Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min will miss his side’s Europa League second leg against Eintracht Frankfurt with a foot injury, head coach Ange Postecoglou has confirmed.
Son started the first leg against the Bundesliga team, a 1-1 draw at home on Thursday, but was left out of the squad for Tottenham’s 4-2 defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers three days later.
The South Korean has featured heavily this season, appearing 43 times for Spurs in all competitions.
Postecoglou, who also confirmed that centre-back Kevin Danso has returned to training, said that Son had been dealing with the issue for multiple weeks and did not make the trip to Frankfurt.
“Sonny didn’t travel in the end,” said Postecoglou. “He is the only one who misses out. He has been battling with his foot problem for a few weeks now and has managed through it but it has got too painful in the last few days. He tried to train yesterday and it wasn’t right so we made the decision to leave him at home. He went home to recuperate.
“Everyone else is good. The only noticeable addition is Kevin (Danso) who trained and is available as well. So it’s only Sonny who misses out.
“It is a blow but it is consistent with everything else that has happened this year. It’s just another challenge for us to overcome. It’s unfortunate for him. He tried really hard. The reason we left him out on the weekend was to try to give him time to recover because he has been struggling with this foot thing for a few weeks now. But in the end he couldn’t make it. We have had these challenges all year and it’s just another one we need to overcome.
Son has scored 11 goals and provided 12 assists in all competitions this campaign, with three of his goals coming in the Europa League. He missed a handful of games earlier in the season with a hamstring injury.
‘Dilemma’ for Postecoglou
This is a huge blow for Spurs just before the biggest game of their season. Son has underperformed over the last year but he is still the team’s talisman. He is an elite finisher who possesses the quality to threaten any opponent. Son’s link-up with James Maddison and Destiny Udogie caused Frankfurt a few problems last week with the way they rotate positions to confuse their opponents. Frankfurt’s job just became a little bit easier now that the 32-year-old is unavailable.
Postecoglou now faces a dilemma about who to play on the left wing. Mathys Tel has scored in consecutive Premier League games but has struggled to impress since he arrived in February on loan from Bayern Munich with an option to buy. Wilson Odobert has not played in their last two matches as his fitness is carefully managed. Richarlison has come off the bench in the last two matches, after missing two months with a calf injury, and it is unlikely he would be ready to start a game of this intensity.
Timo Werner was not registered in the squad for the knockout stages of the Europa League which leaves 17-year-old Mikey Moore as the only other alternative option.
You could argue that Tel and Odobert offer more dynamism than Son but nobody can match his experience. Postecoglou needs his senior players to step up to keep Tottenham’s hopes of winning silverware alive but he will have to find a way to succeed without Son.
(Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)