A former Tottenham employee says that one player could be out until February next year after hearing news this week, which would be more bad news for manager Ange Postecoglou, as he deals with a lengthy ban for Rodrigo Bentancur.
Rodrigo Bentancur hit by seven-game ban at Spurs
Earlier this week, the FA confirmed Bentancur's seven-game domestic ban, after racial comments made during an interview on Uruguayan TV in June.
The £75,000-per-week midfielder, who scored his first goal of the season in Spurs' dismal 2-1 defeat to Ipswich Town nearly two weeks ago, stated "they all look the same" when talking about Son Heung-min, as he was asked to provide a shirt belonging to a Tottenham player (via The Guardian).
“Sonny’s?," Bentancur said.
“It could be Sonny’s cousin too, as they all look the same.”
This reckless comment means that Bentancur is set to miss their top-flight games against Manchester City, Fulham, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Southampton and Liverpool, not to mention their all-important Carabao Cup quarter-final against Ruben Amorim's Manchester United.
The international will resume his duties in a Lilywhites shirt against high-flying Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day, but it is quite the lay-off for a mainstay player who's made 15 appearances under Postecoglou across all competitions.
"An independent Regulatory Commission has imposed a seven-match suspension and £100,000 fine on Rodrigo Bentancur for a breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to a media interview," wrote the FA in a statement.
"It was alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder breached FA Rule E3.1 as he acted in an improper manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words and/or brought the game into disrepute. It was further alleged that this constitutes an “aggravated breach”, which is defined in FA Rule E3.2, as it included a reference – whether express or implied – to nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin.
"Rodrigo Bentancur denied this charge, but the independent Regulatory Commission found it to be proven and imposed his sanctions following a hearing. Its written reasons for these decisions can be seen below."
Wilson Odobert could be out until end of February
As Bentancur is slapped with a hiatus and hefty fine, Tottenham also recently announced that winger Wilson Odobert has undergone surgery on his right hamstring.
The "exciting" winger, signed from Burnley in the summer, has endured a nightmare start to his north London career plagued by injury problems.
This latest blow for the Frenchman is set to take another chunk out of his season, and former Spurs scout Bryan King has told Tottenham News that Odobert could be out until late February as a result of his procedure.
“I can’t see him returning before the end of February,” King said.
“That is quite a serious operation that he has had. For someone to have it at this age, it is very hard on him, he was progressing quite well.
“Now he has had to undergo surgery which will leave him out for quite some time.”