Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Oliver Skipp ruled out for the season after surgery for pelvic injury
According to the Evening Standard, Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed that midfielder Oliver Skipp will be ruled out for the rest of the campaign after undergoing surgery in the United States.
The midfielder has been out injured for a long time now, forcing manager Antonio Conte to heavily rely on Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur as his primary options in the middle of the pitch.
The duo has played nearly every game in recent times and has hardly had any break, despite the squad still having stars like Harry Winks to rely on to fill in at midfield when needed. The Englishman has been sporadically used by Conte this term.
At the beginning of the season, Skipp was the manager’s first choice and paired up with Hojbjerg on the pitch in his breakout campaign. However, his injury now seems to have derailed his bright start.
Pre-season return expected
The Lilywhites announced via an official statement that the academy graduate underwent surgery for a pelvis injury in the US on Tuesday morning, and will be ruled out for the remainder of the season. However, the 21-year-old is expected to return to fitness in time for pre-season.
The Englishman has not taken to the field since late January, struggling to cope with a long-standing injury problem. Although a return was expected from Skipp earlier this month, he suffered a setback after attempting to return to outside training.
This will come as a big blow to Conte, who would have loved to have the player back in his squad as they look to chase behind fourth place in the Premier League table in order to secure Champions League football next term.
It is even worse news for Skipp himself, who was enjoying his maiden season playing as a regular in the first team for his boyhood club, after impressing on loan at Norwich City in the Championship the previous campaign, helping them win promotion.
His performances for the Canaries convinced his parent club to give him a chance to impress in the senior side, as he grabbed the opportunity with both hands and set to work, running tirelessly for the team and impressing Nuno Espirito Santo, and then Conte.
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Now, the Englishman will need to work even harder to reclaim his position in the team and return to full fitness in time for pre-season, as he looks forward to working once again with Conte in the Italian’s debut full season at Tottenham.
This injury also comes at a bad time for him because we are just weeks away from the end of the season, and Winks would have wanted to make a case to Conte, hinting that the Italian need not look elsewhere if he wanted a regular first-team player in the centre of the park.
