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Tottenham Hotspur are going to have to explore all options now that they prepare for a time without unavailable first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.

After the high of beating Manchester City 4-0 on their own turf, Spurs fans were brought crashing back down to earth by the news of Vicario's ankle surgery. The goalkeeper is set to face an underdetermined amount of time on the sidelines.

"We can confirm that Guglielmo Vicario has today undergone surgery for a fracture of his right ankle. Guglielmo will be assessed by our medical staff to determine when he can return to training. We're all behind you, Vic," read the accompanying club statement.

The fixture list gives Spurs little wriggle room to fix their problems. Taking on AS Roma tomorrow - five days after travelling to Manchester - leaves Ange Postecoglou with the likely option of promoting 36-year-old Fraser Forster for the time being.

With 148 career Premier League appearances - 14 of those for Spurs - to his name, he is the most senior choice. 25-year-old Brandon Austin and 26-year-old Alfie Whiteman have both never played in the competition.

Another possibility is utilising the free agent market. Players not currently contracted to a club are able to join at any time, unrestricted by the transfer window.

And falling into this bracket is Loris Karius. Formerly of Liverpool, famous for his mishaps in the 2017/18 Champions League final against Real Madrid, and also used as back-up at Newcastle United in recent years, the 31-year-old is without a club since leaving Tyneside this summer.

In a fresh interview with Sport Bible, the goalkeeper explains how he is currently living in Italy, training on his own and exploring other passions in fashion and DJ-ing.

"You never know," he answered, when asked what he'd like to be doing in 12 months. "A goalkeeper could get injured tomorrow and I get a call-up. Maybe in a week, I'll be in goal again. You never know. If that doesn't happen, I will probably still be in Italy, spending a lot of time with my family and progressing the music."

The German says he left Newcastle over a lack of game time during Nick Pope's season-long injury, and has reportedly rejected offers from across the globe to resume playing before the season started. Ultimately, he wants assurances over game time.

"I was hoping to get a good opportunity in the summer, where I could have a shot at playing again," he said. "I could still get that somewhere else, but I still have expectations of which level I want to play. I have to be honest with myself and not go somewhere I may not feel comfortable.

"I chose not to go to Saudi Arabia, for example. To be that far away from my family would have been difficult. I've spoken to teams but in the end, it didn't work out. There were advanced talks with a team in Italy but that didn't happen, which was sad at the time.

"It hasn't been easy but I can honestly say that I've been working as hard as I can over the past few years. I've been putting a lot of work in behind the scenes.

"I've been a top team player but when it comes to two or three years where you've barely played, it gets really frustrating. You're thinking, 'What else can I actually do?' I still feel like I have a lot of quality."

With a move, Spurs could solve their current crisis, offer Karius what he desires at the highest level and maybe discover a long-term succession plan for Forster, whose contract expires at the end of the 2024/25 campaign.

Tottenham return to Europa League action on Thursday evening when they welcome Italian side Roma to north London. Ange Postecoglou's men have made a strong start to the competition so far but they were on the losing side last time out after falling to a 3-2 defeat away at Galatasaray.

Spurs should certainly go into Thursday's game full of confidence after hitting Manchester City for four last weekend. Three points are required to ensure Tottenham keep themselves in the top eight of the Europa League league phase heading into their final three fixtures.

Roma, on the other hand, are currently 20th in the 36-team league after only obtaining one win from their first four games. The Giallorossi have endured such a disappointing season to date and they are already on their third head coach of the term after Claudio Ranieri recently replaced Ivan Juric in the hotseat.

Tottenham go into Thursday's game with a very busy treatment room at present after Guglielmo Vicario became the latest player to face a spell on the sidelines. So how exactly do they line up against Roma in their fifth Europa League fixture of the term? Our Spurs writers at football.london have had their say below.

Alasdair Gold - Tottenham Hotspur correspondent

Options are at a premium for Postecoglou right now as the injuries mount up. Guglielmo Vicario is now out for months with his fractured ankle and while Fraser Forster was likely to start against Roma anyway, he will need the game time to get him tuned up and into his rhythm to face Fulham on Sunday. There's also another line of thinking that Brandon Austin could probably do with some game time in case he's needed at some point.

