confidence by playing (Cristian) Romero, if you’re Xavi Simons and you’re playing Romero as a right winger and Xavi Simons just had his best game in a Tottenham shirt against Atletico Madrid.

"Xavi must be saying, ‘What have I done? You’re playing someone out of position in my position where I’ve just played very well.’

“Keeping the threats in the team. They have to work hard, they have to still do that, you have to tell them they’re his duties, there’s dirty work to be done, but (Randal) Kolo Muani played well against Atletico, play him, why’s he sitting on the bench?

“Play the players who have got the threats, but they have to know the work of the team. Dominic Solanke and Richarlison will run all day for you, they will chase lost causes.

“You play a little bit more direct, you come forward together and you go back together, but it needs to be organised.

“You’ve got (Guglielmo) Vicario in goal, he’s not great, he’s going to have a hernia operation, (Antonin) Kinsky is going to come in, I don’t think he’ll let anyone down, but you have to have a nice solid unit in front and they need to be organised.

“It’s not complicated, you drill them every single day, 11 vs 11, so they know exactly where their positions are, and when Micky (Van de Ven), starts dribbling with the ball and mazing around the field, you stop it and you say, ‘If you’re having to do that and Romero is having to burst forward and try to affect in forward areas, it’s because we’re not doing something right up there.’

“Stay in your positions, keep a clean sheet first and foremost, if you can’t win a game, don’t lose it, keep them organised.”

Spurs are back in action on Sunday, 12 April (2pm), when they travel to the Stadium of Light to take on Sunderland in the Premier League.

Tottenham are staring the very real threat of relegation in the face in the final two months of the Premier League and they need help

Tottenham need the cavalry to march over the horizon as they battle to avoid the drop from the Premier League.

Spurs are 17th in the table after Sunday's dismal 3-0 defeat to fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest, despite the best efforts of the fans before and during the game. The north London side collapsed after conceding Igor Jesus' goal just before half-time and strikes from Morgan Gibbs-White and Taiwo Awoniyi confirmed Forest's comfortable victory in N17.

A number of Tottenham's injured players watched on from the sidelines and tried to cheer their team on to no avail, many of them hoping to be back to help out on the pitch.

One small positive on the day itself was that Tottenham's bench has begun to look stronger, but there are still some big players yet to return and interim head coach Igor Tudor told football.london ahead of the game that he hoped this current three-week break in fixtures might bring some more help from the treatment room and a couple of "nice surprises".

Here are four players who would give Spurs something huge if they can return for any of the final seven matches of the season even if they will take some time to get sharp.

Mohammed Kudus

Kudus suffered a serious quad tendon injury in the draw against Sunderland at home back in January but Tudor had some positive news on the attacker. That came after Ghana head coach Otto Addo, as expected, did not name him in the 26-man squad for the international friendlies against Austria and Germany later this month.

"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]," the Croatian told football.london. "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 being run into the ground by Thomas Frank.

This big break will give Kudus more time to get closer to a return and it may be sooner rather than later that he is spotted on the training pitches at Hotspur Way.

Rodrigo Bentancur

Bentancur required surgery on a serious hamstring injury in January and Tudor mentioned both the Uruguayan and Maddison when speaking about Kudus to football.london.

"Rodrigo as well, Maddison as well. We hope the medical staff will make us some nice surprise in the next weeks which would be very important to have that," said the Spurs boss.

Last week Bentancur's personal fitness coach, Daniel Fernandez, provided a detailed update on his progress as he explained to Uruguayan radio 100% Deporte that the surgical wound had healed well and Bentancur's rehabilitation is currently around 15 days ahead of the original prognosis.

The midfielder has already returned to working on the grass after weeks spent in rehabilitation and strength training. Fernandez said that Bentancur should be ready to return to training by the end of March but would not be realistically available for first-team action until the end of April if there are no setbacks.

