Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven is not expected to return from a hamstring injury until the middle of December while Cristian Romero is also sidelined and will miss the game with Manchester City on Saturday.
Van de Ven, 23, suffered the injury in the 10th minute of Tottenham’s 2-1 victory over City in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup on October 30. The 23-year-old was in tears as he walked down the tunnel and had to be consoled by team-mate Yves Bissouma.
He missed Tottenham’s next three matches in all competitions and was left out of Netherlands’ squad for their Nations League fixtures against Hungary and Bosnia.
Speaking before Spurs’ defeat to Ipswich Town on November 10, head coach Ange Postecoglou said the centre-back would return after the international break but it appears he will be out for a little longer.
“Micky’s still a good couple of weeks away,” he told Sky Sports. “He’s out on the grass training, but he’s still a couple of weeks away. We’re hoping by the middle of December he’ll be back and available to play.”
Spurs will be hoping that he recovers in time to feature in their Carabao Cup quarter-final tie against Manchester United on December 19.
Postecoglou has also revealed that fellow central defender Romero will miss the trip to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening while young winger Mikey Moore “will still be out for a little bit of time” after picking up a virus before the international break.
“Romero won’t be right for tomorrow’s game,” he said. “We are hoping he will be right for next week.”
‘Huge blow for Spurs’
Analysis by Jay Harris
This is a huge blow for Tottenham ahead of a busy few weeks which includes difficult fixtures against Manchester City, Roma, Bournemouth and Chelsea.
Van de Ven instantly became a fan-favourite after he joined them from Wolfsburg in July 2023 for his crunching tackles and ability to powerfully drive forward with the ball out of defence. His exceptional recovery speed is also crucial to the success of Postecoglou’s high defensive line.
With both first-choice centre-backs unavailable against City, Ben Davies and Radu Dragusin will be expected to contain Erling Haaland. Davies is naturally a left-back but has played in the middle of defence on multiple occasions under Postecoglou.
Dragusin’s performances have been mixed since he arrived from Genoa in January for £25million but this is a huge opportunity for the Romania international to play regularly and become more familiar with Postecoglou’s style of play.
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