Postecoglou will also provide the latest on Destiny Udogie at his press conference at Hotspur Way on Wednesday after the Italian full-back went off injured at Man City, while Timo Werner also looked to feel a muscle problem after setting up Brennan Johnson's late goal. The Spurs boss will also provide the latest on Cristian Romero and when he will return to action.

Will Lankshear is suspended after his red card in Istanbul so Postecoglou's only real options to change things in the outfield will include the two 18-year-olds Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall as well as Rodrigo Bentancur, who can play in European competition as his ban is only for domestic games.

Gold's team: Forster; Porro, Dragusin, Davies, Gray; Kulusevski, Bentancur, Bergvall; Johnson, Solanke, Werner.

Rob Guest - Football writer

Ange Postecoglou cannot really make a host a changes to his Tottenham team to take on Roma due to the amount of players in the treatment room at present. However, that's not necessarily a bad thing as he should only be making a few alterations here and there for such an important game.

It's an easy one in goal as Fraser Forster starts his third successive Europa League match with no Guglielmo Vicario to call upon. The only change to defence from Saturday's win at Manchester City should see Archie Gray come in at left-back in place of Destiny Udogie.

Rodrigo Bentancur is available for this game despite his domestic suspension and Spurs need to ensure that he starts in order to keep his fitness levels up prior to his Premier League return in late December. The Uruguayan is then joined in midfield by Lucas Bergvall and James Maddison, which is in fact the same midfield trio that took on AZ Alkmaar in October.

As Will Lankshear is suspended and Richarlison injured, Dominic Solanke leads the line with Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner either side of him. Players such as Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski can then be options to come off the bench if required.

Guest's team: Forster; Porro, Dragusin, Davies, Gray; Bentancur, Bergvall, Maddison; Johnson, Solanke, Werner.

Lee Wilmot - Head of Football

Well, goalkeeper is a no brainer, as usual, but for different reasons now. With Guglielmo Vicario out injured Fraser Forster starts between the sticks.

Ahead of him we have to go as strong as we can, albeit with one slight tweak perhaps.

Pedro Porro is my right-back, with Radu Dragusin and Archie Gray at centre-back. That means we can move Ben Davies out to left-back to give Destiny Udogie a rest.

In midfield I'd play Yves Bissouma with Pape Matar Sarr and Lucas Bergvall.

Up top it should be Timo Werner on one side with Brennan Johnson on the other, with Dominic Solanke selected through the middle as Richarlison and Will Lankshear are unavailable.

Wilmot's team: Forster; Porro, Gray, Dragusin, Davies; Bissouma, Sarr, Bergvall; Johnson, Solanke, Werner.

Tottenham's Guglielmo Vicario has posted a fresh update on the ankle injury he picked up during the Premier League win over Manchester City that required surgery to fix. The Italy international suffered the issue in a clash with Savinho and thus played most of the clash while injured.

Following confirmation of his injury and subsequent operation, Vicario posted an emotional message from hospital. "Sometimes football gives you its highs, and sometimes it challenges you in ways you don’t expect. I played 60 minutes at the Etihad with a broken bone in my ankle, giving absolutely everything I had for the team.

"Unfortunately there was no way around this one.. I needed surgery. I’m disappointed I won’t be able to help the team for a while. A massive thank you to the doctors and the staff. The operation went well, and from tomorrow I’ll be working hard to come back stronger, fitter, and ready to give my all for you again."

With Vicario possibly facing up to 10 weeks out of action, regular updates on his recovery appear likely based on his recent Instagram activity. While reposting messages from teammates, Vicario uploaded a new image to his story showing his foot in a cast with the caption saying, "Day one [Sand timer emoji]."

It appears the goalkeeper has returned to Italy to recover, as he tagged his native country in the update. Alongside Vicario, Richarlison and Wilson Odobert are likely to miss the next few months. Spurs will now be without their first-choice goalkeeper along with both Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, Postecoglou's favoured centre-back partnership.

