Tottenham Hotspur faces a significant midfield crisis as Dejan Kulusevski has been ruled out of the upcoming Europa League final after undergoing knee surgery.
The Swedish international sustained the injury to his right kneecap during a heavy challenge with Marc Guehi in the 19th minute of Sunday`s 2-0 home loss to Crystal Palace, forcing him off the field.
Kulusevski underwent surgery earlier today and will now be unavailable for next week`s showpiece event against Manchester United in Bilbao.
His absence leaves manager Ange Postecoglou without his three primary creative midfielders, as Lucas Bergvall and James Maddison are already sidelined for the remainder of the season.
Teenager Bergvall, 19, suffered ankle ligament damage in training late last month.
England star Maddison, 28, is expected to miss three months due to a knee problem picked up in the first leg of the semi-final win against Bodo/Glimt earlier this month.
This situation leaves Postecoglou with only four fit central midfielders—Rodrigo Bentancur, Yves Bissouma, Pape Matar Sarr, and Archie Gray—to fill the three midfield positions.
The severity of Kulusevski`s injury is yet to be fully confirmed, though Postecoglou initially described it as just a “knock” on Monday. An update is anticipated during his press conference on Thursday, ahead of Friday`s Premier League match against Aston Villa.
However, concerns exist that Kulusevski could potentially miss the beginning of the next season, in addition to definitely being out of next week`s final.
A statement from Spurs confirmed: “We can confirm that Dejan Kulusevski suffered an injury to his right patella in our Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace last weekend. Following further specialist consultation, the midfielder has undergone surgery today and will commence his rehabilitation with our medical staff immediately. We`re all with you, Deki.”
The Spurs squad has been plagued by injuries throughout the season, including a period over winter where ten or more players were unavailable. This has undoubtedly affected their league performance, contributing to a club record 20 losses, placing Postecoglou`s position under scrutiny regardless of the Europa League final outcome.
There was a positive note on Sunday with the return of Son Heung-min, the Tottenham captain, who had been out for a month with a foot problem. The 32-year-old came on as a substitute in the defeat to Palace.
Son is the only player from Tottenham`s 2019 Champions League final starting eleven who remains at the club. Ben Davies, 32, was an unused substitute in that match in Madrid.
Manchester United Injury Concerns
Meanwhile, Manchester United also faces injury worries ahead of the crucial Europa League final against Tottenham. Centre-backs Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, and Ayden Heaven were absent from training the week prior to the final.
While United travels to Chelsea for their penultimate Premier League match, focus remains on the Bilbao showpiece. Manager Ruben Amorim may face defensive selection issues, evident from a recent training session.
Yoro picked up a foot problem and limped off during Sunday`s 2-0 home loss to West Ham and was noticeably missing from training, as was De Ligt, who sustained an issue at Brentford the previous weekend.
Heaven, who had been doing individual work, was also not seen at Wednesday`s session, although Jonny Evans and Toby Collyer participated. Diogo Dalot also trained individually, aiming for fitness for the final, but Lisandro Martinez and Joshua Zirkzee are confirmed out for the rest of the season.
