Ex-Spurs scout: Tottenham ace Rodrigo Bentancur ‘wary’ of breaking down again
Tottenham News is delighted to welcome aboard our brilliant new columnist Bryan King, the former goalkeeper who spent six years as a senior scout at Spurs and 28 years in total in first-team scouting roles. Bryan also spent eight years on Everton’s recruitment team and 11 years scouting at Aston Villa across two different spells.
Ex-Spurs scout Bryan King has insisted that Rodrigo Bentancur’s long-term injury will either “make or break” the Tottenham midfielder as he nears his return.
Bentancur has been out of action since last February when he ruptured his ACL during a 4-1 Premier League defeat to Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.
He had arguably been Spurs’ best midfielder prior to the injury and his absence from the team was a big miss.
The Evening Standard reported online last week (11 October) that the Uruguay international’s return is now on the horizon, with his comeback expected potentially as soon as November.
While this will be music to most supporters’ ears, King has told Tottenham News that expectations shouldn’t be too high when Bentancur does step onto the pitch again.
“First he has got to prove his match fitness, which will take a bit of time. I don’t think he will have any real impact on the team for at least four or five weeks.
“If he is fit fine, but to come into the side and make an immediate impact I think is wishful thinking. Anyone who has been out for that amount of time will need time to get used to the tempo of training and then the tempo of matches, so I would be very surprised if he goes straight into the team.
“Serious injuries can either make or break a player. Obviously, he has done well to get back to fitness but he will still be wary when he is playing because the last thing he will want is to pick up another injury.
“In my day we didn’t have the quality of surgeons for serious sports injuries, today they are very well equipped, the physios, the treatment rooms, the exercise equipment, so he is in good hands, especially at Tottenham with all the facilities they have.
“They will certainly get him back to fitness but then it is up to him because he has got to get his confidence back as well, and that can only happen if he plays in matches and the more he plays the stronger he will get.”
In other Tottenham news, club captain Son Heung-min has scooped the Premier League’s Player of the Month award for September.