When providing the latest on the defensive duo, he said: "Micky van de Ven is still a good couple of weeks away. He is out on the grass and he’s training but we’re hoping by the middle of December, he’s back and involved and playing. Romero won’t be right for tomorrow’s game [vs Man City]. We are hoping he will be right for next week."

Mikey Moore meanwhile has been hit hard by a virus which has kept him out of games either side of the November international break. Other Premier League teams have been dealt worse injury scenarios, but Spurs' issues are very clear with many of them through the spine of the team.

Guglielmo Vicario is expected to miss key Tottenham games against Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United after suffering a serious ankle injury in the 4-0 win over Manchester City. On Monday evening, a club statement confirmed the goalkeeper had undergone an operation to fix a fracture in his ankle.

Optimism and happiness was high in north London following the statement victory at Etihad Stadium, but Ange Postecoglou has been dealt a hammer blow in the wake of Vicario's issue. Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Richarlison are among those already missing through injury with the Italy international now joining that group.

Rodrigo Bentancur will also not feature in Premier League or Carabao Cup action until late December having been handed a seven-match ban by the FA. Back onto the goalkeeper predicament, Fraser Forster now looks set to take on the role and that could be the case until February, judging by a huge return timeline claim on social media.

On X, just after Spurs confirmed his surgery, @physioscout wrote: "Vicario suffered an ankle injury in the first half of the Spurs vs. Man City match. The club has confirmed that Vicario has sustained a fractured ankle and he has now undergone surgery.

"The exact nature of the surgery and location of the fracture is unknown, but since it required surgery, he'll likely be out for multiple weeks/couple months. Recovery Time: Typical Ankle Fracture: 6-10 weeks No indication that it'd take longer than 10 weeks."

The best-case scenario would be Vicario returning to the starting XI for the Premier League clash at home to Newcastle on January 4, 2025, just over six weeks on from surgery. However his recovery may not go perfectly to plan and therefore he might not feature until a month later for the trip to Brentford in early February.

If Vicario returns towards the earlier stages of his estimated recovery period, he may only miss Premier League games against Fulham, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Southampton, Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Wolves while also being absent for Europa League ties with AS Roma and Rangers.

He would also remain absent for the Carabao Cup quarter-final at home to Man United in December with that bringing the total to 10 games. However a longer period out means he could be forced to miss games against Newcastle, Arsenal and Leicester along with European matches against Hoffenheim and Elfsborg.

The worst-case scenario therefore, would be Vicario being out injured for a staggering 15 games, based on the current dates pencilled in for fixtures. However, it is likely that changes slightly depending on their Carabao Cup progression and the FA Cup which begins for Premier League clubs in early January.

Tottenham chief Daniel Levy is reportedly eyeing Burnley sensation James Trafford or Sunderland's hot prospect Anthony Patterson for a January swoop as Spurs search for a stand-in for versatile Guglielmo Vicario. The keeper is out of action for an extended stretch after incurring a broken ankle in Tottenham's emphatic 4-0 victory over Manchester City last Saturday.

Despite the knock, picked up 30 minutes into the Etihad battle, Vicario bravely soldiered on for the full match. He has since undergone an ankle operation and embarked on the road to recovery.

talkSPORT reveals that Spurs might hit the January transfer window for new goalkeeping talent, with Trafford keen on a Premier League comeback post-Burnley's relegation, while Patterson catches glances from several elite clubs. On Instagram, Vicario commented on his predicament: "I played 60 minutes at the Etihad with a broken bone in my ankle, giving absolutely everything I had for the team," he said.

"Unfortunately there was no way around this one. I needed surgery. I'm disappointed I won't be able to help the team for a while."

"A massive thank you to the doctors and the staff. The operation went well, and from tomorrow I'll be working hard to come back stronger, fitter, and ready to give my all for you again. Thank you to the Spurs fans for all the love. See you soon on the pitch."

And Tottenham confirmed in a statement: "We can confirm that Guglielmo Vicario has today undergone surgery for a fracture of his right ankle."

"He will be assessed by our medical staff to determine when he can return to training."

Ange Postecoglou will be counting down the days until the end of November after yet more setbacks in the month. Rewind the clock back to November 2023 and things started to quickly unravel for the north London club.

