Tottenham suffer new injury blow as transfer hint dropped in 35-man pre-season squad

Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt another injury blow ahead of their pre-season tour of Australia and New Zealand, which Guglielmo Vicario will not be a part of.

Roberto De Zerbi's men have boarded their flight for the other side of the world after opening their pre-season with a 1-0 victory over MK Dons at the Hotspur Way Training Centre on Wednesday.

A sensational Mateus Fernandes volley propelled Tottenham over the line against their League One counterparts, and next up is a showdown with Auckland on July 26.

Spurs will also take on Sydney and Chelsea in the Sydney Super Cup over the next two weeks, and De Zerbi has selected a 35-man group to work with Down Under, but Vicario is among a few notable absentees.

Tottenham have said that the Italy international sustained a 'minor knock' in training and has been left behind to recover, alongside fellow injury victims Wilson Odobert, Dejan Kulusevski, Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons.

Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Sarr, Djed Spence, Marcos Senesi, Pedro Porro and Cristian Romero have also been granted extended leave following their World Cup commitments over the summer.

Guglielmo Vicario's Tottenham future update after pre-season decision

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News of Vicario's 'minor injury' comes at a time when the Italy international is 'fully expected' to leave the Lilywhites before the summer transfer window slams shut, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The validity of Vicario's supposed knock has therefore been inevitably questioned by supporters, who will wonder whether he has simply been left out to explore a transfer away from the club.

However, in 2023, Tottenham confirmed that Hugo Lloris had been left out of their pre-season tour squad to explore a prospective move elsewhere, but the Lilywhites have issued no such statement over Vicario.

The latter's injury may therefore be genuine, but regardless, he has almost certainly played his final game for Tottenham ahead of an anticipated return to Serie A.

Which players are in Tottenham's pre-season squad?

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Intriguingly, even though Bentancur (group stage) and Sarr (last 32) were eliminated from the World Cup relatively early, both will play no part in Tottenham's pre-season tour.

However, Jan Paul van Hecke - who reached the knockouts with the Netherlands - and Andy Robertson, who exited the group stage with Scotland, have both made the journey.

Lucas Bergvall is also present amid widespread transfer speculation, as are Richarlison and Micky van de Ven, suggesting that their futures also lie in North London - in the short-term at least.

New signings Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali are also present, as are youngsters Mikey Moore, Luca Williams-Barnett and Malachi Hardy to name but a few.