Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou may soon be faced with a significant selection decision after Rodrigo Bentancur scored a screamer in training on Wednesday.
The Uruguay international has not played since tearing his ACL in a 4-1 loss to Leicester City in February, but he has finally returned to full training following months of recuperation.
Given his lengthy absence, Postecoglou aims to tread slowly with the 26-year-old, but Bentancur is already impressing in training.
The former Juventus midfielder startled his team-mates with an outrageous hit that rocketed into the net in a film released on Tottenham’s social media pages during Wednesday’s training session.
The players who did not start against Fulham on Monday were taking part in a shooting drill in which they had to handle the ball with one touch before launching an effort.
Backup goalkeeper Fraser Forster fizzed a half-volley at Bentancur’s ankles, who handled the ball wonderfully and blasted an effort past Hugo Lloris in the same motion.
The rest of the team was ecstatic to see Bentancur nearly burst the net, with Emerson Royal screaming and hugging his teammate, while youngster Alejo Veliz had his hands on his head in surprise, as did goalie coach Rob Burch.
Although Bentancur is keen to go back on the pitch after such a long absence, Postecoglou will ease him back gradually – though a return to Premier League action is on the horizon.
‘We’ll be cautious with him,’ the Australian coach stated last week. ‘He’s now completely trained and participating in the entire session.
‘We’ve drip-fed him into training in the last sort of month and he’s coped very well with that. He is now fully trained
‘We have to keep in mind that he has missed a lot of football.
‘I think the more he practises with the first team over the next few weeks, the more we’ll pick out moments, but he’s looking terrific in training. We’re looking forward to seeing him again.’
Prior to his injury, Bentancur had been in excellent form for Spurs, scoring six goals in 24 Premier League and Champions League appearances last season, and Postecoglou will be eager to get him up to speed before Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr leave for the Africa Cup of Nations in January.
Leave a Comment