Making such an impressive start to the campaign with eight wins from their first ten league games and the Australian picking up three consecutive Premier League manager of the month awards as a result, Spurs unfortunately started to obtain injuries and suspensions like they were going out of fashion. Twelve months on and November has once again proved to be a troublesome month.

Already losing Micky van de Ven and Wilson Odobert to injury, Cristian Romero, Richarlison and now Guglielmo Vicario have joined their teammates in the treatment room. Spurs also have to do without Rodrigo Bentancur for their next six domestic fixtures after the midfielder was handed a seven-match ban by the FA following his comments regarding teammate Son Heung-min back in the summer.

The latest injury setback involving Vicario is one nobody expected when the news broke late on Monday evening. Spurs confirmed in a statement that the Italian had undergone surgery for a fracture of his right ankle that he sustained in the 4-0 win over Manchester City.

Taking to his Instagram account after the news, Vicario said: "Sometimes football gives you its highs, and sometimes it challenges you in ways you don’t expect. I played 60 minutes at the Etihad with a broken bone in my ankle, giving absolutely everything I had for the team. Unfortunately there was no way around this one. I needed surgery.

"I’m disappointed I won’t be able to help the team for a while. A massive thank you to the doctors and the staff. The operation went well, and from tomorrow I’ll be working hard to come back stronger, fitter, and ready to give my all for you again. Thank you to the Spurs fans for all the love."

Vicario's absence for a period of time will result in deputy goalkeeper Fraser Forster taking his place between the sticks. The experienced shot-stopper already has three appearances to his name this season after playing in the Europa League fixtures against AZ Alkmaar and Galatasaray as well as the Carabao Cup tie at Coventry City.

Forster is certainly no stranger to getting a run of games in goal for Tottenham after becoming a regular towards the end of the 2022/23 season during Hugo Lloris' absence. The former Celtic man made 20 appearances over the course of that season, including in the Champions League round of 16 double-header against AC Milan.

As Postecoglou has already demonstrated this season that he will change things up in goal to hand Forster some much-needed pitch time, Vicario's absence could possibly open up the door for Brandon Austin to make his senior debut for the club. The academy graduate has provided cover for the likes of Vicario, Forster and Lloris in recent seasons but there has never been an opportunity for him to start in a competitive game for the Lilywhites.

Austin, who has only played 19 senior games in his career to date for Danish side Viborg and Orlando City of the MLS, did get some minutes in the tank during the post-season friendly against Newcastle United in Melbourne back in May and also in a handful of the team's summer friendlies. Although he is still to make his senior bow for Tottenham, the 25-year-old penned a new five-year contract with the club back in May, thus hinting he could potentially become the club's long-term No.2 due to the length of his new deal.

Due to the sheer amount of games coming up for Tottenham in December with nine on the horizon, Austin's long wait to play for Tottenham may finally come to an end. As has been the case in two of Tottenham's four Europa League games so far, Postecoglou could elect to switch things up in goal in the Europa League.

That in turn may see Austin, who joined the club as an eight-year-old, start the away game at Rangers on Thursday, December 12 or possibly even this Thursday's showdown against Roma if Forster, as expected, is to get a sustained run in the team with Vicario missing. The Carabao Cup quarter-final tie against Manchester United is another fixture where Postecoglou could freshen things up, although you would expect he goes near enough full strength with a spot in the semi-finals up for grabs.

With Vicario now set for a period in the Tottenham treatment room at Hotspur Way, Austin has his best opportunity yet of playing for the Spurs first team if Postecoglou is to rotate between the sticks in the league and cup competitions. Whether he is to finally step on to the field and take his place in goal for Tottenham will all become clear in the weeks ahead.

Yang Min-hyeok has outlined the importance of letting his body fully recover as he is at risk of injury after playing a full season for South Korean side Gangwon. The winger is expected to arrive at Tottenham next month ahead of his January transfer to Ange Postecoglou's side.

It was confirmed back in July that Tottenham had reached an agreement for the teenage ace and that he would join them in January 2025 after agreeing on a five-year deal in the capital. Yang is now due to arrive earlier than first specified and football.london understands that the player will be given plenty of time to adapt rather than be rushed straight into Postecoglou's plans.

