Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed that defender Emerson Royal will require surgery after sustaining a knee injury on duty with Brazil.
The former Barcelona man started and completed 93 minutes of the Selecao's recent 2-1 friendly defeat to Morocco before coming off for America Mineiro defender Arthur.
While the severity of Emerson's issue was initially unclear, it has since been widely reported that the right-wing back is set to miss up to six weeks of action during a pivotal point of the season.
There are fears that Emerson may not play for Tottenham again before the end of the season, and the club have now confirmed that he will soon go under the knife, but a timeframe has not been placed on his recovery.
"We can confirm that Emerson Royal suffered a meniscus injury to his left knee while on international duty with Brazil last week," Tottenham said in a tweet.
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"The defender will undergo surgery before beginning his rehabilitation with our medical staff. We're all behind you, Royal."
The 24-year-old has largely flattered to deceive in the Premier League since arriving in the summer of 2021, but he enjoyed a marked improvement in performances during the early weeks of 2023.
Emerson was expected to lose his spot in the XI to Pedro Porro following the Spaniard's arrival from Sporting Lisbon, but he kept his counterpart out of the team throughout February with a spate of competent showings.
The Brazil international has two goals and one assist under his belt from 22 Premier League appearances this season, taking his total for the Lilywhites to three goals and two assists from 73 games in all tournaments.
With Emerson sidelined and Djed Spence plying his trade with Ligue 1 giants Rennes on loan, interim Spurs manager Cristian Stellini is now working with Porro as his only right-wing back option, although Japhet Tanganga and Dejan Kulusevski could provide emergency cover.
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Emerson is set to miss a season-defining period of fixtures with Tottenham's top-four rivals, as the Lilywhites prepare to meet Newcastle United, Manchester United and Liverpool next month.
The South American is welcomed to the medical bay by a host of other injured first-team players, as Rodrigo Bentancur remains on the long road to recovery from his ACL injury and is facing at least another six months out.
Ben Davies will miss anywhere from four to six weeks with a hamstring injury, while Ryan Sessegnon is nursing a similar problem, leaving Spurs extremely light in both wing-back positions.
Richarlison also came off with a knock in Spurs' 3-3 draw with Southampton two weekends ago, but his downtime is unclear, while Yves Bissouma is working his way back from ankle surgery.
On a positive note, first-choice goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is in the final stages of his recovery from knee ligament damage and took part in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Ipswich Town last week.
Tottenham sit two points clear of Newcastle in fourth place in the Premier League table - albeit having played two games more - and they return to action against Everton on Monday, in what will be Stellini's first game as acting head coach following the exit of Antonio Conte by mutual consent.
Ben Knapton
