LONDON • With Harry Kane out until April, Tottenham could ill afford to lose another key attacker to a long-term injury, but that is the reality they have to deal with after the club announced yesterday that Son Heung-min has fractured his right arm.
The South Korean international, who has 16 goals in 32 appearances in all competitions this season, suffered the injury in the 3-2 Premier League victory over Aston Villa on Sunday. He fought through the pain barrier to score twice, including the late winner, but is now "expected to be sidelined for a number of weeks".
While Spurs did not give an exact return date, the London Evening Standard said he was looking to spend at least two months in the treatment room, delivering a hammer blow to their hopes of silverware this season and qualifying for the Champions League next season.
Sports website The Athletic corroborated the Standard's report, saying the injury is to the same arm he fractured while playing for his country in June 2017, causing him to miss two months of football.
At his pre-match press conference ahead of the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with German Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig, Spurs manager Jose Mourinho cut a forlorn figure, revealing his fears the forward could miss the rest of the season and "the situation couldn't be worse".
"I am not counting on Son playing again this season, in my mind no," the Portuguese said yesterday. "If he plays two or three games (more), then it's very optimistic, but I'm not counting on him.
"We are going to miss him. The club wrote a nice statement. If I was the one to write the statement, I would write different.
"I was worried about not having attacking options on the bench, now, it's not having attacking options on the pitch.
"No strikers, no market, no players, nothing. The only help now is our crowd. The Tottenham supporters. That's the only thing I ask because I can't ask any more from the players that they're giving, which is everything they have."
Harry Winks concurred with his boss, saying that Son's absence will be "a massive loss to us" ahead of Leipzig's visit.
"He's in such good form for us. Brings more than just his goals to the team. Brings his work rate and energy," the England midfielder said. "It's important we don't dwell on it (the injury) as it's not going to benefit us. We've found ways to dig in in the past."
Mourinho will now be expected to field Lucas Moura down the middle, with new signing Steven Bergwijn and Dele Alli in support.
Former Coventry forward Noel Whelan, however, feels all is not lost, despite Spurs being shorn of their two best attackers, insisting that Bergwijn, who impressed at Villa, could play Son's role and "can only get better".
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