A Tottenham starlet could miss a few weeks of action in the early part of next season after being called up to represent his country.
Pre-season kicks off at Tottenham tomorrow, with the majority of the squad set to assemble at Hotspur Way for the first time since their great escape from relegation back in May.
Up to 15 first-team Spurs players are expected to report for pre-season tomorrow, including new signings Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali.
However, those who featured at the World Cup will not be available for now, due to a three-week break mandated by FIFA, while the injured players, Dejan Kulusevski, Mohamed Kudus, Wilson Odobert, and Xavi Simons remain sidelined.
Tottenham starlet Yang Min-hyeok set to miss part of September for international duty
Yang Min-hyeok could be part of the first group to return to Tottenham Hotspur for pre-season, having not been part of South Korea’s World Cup squad.
The 20-year-old winger, who spent last season on loan at Portsmouth and Coventry City, has now been called up to the South Korean squad for the Asian Games.
Teams are required to field players under the age of 23 for the tournament, but three players over that age can also be named in the squad.
With the Asian Games kicking off on September 19 and ending on October 4, the winger could miss two to three weeks of action if his nation goes deep in the tournament.
Spurs will have to carefully consider Yang’s next step
Yang’s unavailability for a couple of weeks is unlikely to affect Tottenham, as the chances of the youngster staying at the North London club are slim.
One would expect the 20-year-old to be loaned out again to a Championship club next season so that he can continue getting regular game time.
Spurs’ decision to recall Yang from Portsmouth in January and loan him to Coventry City proved a disastrous decision, with the pacy wide-man hardly getting any game time for Frank Lampard’s side.
One would thus expect Johan Lange and the Tottenham decision-makers to prioritise game time for the Korean when deciding his next loan destination.