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Tottenham transfer plans hinge on severity of Harry Kane and Moussa Sissoko injuries

Tottenham will consider entering the transfer market this month if Harry Kane and Moussa Sissoko are sidelined for a significant period.

Mauricio Pochettino played down the chances of January signings before Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester United at Wembley, but the Spurs manager will meet chairman Daniel Levy to reassess the situation tomorrow, when the Argentine returns from a two-day break in Barcelona.

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Both Kane and Sissoko were injured against Man Utd — Kane during the last action of the game — and Spurs were expecting to announce the extent of striker’s ankle injury on Tuesday or Wednesday. Kane had a scan this morning after the swelling subsided sufficiently.

This is Kane’s fourth ankle injury in the last three seasons and his previous experience — and the extent of the swelling this time — has left the England captain fearing he could be out for at least four weeks, which would leave him in a race to be fit for the Champions League last-16, first-leg tie against Borussia Dortmund on February 13.

The club are also waiting anxiously to discover the extent of Sissoko’s groin problem ahead of a run of five games in two weeks, starting at Fulham on Sunday.

Photo: AP
Photo: AP

Pochettino’s top priority since the end of last season has been a new midfielder and a significant injury to the Frenchman could force the club to act in the final two weeks of this month, particularly as Mousa Dembele has travelled to Hong Kong to complete a £9million move to Chinese club Guangzhou R&F.

Eric Dier is nearing a return from surgery to remove his appendix, but Victor Wanyama remains sidelined with a long-term knee problem. Pochettino is said to be looking in Spain’s La Liga for a new midfielder.

Transfer News and Rumours, Tuesday 15th January

Kane’s injury comes at the worst possible time, with South Korea’s Heung-Min Son potentially missing for the next five games at the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

With Fernando Llorente available and Lucas Moura able to play up front, Pochettino is said to be more relaxed about his forward options, although Lucas — who has missed the last two games with a knee injury — last night played down his chances of being fit to face Fulham, writing on Twitter: “The knock was strong, it is still painful. I am doing full time treatment to be ready as soon as possible.”

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Spurs captain Hugo Lloris said: “We all know how important Harry is in our team, but he is not all of our team. Football is about the team and every player being ready to help team.

“During the season you have ups and downs and you have to always adapt to those and we will see about ‘H’ [Kane]. But I think everybody is ready and the most important thing is the mind: being ready to fight, being ready to help, being ready to compete. It is better when you have all your best players on the field but that can happen here or it can happen at other clubs.”