After Foyth injury, Spurs considering Napoli right back Hysaj

One of Tottenham Hotspur’s potential options at right back went down last week in what looked like a pretty serious injury. Juan Foyth was stretchered off the pitch during Spurs’ Audi Cup championship win over Bayern Munich with what looked like a non-contact injury to his hamstring, but what Mauricio Pochettino called an ankle injury.

“No because I need to talk with the doctor now. He twisted his ankle but at the moment I cannot update. I saw when he was leaving the pitch and he said to me it was his ankle and it was very painful. I don’t know but for sure we will get an update in the next few hours or few days.”

Whether it’s ankle or hamstring, it does appear to be pretty serious, and could quite possibly keep him out of Tottenham’s side for weeks or even longer. Spurs are being super cagy about the true status of Foyth’s injury and how much time he might miss. And that’s prompted the media to start speculating that, despite already carrying two other right backs on its roster, Spurs might be ready to make a transfer move for a new fullback.

According to Sky Sports, Spurs are now once again considering a bid for 25-year old Napoli fullback Elseid Hysaj. Spurs reportedly had him, and 29-year old Marseille right back Hiroki Sakai, on a list of potential replacements for Kieran Trippier, whom Spurs sold to Atletico Madrid earlier this window.

Hysaj is an Albanian international whose game is actually somewhat similar to Trippier, in that he plays a possession game with progressive passing. That makes it really interesting that Trips was linked for a long time to Napoli before finalizing his Atletico move. A move for Hysaj would make sense if Spurs are really looking to reinforce their fullback ranks. He’s a pretty decent player.

If Spurs are serious about looking at Hysaj it implies that Poch really, REALLY doesn’t like something about his remaining options at the position, Kyle Walker-Peters and Serge Aurier. Spurs have reportedly been unsuccessfully trying to offload Aurier this summer, though Aurier, for what it’s worth, has only recently returned to training after picking up an injury at the African Cup of Nations this summer by banging his hand on a table. Walker-Peters has been decent in his preseason appearances for Spurs, but he hasn’t exactly set the world on fire.

And if Spurs have, say, £20m to throw at a Napoli fullback, it raises a host of other questions. Those include why they’re not throwing that money at players like Giovani Lo Celso and/or Ryan Sessegnon. But again, we’re not privy to the financial details at the club.

This is a Sky report saying Spurs are “considering” moving for Hysaj, which is the textbook definition of a speculative transfer rumor. There’s not a lot of HERE here, but it does potentially cast a troubling light on what Spurs really think of their right back options in a world without Juan Foyth.