Antonio Conte delivers disastrous Dejan Kulusevski update; asked if Tottenham will make signings in January window

Tottenham boss Antonio Conte has revealed that Dejan Kulusevski may not play again until after the World Cup ends in December.

The 22-year-old midfielder has not featured for Spurs since the 6-2 rout of Leicester back in September after suffering a hamstring issue while on international duty with Sweden.

And Conte says the on-loan Juventus man has suffered a setback in his recovery.

It was hoped the winger would feature in the loss at Manchester United but the Tottenham chief will have to be patient to get one of his key men back.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s clash with Newcastle, Conte said: “I think we have to wait a bit of time to see him with us.

“Yeah [I am worried] because his recovery was going well and then one day the situation worsened.

“Then when this type of situation happens, you have to restart. You need time, but we have the medical department to face injury situations and they have to solve the situation in a short period because you know if you are good to solve the situation in a short period, it means points in the table.”

With Kulusevski set for more time on the sidelines, Conte is now keeping his fingers crossed that Harry Kane and Son Heung-min stay fit, especially with both players heading to Qatar in November.

Conte does have Lucas Moura and Bryan Gil to fall back on if needed. However, he knows he cannot afford to be without his dynamic attacking duo.

He added: “For sure this type of situation creates a big, big difficulty. For me, also fingers crossed because at the moment we have Harry and Sonny in good health.

“I hope they continue to stay that way or I’ll have to think about putting my shoes on to play, me!”

Tottenham could make January moves

Conte was also asked if Tottenham could end up dipping into the January transfer window, to which he replied: “Now we need to finish this period.

“You have important injuries and you need to face the situation in the best possible way then we’ll see until the last game in November and then we’ll see the situation and if we need to do something or continue in the same way.”

“Now we need to be focused and it’s not easy this period. I ask our fans to be close to us.”

Tottenham will face an in-form Newcastle side off the back of arguably their worst performance of the season at Old Trafford.

The display has led to reports that Spurs fans could eventually turn on Conte if bad results continue to match turgid displays like the one at United.

Victory over Newcastle on Sunday will be a tough ask, however. Eddie Howe’s men have the best defensive record in the league and are unbeaten in their last six games.

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