Tottenham Hotspur have been left reeling by an injury to first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario that is set to keep him on the sidelines long-term.
Spurs confirmed on Monday that Vicario has undergone surgery after suffering a fractured ankle during the 4-0 victory at Manchester City on Saturday.
The 28-year-old completed the full 90 minutes of the Premier League game at the Etihad, but the club revealed that he suffered the injury during the match.
Now, speaking ahead of Tottenham’s Europa League meeting with Roma, manager Ange Postecoglou spoke about Vicario’s injury and recovery timeframe.
Ange Postecoglou says Tottenham keeper Guglielmo Vicario is set to be out for months
Postecoglou confirmed that, while he was unwilling to put a timeframe on Vicario’s recovery, he admitted it would be a matter of months, not weeks.
“It’s not going to be weeks. It’ll be months,” he told the Spurs media team. “He’s had his surgery and, you know with surgery, there’s certain timelines and because it’s Vic…
“I don’t like giving timelines so early in the process as something like that as it puts undue pressure on the player and some expectations.
“I think once we’re past the rehab stage and he starts getting out (onto the training pitch), we’ll have a clearer idea.”
Postecoglou shares what he found a ‘bit of a shock’ about Vicario injury
Postecoglou admitted it was a “bit of a shock” that what he initially thought was a “sore ankle” turned out to be a fracture.
“I guess it was a bit of a shock, first of all,” Ange explained. “We saw he’d picked up the injury during the game. We saw him at half time, but there was no doubt about him continuing.
“You digest that and then, post-game, he was sore but, you’re kind of like, he’s just played 60 minutes with a sore ankle, but we’ll tape it up and go again.
“Externally people now realise, it’s a testament to him as a person. He’s as tough as nails and tough as they come.
“The fact that he played at that level for 60 minutes with a fractured ankle was quite outstanding. The shock of it wears off and then you have to process that he’s going to be missing for a while.
“Knowing him, he’ll push the limits of how long that is. Also, knowing him, you’ll get daily updates about that on his Instagram!
“It’s a big blow, and for him personally, because he was having an outstanding season for us and really growing as a leader within the group but we’ve dealt with setbacks before and we’ll deal with this one.”
Fraser Forster will be the player most likely to stand in for Vicario in his absence.
Tottenham are ready to accelerate their plans to sign another goalkeeper following the Italian’s injury and surgery, according to reports.
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