Welcome to Tottenham Hotspur, Savio, as the latest injury news wasn’t something Spurs wanted to be sharing this early in his
RECAP — Spurs vs Newcastle reaction, highlights & analysis
After dazzling on his Spurs debut with a goal and an assist in just 19 minutes against Charlton Athletic in the League Cup on Wednesday, Spurs’ new Brazilian winger is not in the squad to face Newcastle United at home on Saturday.
The 22-year-old’s Premier League debut for the club will have to wait.
“There was bad news yesterday, before training in the afternoon,” De Zerbi said in his pre-game interview. “He suffered muscle fatigue and the medical staff didn’t want to take a risk. I agree with them.”
De Zerbi said that Savio should be available to face Nottingham Forest next weekend.
He added the following on Savio after the game.
“After the press conference the medical staff came to me to inform me he didn’t feel right, a small muscular problem and Monday and Tuesday he can return with us. He hadn’t trained for 10-15 days with City and we didn’t want to take any risks.”
On the plus side for Spurs, Mohammed Kudus is back and come off the bench to make his first appearance since tearing his quad on Jan. 4. Kudus missed the World Cup this summer but will be relied upon quite heavily to (presumably) play opposite of Savio on the right wing, once they are healthy and fully fit.
Elsewhere, Omar Marmoush started at center forward and impressed on his Spurs debut after joining on loan from Manchester City this week.
On the whole, Spurs’ bench is stronger — and this is not an exaggeration — than at any point in the last two seasons. Kudus, Dominic Solanke, Conor Gallagher, Mikey Moore and Lucas Bergvall all give De Zerbi something different in the attacking half, while Destiny Udogie, Marcos Senesi and Ben Davies are all seasoned pros in the back half.