James Maddison

Maddison could be seen standing on the touchline on Sunday dishing out instructions to Djed Spence during the first half, clearly desperate to be part of things again.

The 29-year-old midfielder uploaded a social media video last week showing his trip to Manchester for further ACL tests and exercises to help with the final stages of rehabilitation.

Tudor had good news on the player when football.london asked if Maddison could be back before the end of the season.

"Yes. Maddison is already doing interesting things as well with the ball. Sprinting as well. I saw him. He is positive. He's positive," he said.

At training on Tuesday at Hotspur Way, Maddison could be seen running over to a nearby pitch to work outdoors in the sunshine alone with a member of staff.

Dejan Kulusevski

It's remarkable that we're speaking about Maddison with his ACL injury coming back before Kulusevski. Everyone has been waiting for the Swede to return, with estimates of his return from that patella surgery last April repeatedly pushed back.

Initially it was handful of months, then it became before the end of last year with Frank then saying he would definitely be back before the end of the season. As the Dane's tenure came towards its end, football.london asked Frank again about Kulusevski and he admitted he was unsure if the 25-year-old would play during this campaign.

On Friday, we asked Tudor if there has been any progress with the Swede and he could only say: "No, not yet."

The key for the Swede was always to be able to move without feeling pain or discomfort after a complicated knee injury that Frank said was 'historic' in how rare it was.

Sweden boss Graham Potter admitted this week at his press conference, after not including Kulusevski in his 26-man squad: "Dejan is making progress but not as quickly as we would have liked."

Whether the key Spurs man returns in time to help the club remains to be seen but his three team-mates might just be some nice surprises in the weeks ahead.

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher has called for Tottenham to part ways with Igor Tudor after Sunday's 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest left Spurs 17th and one point above relegation

Jamie Carragher has urged Tottenham to dismiss interim manager Igor Tudor following Sunday's disastrous 3-0 home defeat to fellow relegation candidates Nottingham Forest. The result leaves Spurs languishing in 17th position in the Premier League, sitting just one point clear of the drop zone with seven fixtures remaining.

Tudor's record following six league outings now reads a woeful five losses and one draw. The former Juventus manager was appointed to guide Tottenham to survival after their abysmal winter spell under Thomas Frank, who was dismissed in February following merely eight months at the helm.

However, Tudor, who was absent from his post-match media obligations due to a family bereavement, has failed to reverse the club's fortunes in North London.

Carragher believes that due to the Croatian's failure to heed the downturn, it would be in everyone's best interests to part company during the international break.

The Liverpool legend told Sky Sports: "Unfortunately for him with the situation he finds himself in with his family and the results, I think it would be better if Tottenham parted ways with Tudor and looked to bring in another manager in between now and the end of the season.

"They have to do that now. It just hasn't worked, the manager's tried different things as well; different systems, different styles of play.

"Initially, he came in and was playing man-to-man pressing with a three at the back. He's now changed in the last couple of games to a 4-4-2, very direct football. So he's trying different things and it's just not working.

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"And, as I said, harsh on the manager (if he) loses his job so early in his reign but the whole point and the reason why he got the job is that he has an instant impact, and that has not happened."

When asked about potential replacements for Tudor, Carragher said: "I think someone with an affiliation to the club in terms of trying to get the supporters involved.

"You've gotta think, 'How can we keep this group of players and this club in the Premier League right now? Okay, we need togetherness.'

"That was the first time I've seen it for a while in terms of the scenes outside the stadium (before the match) but they need something like that between now and the end of the season."

Tudor's assistant, Bruno Saltor, took questions at Tottenham's post-match press conference and was asked about Tudor. "It's a personal, family issue and obviously it's a difficult moment for him," Bruno clarified.

"I'm just trying to support the best way we can... I''m going to leave it there because I think, as I said, it's a personal matter."

Should Spurs decide to dismiss Tudor during the international break, it remains to be seen who they will turn to next in the run-in to lead the team away from the relegation zone.