Matthew Chadder

Sun 31 December 2023 12:55, UK

There has been a Christmas miracle at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Rodrigo Bentancur has returned to Ange Postecoglou’s matchday squad ahead of Spurs’ clash with Bournemouth.

Bentancur has made quite a remarkable comeback to the Tottenham team.

Starting his first match in over eight months after an ACL injury had kept him out of action, the Uruguay international was dealt another cruel blow in the 2-1 home defeat to Aston Villa on 26 November.

With just 32 minutes on the clock, the midfielder was forced off with an ankle injury following a heavy challenge from Villa’s Matty Cash.

Initial reports suggested the 26-year-old was expected to be out until at least February (BBC Sport, 28 November).

However, in an incredible turn of events, Football London’s Alasdair Gold revealed via his official X account (31 December) that the former Juventus man is a part of Postecoglou’s matchday squad for the visit of high-flying Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon.

Spurs then confirmed on their official X account that Bentancur was named in the starting XI for the game.

Bentancur’s return, which arrives more than a month earlier than anticipated, is a massive boost to Tottenham, who are still without star midfielder James Maddison and will be without both Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr as they compete at AFCON next month.

His performance before limping off injured against Villa demonstrates the kind of quality Spurs have been missing, and are now set to reinject into their team.

As per Sofascore, throughout the 32 minutes, he was on the pitch, Bentancur completed 84 per cent of his passes, won 100 per cent of his tackles (three out of three) and was successful with 100 per cent of his dribbles (one out of one).

Despite having just returned from a serious injury, he did not shy away from the action, as he made one tackle and one interception before being replaced.

Last season the Spurs ace became a hit in north London due to his composed nature on the ball coupled with his strong defensive capabilities. As per fbref, he was among the top 14 per cent of Premier League midfielders last season for the number of tackles he won (1.68 per 90) and the top six per cent for the number of tackles he won in the attacking third (0.54 per 90).

Spurs fans will be disappointed they haven’t been able to see Bentancur in action more under Postecoglou so far and will hope this is finally the start of his return to action.

In other Tottenham news, Spurs are preparing a player-plus-cash deal for one Premier League defender.