Sky: Spurs to look at short-term loans to alleviate midfield injury crisis

Tottenham Hotspur are in something of an injury crisis at the moment, especially in midfield. Tanguy Ndombele is out injured again for an indefinite amount of time after tweaking his groin in Spurs’ loss at Southampton. Then, Spurs announced yesterday that 30-year old utility midfielder Moussa Sissoko has undergone knee surgery and will be out until April at the earliest.

That’s not great! While we’re not sure how long Tanguy will be out this time, it leaves Spurs with a central midfield stable of Eric Dier, Harry Winks, Christian Eriksen, Oliver Skipp, and possibly players like Giovani Lo Celso and Victor Wanyama.

Thankfully, the January transfer window is now open, and while Spurs probably aren’t going to make a huge splash in the window, Sky Sports understands that Spurs might be looking to fill some gaps in the midfield with players on short term loans.

Lyall Thomas’ report doesn’t actually list any of the loan players that Spurs are supposedly looking at, but it’s still useful information because it gives a little more context of the kinds of players Spurs might consider bringing in. It also makes sense, as the January market is both weird and usually bad value when it comes to permanently purchasing players.

Moreover, this situation may change the immediate futures of a couple of Tottenham’s current players — Oliver Skipp has been linked somewhat loosely with a potential loan, but if Spurs need bodies in central midfield maybe something like that doesn’t happen anymore.

Edit: It wasn’t my imagination! According to The Athletic, Skipp was likely set for a loan in January, but that doesn’t look like it’s happening now.

So start speculating — what want-away, disgruntled or aging central midfielders near the ends of their contracts would be suitable targets for Tottenham as they try and limp to the end of this season? Throw ‘em in the comments, and we’ll see what sticks on the walls.