Tottenham fear Mohammed Kudus will miss the remainder of the season after the player suffered a setback in his return from injury.
Kudus has been out since January with a quad injury, and it was hoped he was nearing a return to help new manager Roberto De Zerbi and his team-mates’ efforts to avoid relegation.
But Kudus may now miss the final seven games of the Premier League season in a huge blow to the new manager’s plans.
Tottenham have confirmed that specialists will assess Kudus in the coming days, which could result in the player being recommended for surgery.
The winger’s hopes of playing for Ghana at the World Cup have been severely hampered.
Kudus has the most Premier League assists of any Spurs player this season, and his return to fitness was eagerly anticipated, with the north London club not having won a league game this calendar year.
De Zerbi, who signed a five-year contract to take over from former interim manager Igor Tudor, has inherited an injury crisis and will now be left to bemoan the club’s decision not to enter the market for another winger in January.
Spurs, who sit one point above the relegation zone, are also set to be without first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario against Sunderland.
Vicario underwent surgery on a hernia issue over the international break, timed to minimise the amount of time the Italian would miss, but is not expected to travel to Wearside.
Spurs will find themselves in the relegation zone for the first time this season if West Ham beat the league’s bottom side Wolves at home on Friday.
