:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60469695/941602720.jpg.0.jpg)
In the days since Tottenham Hotspur confirmed the 25-man squad that Mauricio Pochettino would take with him to the International Champions Cup in USA, fans have wondered about the status of two of the players that were not selected for the tour.
Vincent Janssen was assumed to be on his way out of the club, as he was closely linked with a return to Fenerbahce after a season-long loan there last season. Josh Onomah was likewise on loan at Aston Villa last year, and was also left off the plan to USA.
However, Mauricio Pochettino has stated that while Janssen has been deemed surplus to requirements at Spurs, Josh Onomah is still part of Pochettino’s plans for the season, and that Joshy’s absence from the USA tour is due to an entirely different reason.
“It’s different personal situations for different players. It’s clear the situation for players like Vincent. But Josh is part of our plans. He’s injured and doing his recovery with Harry Winks. That’s why he’s not here.”
That makes sense! Joshy hadn’t been pictured in any of the training sessions posted by the club the past week or so, nor had he been talked about at all. That led to some wild rumors on social media that he might be part of, say, a player-plus-cash deal for Jack Grealish, for example. But Josh was apparently spotted at Hotspur Way watching Spurs’ U23s in a friendly against Enfield Town, and the prognosis of an injury would make sense. It’s a bummer that he won’t get a full preseason and a chance to impress Poch in the ICC, though.
Another injured player who also didn’t make the trip is Harry Winks, and Poch indicated that while he’s on his way back after having ankle surgery this past spring, he’s not quite ready for match action.
“He [Winks] is doing well after his injury. We’re waiting for the evolution and we hope he can join the group as soon as possible. At the moment he’s out of the group. We need to assess him every day.”
Spurs take on Roma at SDCCU Stadium in San Diego tomorrow night.