Thomas Frank has revealed that one Tottenham man is still not close to overcoming his fitness issues and returning to action.
Tottenham’s injury list is piling up very fast, and the situation is not far away from being as bad as it was mid-way through last season.
Some of Spurs’ long-term absentees are on the mend and edging closer to action, but not all of them are progressing as well as hoped.
We have now heard some bad news on the injury situation of one of Tottenham’s summer signings, who is yet to kick a ball for the Lilywhites.
Thomas Frank sheds light on when Kota Takai could be back for Tottenham
Out of the seven signings that Tottenham made in the summer, Kota Takai is the forgotten one and for good reason, as he is still waiting for his debut.
The Japanese defender has been struggling with injuries since the summer, and Frank has now revealed that the 21-year-old has not even returned to training yet.
When asked about Takai, the Tottenham boss responded (via Hayters): “So he’s still not training on the pitch, hopefully soon. I don’t know when he will be back; he’s not training. I’ll come back to that on Friday, so I’m sure I’m saying the right thing.”
Frank reveals his early impressions of Takai
Takai will find it hard to get many minutes for Tottenham this season, given how well Kevin Danso has performed over recent weeks and the fact that Radu Dragusin is now close to a return.
Frank did have an opportunity to get a look at the former Kawasaki Frontale during pre-season, and he admitted that he has been impressed by the youngster.
When asked about Takai’s prospects of getting game time, the Dane said: “Everyone in the squad is competing for minutes. I like what I saw in the first few weeks he had at the club. Of course, he just came straight from Japan and competed, so I like what I saw, everyone is competing.”