Tottenham Hotspur endured a dramatic 2-2 draw against Manchester United last weekend, but the shared points with Ruben Amorim’s men came at a cost.
The Lilywhites striker Randal Kolo Muani was forced off at half-time, and that was complemented by a late knock to Cristian Romero, which added to the treatment room concern at Hotspur Way going into the international hiatus.
And what at that moment just looked like a minor knock has now taken a sharper turn which will add to Thomas Frank’s worries.
With a couple of days passing after that final whistle, some fresh updates have started to come in, and it now points to a jaw injury which looks worse than initially feared.
The French #9 has already withdrawn from his place in international duty, with an update by Chris Cowlin claiming that Kolo Muani could possibly be serving on the sidelines for around six to eight weeks, and that number could go longer if surgery is needed.
And it is a brutal injury setback for a player that has already lost a lot of momentum after he served the treatment room for extended periods owing to dead leg. And with the Lilywhites’ attacking sequences still finding their rhythm, this injury comes as a further setback which puts eyes on a possible failed signing narrative given his is only a season-long marquee loan move.
And this debate touches a wider chatting point about the Daniel Levy era at Tottenham, an era that always talked about big potential around the corner but only showed limited output on the pitch.
Muani has had a start and stop start to life in London
Thomas Frank started Kolo Muani down the middle against Manchester United. But while he played the first half, he did not come back after the halftime. And while the initial resolve was that there is nothing major, new developments have shifted the picture with his injury timeline.
The PSG loanee is said to have a jaw problem which has also forced him out of national duty. There is a projection of a possible six to eight weeks in the treatment room, but if he does need surgery, that absence can end up stretching to “a number of months”.
Now this is more of a stop-start commencement than Muani has had to live in north London. Initially it was that simple dead leg which ended up keeping him in the treatment room for over a month. And just as he was getting sharper and building his fitness with some minutes under his belt, another pause arrived.
This is a massive blow for Tottenham, who are already facing a lot of pressure to deliver from open play. And Muani’s profile, to bring that run off the shoulder with quick link play, was always meant to add that punch in the final third. But now with him again on the sidelines, Thomas Frank must shuffle his offensive options again and hopefully start getting more regular sequences from others.
While Mauni’s injury comes as a blow, Dominic Solanke could return again after the international hiatus, which should help Tottenham rise out of the Frenchman’s spell on the sidelines.
Is Muani a failed signing or its just bad timing?
It is tempting to put in a label on this kind of deal when injuries start to come into the picture consistently. And calling it purely a failed signing is coming more from frustration than pure evidence.
And this Levy-legacy line of “all potential, little output” will linger for a long time because the Lilywhites faithful have seen this film before. But we think it is still too early to come to this verdict because if that six-to-eight-week timeline ends up holding up, where no surgery is needed, then there is still an opportunity for him to rejuvenate his time at Hotspur Way in the second half of the campaign.
But if there ends up being an operation which keeps him on the sidelines for months, then this loan risks becoming one of the more disappointing transfers in recent memory of the North Londoners’ supporters. But it is too early to claim anything just yet…