Mere hours before João Palhinha was set to be unveiled as Tottenham's new defensive midfielder, James Maddison was stretchered off the pitch in tears during the final minutes of a meaningless friendly against Newcastle in South Korea.
What began as a beautiful celebration for club legend Son Heung-min quickly morphed into Thomas Frank's worst nightmare. The Dane will presumably be without both of his preferred attacking midfielders for a significant part of the season, leaving recent signing Mohammed Kudus and academy graduate Jamie Donley as the only natural number tens in the squad.
Spurs' failure to sign Morgan Gibbs-White suddenly hurts a lot more. The onus is now on Daniel Levy to sign a creative midfielder to replace Maddison, and he needs to act quickly if Spurs are to have any chance against PSG in the UEFA Super Cup on August 13.
In the meantime, Thomas Frank will have to go back to the drawing board and think about how to line up his now-injury depleted squad against the Champions League winners.
Guglielmo Vicario will start in goal. The talk of Antonín Kinský overtaking the Italian international is premature. Vicario is a world-class goalkeeper, and his preseason performances have given fans reason to believe that his deficiencies on set pieces and playing the ball out from the back will improve under Fabian Otte’s mentorship.
Assuming Destiny Udogie's injury is minor, Tottenham's back four is set in stone. Pedro Porro is among the best right-backs in the Premier League. Udogie is also a world-class left-back. And the center-back pairing of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven would be the envy of most teams in England and abroad.
The midfield is where things get tricky. João Palhinha will walk into the team as Spurs' new number six, but whether Frank prefers Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Bergvall, or Pape Matar Sarr as his number eight is anyone's guess. Bentancur provides stability and experience. Bergvall adds flair and creativity. Sarr brings energy and tenacity. Frank will probably opt for Bentancur to begin the season, electing to go with his most stalwart midfield unit.
Until Spurs sign a new attacking midfielder, the number ten role belongs to Mohammed Kudus. But moving the former West Ham star to the center of the pitch deprives Frank of his most dangerous winger.
With Son Heung-min gone and Kudus forced to play as an attacking midfielder, Frank will urge Daniel Levy to bring in two more attacking options. As it stands now, Brennan Johnson will start on the right wing, Mathys Tel will play opposite him, and Dominic Solanke will lead the line.
It’s not the team Thomas Frank envisioned lining up to start his Spurs managerial career. But chances are he will have a couple more attacking options to choose from in the coming weeks.
Starting XI: Guglielmo Vicario; Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero (c), Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie; João Palhinha, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mohammed Kudus; Brennan Johnson, Mathys Tel, Dominic Solanke