Tottenham Hotspur starting left back Destiny Udogie is still trying to get back to full fitness and recently missed an important Premier League fixture against Everton. Although Andy Robertson has replaced Djed Spence to still give Spurs a quality backup player at the position whenever Udogie is out, anyone who watches Spurs every week can see that the team is much better off when Udogie is healthy and at his best.
The problem with the Udogie situation is that the Italian international is injured so often that by the time he works his way back to full fitness and looks like one of the top left backs in the Premier League again, he gets injured.
Roberto De Zerbi basically said at the press conference before Saturday's big Premier League battle against Aston Villa that he hopes Destiny Udogie does not actually get called up to the Italian national team so that he can make sure the left back is 100 percent healthy after the international break.
Destiny Udogie is getting the rest he needs
And even though Udogie is one of the best options the strugglign Azzurri has, the Tottenham Hotspur coach got his wish. While Sandro Tonali was called up to the Lilywhite first team squad by iconic manager Roberto Mancini, Udogie did not make the 34 man list.
Although a lot of inferior players, including Brentford right back standout Michael Kayode, made the defensive squad over Udogie, Roberto De Zerbi won't at all look at this squad as a snub on Udogie or with any change in opinion of how the former Udinese standout.
Instead, De Zerbi will see this as a good reprieve for Udogie to avoid logging useless minutes in glorified international friendly competitions, because Tottenham know they need Udogie at 100 percent - and that was a huge problem holding the team back in the rough 2025/26 Premier League season when he was out with recurrent injuries.
Tottenham will have a couple of weeks off during the late September and early October international break after this weekend's battle against Aston Villa, at which point they will be ready to face another heavyweight in Manchester United on Oct. 10.
Having Udogie fully healthy is one of the keys to De Zerbi's scheme working to its fullest, as the progression and technical quality he provides on the left are a missing ingredient for the attack, especially whoever finally establishes themselves as the answer on the left wing.
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