When the Tottenham Hotspur team was announced at 4:30pm for today’s Premier League opener against Aston Villa, there was one absence which had supporters baffled.
Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen was not named in the starting line up nor on the substitutes bench.
The 32-year-old’s name was not named in the injury news update prior to yesterday’s pre-match press conference at Hotspur Way yesterday which has made his omission even more baffling.
Photos inside the Spurs dressing room before today’s match showed that fellow defender Japhet Tanganga was among the travelling squad as a back-up player.
Sky Sports touchline reporter Patrick Davison has now taken to Twitter to clarify that Vertonghen is not injured, but instead Mauricio Pochettino has decided to leave the experienced former Ajax man out of his squad.
Just like Christian Eriksen, who is named among the subs; Vertonghen is also in the last twelve months of his contract at Spurs.
Jan Vertonghen is not injured, just left out by Pochettino. Eriksen on bench but Poch says that is not linked to uncertainty over his future #thfc
— Patrick Davison (@skysports_PatD) August 10, 2019