Spurs midfielder set to be out until after the international break | OneFootball

As per an update from insider Paul O Keefe on his Twitter account earlier today, Spurs midfielder Dejan Kulusevski is set to be out until after the international break - which takes place towards the end of this month.

Dejan Kulusevski set to be out until after the international break

Last month, we aggregated how the Sweden captain, Archie Gray, and Pedro Porro had played an obscene amount of minutes this season, and had been particularly burnt out. It is hard to say, either way, if this injury is related to that - but it does mean he finally can at least get some rest this season.

The fact it has taken until March for an injury, despite playing so many minutes, and having such responsibility defensively and offensively, is actually pretty impressive, and shows how robost he is. Likewise for Gray and Porro, so touch wood they don't also get injured soon.

It is a shame that Kulusevski will miss the two legs with AZ Alkmaar. In an ideal scenario, Spurs will be able to navigate that tie - and then have the 24-year old back for the quarter finals and hopefully onwards.

As for the side in his absence, it will be interesting to see how Ange Postecoglou lines up. With Brennan Johnson back, he is likely to start on the right wing - though Mathys Tel could also be an option there.

Then, the midfield is perhaps more of a thinker. Although we are pretty certain to now see James Maddison locking down the left sided central midfield position, who will Ange play on the right hand side? If, and it's a big if - one of Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero are able to start, we could - finally - get to see Archie Gray start in his natural position of central midfield.

Tomorrow evening may come too soon for both players, but if one is able to start against Brentford, we could see a midfield and then attack of; Gray, Bentancur, and Maddison. You would imagine there will be flexibility with the first two, who could perhaps interchange positions during the game.

Another thing that will be interesting is whether or not Kulusevski is called up to the Sweden national team later this month. As a result of winning their nations league group - they do not have play-off games to play. Furthermore, they have been named in a four team World Cup qualifying group, with teams that do have their own play-off games.

So, in short - they are only playing in friendlies this month - against Luxembourg and Sweden. Therefore, despite his importance to his side - he does not need to be called up to this squad, so, everything crossed - that could be another key two weeks of rest, without missing anymore Spurs games in the process.