One day after Tottenham Hotspur earned a 1-0 victory over League One side MK Dons in the first presason match of the summer, Spurs are now currently in the air and jetting to New Zealand for the first step in their preseason tour. Spurs will face NZ first division side Auckland FC on Saturday in New Zealand before traveling to Sydney to face Sydney the following Wednesday and Chelsea a week from Saturday.
But who’s on the plane and who isn’t? Roberto De Zerbi named a 35-man squad to take on tour that,
as expected, features a mixture of young guys and established/new first team players. In fact, there’s almost as much interest in who’s NOT on the plane than who is.
But first, let’s see who’s actually going.
Players going on tour
- Damola Ajayi
- Brandon Austin
- Lucas Bergvall
- Harry Byrne
- Kevin Danso
- Ben Davies
- Jamie Donley
- Martin Dubravka
- Mateus Fernandes
- Conor Gallagher
- Archie Gray
- Tye Hall
- Tyrese Hall
- Malachi Hardy
- Antonin Kinsky
- Rio Kyerematen
- James Maddison
- Mason Melia
- Mikey Moore
- Richarlison
- Andy Robertson
- Reiss Russell-Denny
- Dane Scarlett
- Dominic Solanke
- Manor Solomon
- Kota Takai
- Mathys Tel
- Dylan Thompson
- Tyler Tingey
- Sandro Tonali
- Destiny Udogie
- Micky van de Ven
- Jan Paul van Hecke
- Luca Williams-Barnett
- Yang Min-Hyeok
Mohamed Kudus, Xavi Simons, Dejan Kulusevski and Wilson Odobert will remain at Hotspur Way to continue their rehabilitation, while Guglielmo Vicario has sustained a minor knock in training and will undergo treatment at our Training Centre.
Rodrigo Bentancur and Pape Matar Sarr have been granted extended leave following their appearances at the World Cup, while Pedro Porro, Marcos Senesi, Cristian Romero and Djed Spence will also not travel having reached the latter stages of this summer’s tournament.
There you have it. There are some names we’ll be watching consistently all season long, some newcomers like Andy Robertson, Jan Paul van Hecke, Mateus Fernandes, and Sandro Tonali, and promising youth that may or may not see the pitch like Luca Williams-Barnett, Tyler Tingey, Reiss Russell-Denny, and both Tye and Tyrese Hall. And hopefully we get a decent look at Mikey Moore, Yang Min-hyeok, Mason Melia, and Dane Scarlett.
Almost more interesting is who’s NOT on the plane. Xavi, Dejan, Wilson are all not surprises as they continue their rehab that will certainly take months yet. Mohamed Kudus is more concerning — if he’s not yet ready to go it’s a disappointing data point as to his rehabilitation after he suffered a setback in his recovery last spring. And it’s curious that Rodrigo Bentancur is getting more rehab time post World Cup than Jan Paul van Hecke, though that extra time might be tied to his long-term injury as well and age.
It’s also not surprising to see the players that went late into the World Cup get an extended breather — they earned it. Pedro Porro, Marcos Senesi, Cuti Romero, and Djed Spence will all get a rest and will presumably return to the first team squad in a couple weeks (assuming they don’t get sold as rumored for Romero and Spence).
Also notably missing (and unmentioned) is promising youth player Ju’nai Byfield; there were earlier reports he was dealing with an injury but it would’ve been nice to see him get a run out Down Under.