Following a stellar season in his homeland of South Korea where he finished the term with 12 goals and six assists for Gangwon, the starlet picked up an accolade for his performances after winning the football category at South Korea's 2024 Future Star Awards.

Speaking to reporters about his upcoming move to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Yang outlined his initial plans and revealed that he wants to stay in the Premier League for a long time. First things first though, he wants to get back to full fitness and improve his physical condition so that Tottenham do not have another player joining an already crowded treatment room.

"There are a lot of injuries at Tottenham. I’m also at risk of injury after playing a season. They asked me to come and recover,” he said, as reported by Nate (via Sport Witness).

"I joined the team in the middle of the season, so my main focus is to recover my body. I’m also studying English hard, and I haven’t been in touch with [Son] Heung-min yet, but I’ll have to ask him a lot of questions. I’m also planning to ask [Yang] Hyun-Jun for advice on adjusting to life in England.

"My first goal is to survive in the Premier League for a long time. I would be ashamed of myself if I came back to the K League quickly. I plan to improve my physical condition as much as possible and work hard to adapt to the team."

What is important to the player is that he has finished his time at Gangwon on a positive note. Attention will quickly turn to Tottenham and establishing himself in Postecoglou's squad.

"I feel relieved because I feel like I’m finishing well at Gangwon. I feel sad about leaving," added Yang. "At the beginning of the season, I was thinking, ‘When will it be over?’ But it’s gone by so fast. It’s just the beginning, so it’s going to fly by. I’m looking forward to working harder and establishing myself quickly."

It came as no surprise to see James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski dominate the headlines after their starring roles in Tottenham's 4-0 win over Manchester City. The pair were influential figures in the contest at the Etihad Stadium, with both combining to perfection as Maddison opened the scoring after 13 minutes.

All of Ange Postecoglou's players on the day put in a real shift to help the team record a statement result at the home of the Premier League champions. Spurs were given a solid platform to go on and inflict even more misery on Pep Guardiola's side thanks to the performances of the team's backline.

Guglielmo Vicario, who now faces a spell on the sidelines through injury, was exceptional in goal, while Pedro Porro, Ben Davies, Radu Dragusin and Destiny Udogie were big figures in defence to constantly frustrate Erling Haaland & Co. Some Spurs fans may have had a few concerns going into the game with first-choice duo Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero missing out through injury but they need not have worried.

Davies and Dragusin went on to deliver quite possibly their best performances in a Tottenham shirt. The latter had struggled in the previous game against Ipswich Town but responded in the best way possible against the champions.

Dragusin looked much more assured and many supporters noted that Davies was constantly guiding his centre-back and telling him where to be on the pitch, which isn't necessary the case for the Romania international if he is alongside Romero. It undoubtedly helped the ex-Genoa man as he was a immense at the back as Tottenham made people sit up and take notice of their demolition of Man City.

Dragusin and Davies' partnership was a big talking point on the latest episode of the Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham podcast. football.london's Spurs reporters Alasdair Gold and Rob Guest certainly had plenty to discuss as they reflected on what was a memorable day for the football club in Manchester.

Davies' contract status and what comes next for the player was also on the agenda as the long-serving Welshman is out of contract in north London at the end of the season. So will he call time on his Tottenham career or will Postecoglou and Johan Lange decide to extend his current deal by a year or two?

You can listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham by clicking here or watch on YouTube right here. Alternatively, you can watch the podcast below.

The last decade at Tottenham Hotspur has been one defined by significant change.

The decision of the club to leave White Hart Lane and press ahead with building a state-of-the-art new home has been, and will continue to be, transformational for the football club from a financial perspective.

Having a 62,850-seater stadium has helped satisfy demand and allowed Spurs to tap into lines of revenue that other clubs have not been able to do, most notably having the NFL sign a long-term deal to host games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium due to it being able to host such an event.

But, a Champions League final appearance in 2019 aside, competitive success at the very peak of the game has continued to evade the club, and while chairman Daniel Levy has long been noted to drive something of a hard bargain, a snapshot of the club’s manoeuvres in the transfer market over the last decade paints a picture of some underachievement.

