Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho greets Harry Kane as he leaves the pitch at St. Mary's Stadium in Southampton, U.K., on Jan. 1, 2020.IAN WALTON/Reuters
Tottenham striker Harry Kane will be sidelined until April after being advised to undergo surgery on his left hamstring, the Premier League club said Thursday.
Kane ruptured a tendon in his hamstring during a league match against Southampton on Jan. 1.
“The decision to undergo surgery is not expected to impact the timeframe that the England captain will be sidelined,” Tottenham said in a statement, “with the expectation that he will return to training in April.”
The latest injury to Kane leaves Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho short of options up front, with Troy Parrott the only other out-and-out striker in the squad.
Mourinho is likely to use wide forwards Son Heung-min and Lucas Moura as makeshift strikers, with attacking midfielder Dele Alli another option to replace Kane in the central attacking role.
Kane will miss both legs of Tottenham’s last-16 match against Leipzig in the Champions League and likely the quarterfinals, too, should Mourinho’s team advance.
It is also a big blow to Tottenham’s chances of finishing in the top four in the Premier League to secure another season in the Champions League. After 21 of 38 games, Tottenham is in sixth place - six points behind fourth-place Chelsea.