Tottenham were happy to defeat Bayern to win the Audi Cup, but Juan Foyth’s injury may prove really costly to Mauricio Pochettino and company.
Right back was already a position of concern for Tottenham heading into Wednesday’s match against Bayern Munich. Spurs scored a nice victory over the German giants, but they lost Juan Foyth to injury in the process.
The full extend of the Argentine defender’s injury isn’t known at this time, but the fact that he was stretchered off the pitch certainly doesn’t look good for Tottenham. Foyth was originally slated to compete with Kyle Walker-Peters and Serge Aurier to be the club’s top right back this season. Now, it’s very possible that Spurs will be forced to bring in a new right back to solidify the position.
Clearly, that’s not an ideal scenario for Pochettino and his staff. The club are already struggling to get several high-profile transfer over the line. Adding right back to Daniel Levy’s shopping list at this late juncture in the transfer market could disrupt several other deals Tottenham were working on.
#thfc Poch on Foyth injury: “I will have to see the doctor but as Foyth left
— Dan Kilpatrick (@Dan_KP) July 31, 2019
the pitch he said ‘Gaffer I have tweaked my ankle’. We will have to see
how bad it is.”
Unfortunately for Spurs, there is not a young Academy player ready to step up and man the position. Pochettino has already been forced to use young midfielders to serve as substitute fullbacks during the preseason. There’s no appetite for either Harvey White or George Marsh to suddenly become a first-team right back.
The real wild card here is how quickly Aurier might be ready for action. He recently underwent surgery to repair a hand injury he suffered during his international duty with Ivory Coast at AFCON. There’s been a lot of talk about how he suffered the malady, but the end result for Spurs is that he’s not cleared for contact in training at this time.
At the very least, look for Spurs officials to make some calls on a few right backs before the transfer window springs shut. Relying on Walker-Peters for a short period of time might be a risk the club are willing to take, but it’s not the sort of risk a legitimate Premier League title contender should assume. Buying a new right back is what Tottenham should do, but not necessarily what Spurs will do.