One Tottenham star’s agent is said to have an “agreement” with two clubs over him leaving in January, but there’s a major issue in the form of Spurs’ demands.
Spurs injuries mounting
The Lilywhites boss Ange Postecoglou is having to contend with numerous squad depth issues after a quartet of key players were forced to leave the field in their 4-1 defeat to Chelsea on Monday.
Postecoglou will be without defender Cristian Romero, who is set to serve a three-match suspension, and Destiny Udogie after the pair were shown red cards against Mauricio Pochettino’s side earlier this week.
However, the most worrying absentees come in the form of James Maddison and Micky van de Ven, who will now be out of action until 2024 – as confirmed by Postecoglou in a press conference this afternoon.
“Micky obviously with that hamstring injury, we knew it was fairly significant, probably a couple of months for him looking into the new year,” said the Australian (via football.london).
“Madders is a lot worse than we thought. He came off with an ankle injury and the next day wasn’t great, so we sent him for a scan. Again probably into the new year for him.”
For now, the Spurs head coach is having to make do with limited options, but according to reports, there is a belief that the north Londoners could still opt to part ways with midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
While both Maddison and van de Ven could be back by January, when the window reopens, there is still a glaring lack of depth – so you could make the case that is wise to keep a player of Hojbjerg’s experience.
Spurs are apparently open to selling Hojbjerg permanently but won’t authorise a loan deal, which is backed by another update on his future from Italy.
Hojbjerg’s agent has “agreement” with two clubs
The midfielder’s agent apparently has an “agreement” with both Juventus and Atletico Madrid, as per newspaper La Stampa, but coming after Juventus chiefs met with Hojbjerg and his representation.
However, Spurs have adopted a firm stance over his exit – he leaves permanently for around £26 milllion or not at all. Hojbjerg was somewhat of a peripheral figure before Tottenham’s current injury crisis, making most of his appearances across all competitions from the bench.
Some reports now hint Hojbjerg could be used in a makeshift central defensive role to cover for the injured van de Ven and suspended Romero, so it will be very interesting to see how that develops.
At his best, the Spurs midfielder is an extremely useful asset to have, with former goalkeeper Paul Robinson believing he was playing the best football of his Tottenham career not too long ago.
“I’ve been surprised by how much he has stepped up this year,” said Robinson in October 2022 to Football Insider.
“I thought he was the one who would make way for Yves Bissouma. The club spent a lot of money on Bissouma. I think Hojbjerg recognised that and stepped up.
“He is playing to a level that we have never seen before. He is playing his best football in a Spurs shirt.”
