An injured Tottenham star is aiming to make his comeback sooner than expected as manager Ange Postecoglou deals with a host of absentees.
Postecoglou dealt Spurs injury blows
The north Londoners were on an imperious run of form before their 4-1 defeat to Chelsea 10 days ago. Postecoglou had enjoyed the best start made by any new manager in Premier League history, winning eight out of a possible 10 league games while remaining unbeaten.
However, their face off with ex-manager Mauricio Pochettino changed the entire dynamic of their early season, with star summer signings James Maddison and Micky van de Ven injured during their defeat to Chelsea at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Both are now expected to be out until 2024, while fellow stars Destiny Udogie and Cristian Romero picked up red cards.
Consecutive defeats have followed since, and it's clear that Postecoglou was seriously missing the aforementioned quartet during Tottenham's 2-1 defeat to Wolves last Saturday.
This has led to reports that Spurs will target a left-sided central defender in January, as van de Ven's injury has particularly exposed their lack of depth in defence. Chelsea's Trevoh Chalobah, Bournemouth defender Lloyd Kelly, Uruguay star Sebastian Caceres, Everton's Ben Godfrey and Crystal Palace ace Marc Guehi have all been linked with moves to Spurs as a result.
Both van de Ven and Maddison join Ryan Sessegnon, Manor Solomon, Richarlison, Alfie Whiteman and Ivan Perisic on the treatment table, with the latter expected to be out for the remainder of this Premier League season.
Perisic "aiming" to be back sooner than expected
The Croatia international sustained a complex ACL injury earlier in the season after being used regularly by Postecoglou, and his quality off the bench was proving a real asset at one point.
In what was described as a "big blow" by reporter Michael Bridge, losing Perisic came as some very bad news, with some believing he may have played his last game in a Spurs shirt.
The 34-year-old, though, has plans of his own – as relayed by football.london journalist Alasdair Gold. The reporter says that Perisic is aiming to be back before the end of the campaign in an effort to boost Postecoglou's chase for European football qualification.
Perisic impressed under Conte
The former Inter Milan star, if he can make an early return, would certainly provide the Spurs head coach with a quality option capable of playing an important role. Perisic's versatility is one big plus point, with his usefulness in the final third coming as another.
He registered more league assists than any other Tottenham player under former boss Antonio Conte last season, with the Italian calling him a "top player".
Likes to cross
Does not dive into tackles
"It is very important we sign a player like Ivan Perisic because he can see the way to try to learn something from Ivan," said Conte on Perisic last summer (via The Boy Hotspur).
"We are talking about a real important player and top player. Sometimes it is good to bring a player in your team who is a bit over age but at the same time a good player with experience who can improve a young player in your squad.”