Tottenham: International Update Lo Celso Withdrawn, Reguilón Okay
By Aaron Coe
Tottenham Hotspur fans must hold their breath every international break as players go around the world to play for their countries hoping they avoid injury.
Giovani Lo Celso has had a hard time staying healthy since coming to Tottenham Hotspur. His growing influence when on the pitch is becoming more and more apparent, however, the Argentine has missed several games since coming to N17. Many of these games have been missed for the same issue, a leg muscle problem, which seems to be continuing in South America.
Tottenham Injury Scares
After training for the Argentine team, Lo Celso withdrew from the squad with a muscle injury. The injury was one he sustained playing for Spurs but could be exasperated playing more for his country in World Cup qualifiers. While no one can begrudge a player for wanting to play for their national team – especially with Lionel Messi – the additional strain can be detrimental to the players health.
Given that Lo Celso has withdrawn from the side, to return to London for treatment, the good news is he should not further his injury the next couple weeks, training at Tottenham. The same is not true for Sergio Reguilón, who unlike Lo Celso left north London healthy and is likely returning with a knock.
Reguilón started at left back for Spain in their friendly match with Portugal. Reguilón was heavily involved in the half of football he played, committing three fouls, being shown a yellow card, and drawing a foul in addition to picking up the knock.
As we have seen in his brief stint at Tottenham, Reguilón is an all action fullback who is equally adept a bombing up the line as he is defending out in space on the left. He was a wonder in the thrashing of Manchester United. On this day he was replaced at half-time by Jose Gaya after picking up the injury. The good news for Spurs fans is that according to Football London, Spanish manager Jose Enrique has said that Reguilón is okay and available for selection this weekend to face Switzerland in the Nations League.
Whether or not Reguilón plays Saturday or in Spain’s subsequent game at Ukraine on Tuesday – also in the Nations League – is still to be determined. The good news is if Reguilón is available, his knock must not be serious, and fans can breathe a little easier at N17 awaiting the return of our new left back. Of course, if Reguilón plays in neither match, this may be a wait and see situation.
Whatever ultimately happens with Reguilón and Lo Celso, the reality is the concern over the international breaks is only going to grow as several regular internationals – like Gareth Bale and Heung-Min Son – did not even play during this break. Maybe Jose Mourinho will start getting other names wrong in the future if it begins to threaten what he is building in North London. Until then, we all just hold our breaths and hope for the best.