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Tottenham star Pape Sarr leaves pitch in floods of tears after injury vs Bournemouth
Tottenham star Pape Matar Sarr looked devastated after he was forced off through injury in Spurs' match with Bournemouth.
Postecoglou offers insight into Tottenham's January transfer plans
Tottenham star Pape Matar Sarr was in floods of tears on the pitch after he picked up an injury that may rule him out of the Africa Cup of Nations next month. He was due to compete for Senegal but in his final club game before linking up with his country, the midfielder had to be substituted off after scoring against Bournemouth.
Sarr limped off the pitch and was replaced by Oliver Skipp in the first half to be left sweating over his participation in the January international tournament, but his immediate reaction indicates that he fears the worst.
The 21-year-old was consoled by his club captain Son Heung-min and Spurs' physio before he exited the pitch, while he was also embraced by boss Ange Postecoglou as the entire club will be hoping that his muscular injury is not as serious as first indications.
Sarr has enjoyed a breakthrough season under Postecoglou and formed a strong partnership with Yves Bissouma and James Maddison in midfield. Against Bournemouth, he joined Giovanni Lo Celso and Rodrigo Bentancur instead and continued his stellar form before he was forced off the pitch.
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Spurs were not going to count on Sarr in January but his injury comes as the latest to Postecoglou's side who have been ravaged in the past few weeks, although Bentancur's return for the visit of Bournemouth to north London was welcomed.
Maddison, Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, Dejan Kulusevski, Bissouma, Ivan Perisic, Manor Solomon and Ryan Sessegnon were all unavailable to face Bournemouth on New Year's Eve.
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In the build-up to Sunday's match, Postecoglou admitted early January signings would be ideal to bolster the Aussie's injury-ravaged squad, but played down incomings when the window opens on Monday.
“Obviously if we can do business early, it’s great for us," he said. "Not just because of losing Romero but there’s a whole month there – why waste it? If you can bring them in early, even if they don’t play you can bed them into training and our style of football because it’s not like we’re going to sign somebody and they’ll hit the ground running.
“Whereas if you leave it towards the end of January, it’s potentially not until mid to end of February when they get up to speed, depending where they’re coming from, the league they’re coming from, so there’s a whole lot of moving parts. So, yes, I’d love to do something early in the window but even me saying that puts a challenge on us, because other clubs know we want to do something early."