Son Heung-min will go under the knife on Friday after suffering a reported four fractures to his eye socket during the Champions League clash between Marseille and Tottenham.
Spurs finished top of Group D with a 2-1 victory in France on Wednesday, but their joy was tempered after Son sustained a gruesome injury. The South Korea international was involved in a sickening collision with the shoulder of Marseille defender Chancel Mbemba and required assistance to stagger off the pitch and walk down the tunnel in the first half.
While he was able to celebrate with his teammates after the match, Son requires surgery on the affected area, plunging his participation at the World Cup into serious doubt. In an effort to boost his hopes of participating at the tournament, Spurs have brought forward the 30-year-old's surgery from the weekend to Friday.
That is according to the Daily Telegraph, which notes this will give Son an extra day to recover before South Korea kick off their World Cup campaign against Uruguay on 24 November. The prolific forward will not know whether he can feature in Qatar until after his surgery.
There is hope he can join up with his international teammates and play some kind of role if no major damage unearthed during his operation. Son is the latest in a string of players in the Premier League and across Europe to have been struck down by injury on the eve of the World Cup.
Spurs medics have not placed a timeframe on his return and it appears Son faces an uphill battle to compete in Group H, which also comprises Ghana and Portugal. In the meantime, he is a major doubt for Tottenham's final three games before the mid-season break.
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Antonio Conte will lead his side in Premier League clashes against Liverpool and Leeds United on Sunday and next Saturday respectively. In-between the two fixtures is a third-round EFL Cup clash against top-flight rivals Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.
Although they may have to navigate that run without Son, the player can take heart from the example of Manchester City superstar Kevin De Bruyne regarding his personal quest to feature at the World Cup. The Belgian, 31, suffered a similar injury last year, when he sustained fractures to his nose and left eye socket during the Champions League final against Chelsea.
De Bruyne underwent minor surgery and, remarkably, was fit to play for Belgium at Euro 2020 less than three weeks later. With just over three weeks separating the time Son suffered his four eye-socket fractures and South Korea's opening game of the World Cup, it is not out of the realms of possibility that he could return to captain his country.
