Positives have been few and far between for Tottenham Hotspur lately, as their injury crisis has only deepened over the past week. Just as Cristian Romero returned from his multi-game injury, another crucial player to Spurs success, new right winger Mohammed Kudus, went down for multiple games with an injury of his own.
Kudus could not play on Saturday against Manchester United as Spurs stumbled to a 2-2 draw with Ruben Amorim's men. But the good news is that there is optimism Kudus will be out there in two weeks against arch rivals Arsenal in the North London Derby after getting the full international break to rest away from the Ghanaian national team.
The Kudus injury news isn't the only positive for Tottenham to track. On Saturday, star striker Randal Kolo Muani had to leave the game at half time with a jaw injury. At first, Spurs fans were told it was much ado about nothing, but, of course, the smart and cynical ones didn't listen, knowing full well this team is cursed.
Tottenham get a positive twist
Well lo and behold, the previously spotlessly healthy Kolo Muani had suffered a jaw injury requiring potentially months on the sideline, thus sending the already tenuous Tottenham striker situation into an outright tailspin.
Yet it appears things may not be so bad after all. Top Tottenham beat reporter Alasdair Gold of Football.London is now reporting that a specialist has stated that Kolo Muani did not, in fact, fracture his jaw. In a positve twist, Kolo Muani will not require surgery to repair his jaw, so the initially reported timeline of six to eight weeks for a return is inaccurate. Kolo Muani can be expected to return sooner than that, though the situation remains fluid and an exact return date is unclear.
Now, it would not seem reasonable to expect the French striker to make his return to the Tottenham lineup for the North London Derby, but maybe a return in less than a month isn't off the table. Tottenham have already missed Kolo Muani for several games in his first season - and potentially only, given he is just here on loan from Paris - due to a dead leg.
But when Spurs have watched Kolo Muani play, he has clearly looked a cut above Richarlison at the striker position with the sort of fluidity and passing and dribbling ability up front that the team have been missing. It will be huge to have him back sooner than later.