South Korea boss Jurgen Klinsmann is hopeful that his side will go all the way in the Asian Cup, which would mean that Son Heung-min will miss over a month of football for Tottenham.
Ange Postecoglou has had to deal with an injury crisis over the last month, with several of his key players still out of action.
To make matters worse, the Lilywhites will also be without Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr in January, with the pair representing Mali and Senegal respectively in the African Cup of Nations.
Perhaps a bigger blow for Postecoglou is the fact that he could potentially be without his captain for more than a month, with the Asian Cup kicking off on January 12 in Qatar.
With South Korea being one of the favourites to go all the way, there is a reasonable likelihood that Son would play the final on February 10.
Spurs may be without Heung-min Son for five weeks
It will be a major challenge for the Lilywhites to cope without their star forward and Klinsmann is apologetic that South Korea’s success in the New Year might come at Tottenham’s expense.
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He was asked half-jokingly on ESPN: “Jurgen Klinsmann is going to ruin everything in January, he’s going to take the best player to the Asian Cup for South Korea, how could you do that to your former team?”
The Spurs legend responded: “I’m really sorry, but someone has to win the Asian Cup. Unfortunately, the competition starts in early January, so he will be gone from the 2nd of January, until hopefully the final on the 10th of February.
“So it’s more than five weeks he’ll be gone from Spurs. The same with the other players who play in Europe who will contribute in that competition.”
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Son’s unavailability makes it even more crucial that Tottenham bolster their attack in next month’s transfer window.
Postecoglou will probably feel that he cannot rely on the likes of Richarlison and Kulusevski to get the goals in Son’s absence, particularly with Maddison also looking unlikely to return until February.
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