Analysts at the Swiss-based CIES Football Observatory compiled the highest spenders and net spenders, and the lowest, across European football since 2015, a period completely dominated by the riches of the Premier League, with English football’s top flight accounting for a little over 28% of the overall spend across the continent, with the league’s spend standing at €23.02bn (£19.2bn) that has been committed in transfer fees during that period.

The huge media deals brought boom time in the 2010s and early 2020s, setting the English game on a trajectory to achieve near total financial dominance over the rest of Europe, even Spain’s La Liga.

Unsurprisingly, it is English clubs that dominate the spending list for the decade, but they also dominate the biggest net spend, the clubs that spend heavily and weren’t as strong at recouping what had gone out of the door.

In terms of the most committed by clubs for transfers between 2015 and 2024, Spurs sit seventh on the list at €1.41bn (£1.18bn). Only Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Chelsea have spent more, while Spurs’ outlay was larger than clubs such as Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Bayern Munich.

When it comes to net spend, the amount of funds committed against what was recouped through player sales, Spurs have posted the fifth-highest figure in Europe at €711m (£593.7m). Only Arsenal, PSG, Chelsea, and Manchester United have committed more.

What the Spurs spend points to, as it has done with Manchester United, is a lack of a coherent transfer strategy, and one where a high turnover of managers has led to tumult and poor value being achieved in the resale market, with the clubs in question often having to press the reset button when it comes to a squad overhaul with far more regularity than some of their rivals.

While the changing of managers and head coaches can be unavoidable, the theme that has remained the same for the clubs who have managed to fare better in terms of a negative net spend is having the strategy remain when it comes to the transfer market regardless of who is at the helm.

As clubs seek to try and maximise returns in the market and some signs already that the era of excess for many clubs may be starting to slow a little in the face of a potential shift in the media rights landscape over the next decade, finding ways to work smarter will become more commonplace, and Spurs’ figures show that they will have to have that at the front of mind, especially without the riches of regular Champions League football to rely on to support spending.

Guglielmo Vicario's Tottenham teammates have rallied around the goalkeeper after it was confirmed he suffered a broken ankle during their thumping 4-0 win over Manchester City on Saturday.

Spurs announced in a statement on Monday that Vicario, 28, has undergone surgery for a fracture in his right ankle and he is now expected to be out for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, Vicario revealed in an Instagram post that he, in fact, played 60 minutes against City with the injury and was still able to keep a clean sheet.

"Sometimes football gives you its highs, and sometimes it challenges you in ways you don't expect," Vicario said. "I played 60 minutes at the Etihad with a broken bone in my ankle, giving absolutely everything I had for the team. Unfortunately there was no way around this one... I needed surgery.

"I'm disappointed I won't be able to help the team for a while. A massive thank you to the doctors and the staff. The operation went well, and from tomorrow I'll be working hard to come back stronger, fitter, and ready to give my all for you again. Thank you to the Spurs fans for all the love. See you soon on the pitch," with a flexed biceps emoji and football emoji.

Vicario's Tottenham teammates have shown support to him on Instagram after he revealed the extent of his ankle issue. In the comments section of his post, James Maddison said: "Back soon brother," followed by a white love heart emoji." Destiny Udogie added: "We'll be waiting for you brother," with a red love heart emoji.

Dejan Kulusevski posted a red love heart emoji, while Richarlison said: "Strong bro," alongside a raising hands emoji and a red love heart emoji. Manor Solomon, who is on loan at Championship side Leeds, continued: "Speedy recovery my brother," followed with a white love heart emoji.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, on loan at Marseille from Spurs, said: "Stay strong grande," alongside a red love heart emoji. "Forza". Former Tottenham defender Emerson Royal wrote: "Come on brother," with the fire emoji.

Dominic Solanke, Pedro Porro, Pape Matar Sarr were among the others to show their support for the Italian, who is now expected to miss a number of weeks, presenting a huge blow for Tottenham's top-four hopes.

Vicario's injury comes after Spurs thrashed City over the weekend, with a first-half James Maddison brace and goals from Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson after the break securing the win.