Ange Postecoglou sets out timeline for Rodrigo Bentancur, Giovani Lo Celso returns for Tottenham
Rodrigo Bentancur and Giovani Lo Celso are “two or three weeks” away from returning to training with Tottenham, Ange Postecoglou has confirmed.
Uruguay midfielder Bentancur has not featured for Spurs since February after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a fixture against Leicester City.
Fellow midfielder Lo Celso has been out with a quad strain but the duo, along with Bryan Gil who underwent groin surgery at the start of August, could soon be back in contention.
Speaking prior to the North London derby against Arsenal on Sunday (24 September), in quotes reported by Football London (22 September), Spurs boss Postecoglou said: “Everyone from last week is in a good space.
“In terms of longer ones, two or three weeks away. Bryan Gil, Lo Celso, Bentancur, hopefully over the next few weeks they will slowly get involved in training.”
No guarantee of minutes
Bentancur was a big miss for Tottenham after he got injured last season, while Lo Celso was kept around after impressing Postecoglou during pre-season training.
However, Spurs have been in fine fettle this term – taking 13 points from a possible 15 on offer, a dramatic injury-time turnaround against Sheffield United last Saturday (16 September) the latest cause for celebration among Spurs supporters during the infant days of Postecoglou’s tenure.
Key to their success has been the performances of their midfield trio of Yves Bissouma, Pape Matar Sarr, and James Maddison, who have struck up quite the understanding in Spurs’ engine room.
This means that while it would be great to have him back, there is no guarantee Bentancur can work his way back into the starting line-up and he may have to be patient to wait for an opportunity.
In stats provided by FotMob, Maddison has the most combined goals and assists for Spurs this term with four, while Sarr has third with two. Indeed Maddison (2.3) and Sarr (2.1) rank first and second for shots on target per 90 minutes among Tottenham players.
England playmaker Maddison has created the most chances for team-mates with 14, while Yves Bissouma averages 66.8 accurate passes per 90 minutes – second only to Emerson Royal (118.8).
Bissouma tops the most successful tackles per 90 rankings (2.5) and interceptions per 90 (2.5), while Sarr is top of the number of possessions won back in the final third per 90 (1.8).
Postecoglou is imminently about to have a very welcome selection headache.
In other Tottenham news, Spurs are set avoid a repeat of their Harry Kane mistake with Son Heung-min.