Tottenham suffer fresh blow as Emerson Royal surgery may keep Brazil defender out for season

Tottenham have suffered a fresh blow after it emerged that Emerson Royal is due to have knee surgery.

The right-back was unable to complete Brazil’s 2-1 defeat to Morocco in their international friendly on Saturday.

The news comes as another setback for Tottenham in their pursuit of finishing in the top four in the Premier League to secure a Champions League spot.

Currently, January transfer window signing Pedro Porro is the only other senior Spurs right-back fit to play, though Japhet Tanganga has some appearances for the first team, and has operated at wing-back before.

Another option would have been Djed Spence, signed from Nottingham Forest in the summer, but he has since been loaned to Ligue 1 side Rennes, and in the same window that Porro arrived, Matt Doherty was allowed to leave to join Atletico Madrid.

Davies’ injury should take five weeks to recover from, and Ryan Sessegnon is out, leaving Croatian wide man Ivan Perisic as the only option on the left of defence. Rodrigo Bentancur is out for the season with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament injury, and Yves Bissouma is recovering from surgery on an ankle problem.

However, there is some positive news for the club as goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris is due to return to first-team action after the conclusion of the international break.

The French veteran played behind closed doors in a friendly against Ipswich last week.