Thomas Frank confirms £65m Spurs surgery blow ahead of Leeds United clash
The Tottenham Hotspur boss confirmed a major injury blow ahead of Saturday’s Premier League trip to Leeds United.
Tottenham Hotspur striker Dominic Solanke will miss Saturday’s trip to Leeds United after undergoing ankle surgery, manager Thomas Frank has confirmed.
Solanke hasn’t featured for Spurs since coming off the bench in a 2-0 win at Manchester City over a month ago, with a complicated ankle injury keeping him sidelined. The 28-year-old, who left Bournemouth in a £65m deal last year, briefly returned to training but was unable to continue earlier this month, with his absence in an open training session on Monday widely reported.
Spurs have Champions League action to contend with this evening as they head to Norwegian outfit Bodo/Glimt, with a quick turnaround before Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Leeds at Elland Road. And Frank has now confirmed he’ll be without Solanke for both fixtures.
"Dom has got that ankle issue that's been bothering him for a little while, so now we've decided to make a minor surgery," Frank told reporters. "It's a small procedure, so that will mean he is not ready [for Bodo/Glimt] and of course Leeds [on Saturday] as well. We'll have more news about a time frame after the international break, but I don't expect it to be long.
“If we knew we could have done the surgery a month ago, we probably would have done it. So for me, I'm always like I imagine, ‘oh, it is what it is, we deal from now’. No doubt that the way we dealt with this was because we thought that was the right way because I think in general, no one wants a surgery, no matter how small it is.”
Christian Romero and Randal Kolo Muani updates ahead of Leeds United
Spurs were notably short of attacking options during last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Wolves, with summer loan arrival Randal Kolo Muani suffering a dead leg in training days before their trip to Molineux. Like Solanke, the French forward was not involved in training on Monday and is expected to miss his side’s midweek European trip.
Christian Romero is also a fresh Spurs doubt for Saturday, having been left back in London while his teammates head to Norway. The Argentinian defender was not seen in open training on Monday, despite playing every available Premier League and Champions League minute so far this season.
“Minor injuries both of them [Kolo Muani and Ben Davies],” Frank added. “It's just too short a turnaround unfortunately. Kolo Muani, I think now we're finally on top of his dead leg. So there's also progress there. So that's good. And Cuti [Christian Romero] was just a precaution.”
Solanke joins a number of long-term absentees at Spurs ahead of Saturday’s Premier League trip to West Yorkshire. Winger Dejan Kulusevski is currently out with a serious knee injury while attacking midfielder James Maddison ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in pre-season.
Spurs face Bodo/Glimt in Norway this evening before travelling back to London. They won’t have too long to recover before heading north to Elland Road, likely on Friday, with their game against Leeds picked for the Saturday lunchtime kick-off.