Tottenham Hotspur have suffered an injury blow ahead of next Wednesday's Europa League final against Manchester United in Bilbao.
The north Londoners released a club statement confirming that midfielder Dejan Kulusevski has undergone knee surgery, after being withdrawn during the first half of Sunday's 2-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace.
“We can confirm that Dejan Kulusevski suffered an injury to his right patella [kneecap] in our Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace last weekend,”
the statement says.
“Following further specialist consultation, the midfielder has undergone surgery today [Wednesday] and will commence his rehabilitation with our medical staff immediately.”
Kulusevski has been an important figure for Spurs this season, scoring 10 goals and supplying 11 assists during his 50 appearances across all competitions.
The Sweden international played the full 90 minutes in each of the three previous meetings between the sides this term - all won by Spurs.
He netted in the first two of those encounters, a 3-0 victory for the capital club at Old Trafford and our 4-3 Carabao Cup elimination in N17 prior to Christmas.
Kulusevski's situation adds to Ange Postecoglou's issues in midfield, with James Maddison's season cut short when he also suffered a knee problem during the Europa League semi-final first leg against Bodo/Glimt.
Lucas Bergvall will also 'probably' be missing for the remainder of 2024/25, after tweaking his ankle ligaments in the same game.
Rodrigo Bentancur, Yves Bissouma, Archie Gray and Pape Matar Sarr are options in the engine room for our final foes, who visit Aston Villa in their penultimate Premier League outing on Friday night.
Son Heung-min returned from injury in the Palace clash last time out and will play at Villa Park.
At his latest press conference, Ange Postecoglou ruled Kulusevski out for a period of months and provided an update on Bergvall.
“Obviously, it's disappointing news,”
he said. “Initially, we thought it wasn't too serious but it blew up the day after. He's had the surgery which will put him out for at least a few months.”
“It's still the same sort of timeframe [with Bergvall]. Never long term but he's just got out of his boot and is taking his first steps on the grass. But he'll likely be a while.”