Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has conceded that soon-to-be free agent Ivan Perisic may have played his final game for the club due to his devastating anterior cruciate ligament injury.
The Croatia international featured as a substitute in Spurs' first five Premier League games of the 2023-24 season under Postecoglou, as well as starting and providing an assist in a 2-1 EFL Cup loss to Fulham.
However, after also setting up Richarlison's equaliser in Tottenham's enthralling 2-1 comeback success over Sheffield United on September 16, Perisic became the latest high-profile victim of an ACL problem sustained in training.
The 34-year-old immediately underwent surgery, but it was feared that he would miss the rest of the season, potentially bringing an unfortunate end to his Tottenham career ahead of his contract expiry in the summer.
Perisic has supposedly not given up hope of representing Croatia at Euro 2024, and speaking ahead of Friday's FA Cup third-round encounter with Burnley, Postecoglou was asked whether the winger had a chance of recovering in time for the end of the season.
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However, the Australian was pessimistic about the 34-year-old's chances of playing for Tottenham again before the campaign draws to a close, suggesting that he will not be seen in the Lilywhites kit again.
"No, he's working hard to be fair to Ivan. He's obviously got some national team commitments he wants to get back to as soon as possible," the Evening Standard quotes Postecoglou as saying.
"Again, he's been a significant loss for us. I thought this year he was going to be a really significant contributor because of his experience and we saw that in the first few games because of the way he impacted games. But yeah, he won't ... he's unlikely to play for us again."
Unless Perisic is offered an unexpected contract extension at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the versatile midfielder seems destined to depart the North London giants two years after joining on a free transfer from Inter Milan.
Perisic's switch to the Premier League saw him reunite with Antonio Conte following their successful time together at Inter Milan, and he established himself as a crucial player for Tottenham in the Italian's 3-4-3 system.
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Largely operating as a left wing-back, Perisic scored one goal and set up 12 more in 44 matches for Tottenham during his debut campaign, providing more assists than any other Spurs player.
Having also set up his teammates twice this term before entering the treatment room, Perisic's total for Tottenham stands at one goal and 14 assists from a half-century of appearances, and Hajduk Split Mindaugas Nikolicius recently confirmed that he would be interested in bringing the Croatian back to his homeland.
Speaking to SportSport, Nikolicius said: "Ivan is hurt, it's too early. We have to see when he will recover, when he will be able to run and play. The transfer window here lasts until the middle of February and that is an advantage for us. There is a dialogue with Tottenham and we will make the best decision for everyone."
Perisic is one of nine Tottenham players missing for Friday's FA Cup clash alongside Africa Cup of Nations pair Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr, Asian Cup representative Son Heung-min, James Maddison (ankle), Manor Solomon (knee), Ryan Sessegnon (thigh), Alejo Veliz (knee) and Cristian Romero (hamstring).
However, Micky van de Ven has resumed full training after a thigh injury and could be in contention to make his comeback against the Clarets, while Dejan Kulusevski is available again after a one-game ban.
Ben Knapton
