Harry Kane is out for Tottenham Hotspur at the worst possible time.
Kane, 25, went down after being caught by Phil Jones and Victor Lindelof late in the 1-0 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday at Wembley, and Mauricio Pochettino feared his ankle injury was serious.
His worst fears have been confirmed.
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Tottenham have revealed that Kane will be out until March, and he is going to miss some huge games in the Premier League, UEFA Champions League and their League Cup semifinal second leg at Chelsea.
Here is the official statement from Spurs.
“Following preliminary assessments, we can confirm that Harry Kane has damaged ligaments in his left ankle, sustained during Sunday’s match. He will continue to be monitored by our medical staff as he commences rehabilitation and is expected to return to training in early March.”
With Kane missing a hugely important period of Tottenham’s season, plus Heung-min Son away throughout January with South Korea at the 2019 Asian Cup, Spurs are now putting all their eggs in one basket.
Over to you, Fernando Llorente...
Here are the games Kane is expected to miss while he spends time on the sidelines.
- Fulham (A) – Premier League – January 20
- Chelsea (A) – EFL Cup – January 24
- Crystal Palace (A) – FA Cup – January 27
- Watford (H) – Premier League – January 30
- Newcastle (H) – Premier League – February 2
- Leicester (H) – Premier League – February 10
- Borussia Dortmund (H) – Champions League – February 13
- Burnley – Premier League (A) – February 23
- League Cup Final – February 25* if Spurs reach the final
- Chelsea – Premier League (A) – February 27
This is a massive blow for Spurs which compounds their defeat against United (they somehow lost due to a combination of David de Gea’s heroics and poor finishing) as they’re now nine points off first-place Liverpool and will have to play the next few months without their top goalscorer.
Kane is the joint-top leading scorer in the Premier League with 14 goals so far, but this is a familiar injury for him. The forward injured his ankle twice in the 2016-17 campaign, as Spurs fans were left to wonder what could have been if Kane had stayed fit all season long.
With Son missing, Pochettino must now turn to Llorente, who has only played in a handful of League Cup and FA Cup games as well as a few minutes in the PL, to try and spearhead their attack in the next few months. The veteran Spaniard has scored four goals in 11 appearances this season, but has yet to find the back of the net in his five PL outings.
The only other option Spurs have is Vincent Janssen, who has been out injured and scored for their U23 side at the weekend, but Pochettino revealed the Dutch striker is “not in his plans” at Tottenham.
This is far from ideal for Spurs, as this injury to Kane will have huge implications on their progress in the PL, Europe and both domestic cup competitions.