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Tottenham Hotspur may be forced to turn down January offers for midfielders Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp after Rodrigo Bentancur was ruled out until February.
Hojbjerg had attracted the interest of Juventus, whose sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli travelled to London to watch the Denmark international play against Chelsea.
There was also interest from Atletico Madrid in the summer, when the Spaniards failed with a loan offer for Hojbjerg and Ajax had also been interested.
But, despite the fact Hojbjerg has not been a regular starter under head coach Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham could be forced to keep the 28-year-old until the summer.
Bentancur’s latest injury, which is on his ankle, leaves Tottenham facing a midfield crisis in January with Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr set to take part in the Africa Cup of Nations.
It is expected Bentancur will be out for around 10 weeks, while the Africa Cup of Nations runs from Jan 13 to Feb 11. Sarr plays for the holders Senegal, while Bissouma plays for Mali, who reached the last 16 in 2021.
James Maddison is also out until the new year and it is unlikely Spurs will be able to risk allowing either Hojbjerg or Skipp, who has also struggled for starts under Postecoglou, to leave in January.
Tottenham are likely to try to sign another defender in January, but Lloyd Kelly’s injury problems are expected to put them off the Bournemouth man.
Kelly has been a target for Tottenham, but his injury problems have been a concern and the 25-year-old suffered a hamstring problem last weekend that could rule him out of Bournemouth’s game against Aston Villa on Sunday.
One deal that insiders believe would make a lot of sense would be for Spurs to make a January move to take former Celtic winger Jota on loan for the rest of the season.
Jota, who played under Postecoglou in Scotland, moved to Saudi club Al-Ittihad in the summer, but there have been reports the Portuguese has failed to settle.
Postecoglou is currently without Richarlison, Manor Solomon and Maddison, and signing Jota on a short-term basis would give him extra attacking cover and the ability to drop Dejan Kulusevski into midfield more often.
Kuluseviski played in midfield against Aston Villa last Sunday and the Sweden international impressed in the role, despite Spurs losing the game.