There are fears Harry Kane may not play again this season following words of caution from a top injury specialist.
Kane limped out of Tottenham’s 1-0 loss at Southampton on New Year’s Day after rupturing a hamstring tendon, which required surgery.
Initial reports suggested the 26-year-old would likely return in time to take part in the Premier League run-in, with The Guardian claiming that Tottenham had only ruled their No.10 out until April.
However, Dr Chris Wilson has suggested that April could be an optimistic and possibly unrealistic return date.
Wilson has not been directly involved in Kane’s treatment. However, according to the Press Association (cited by the Daily Mail), he is one of Britain’s prominent doctors in the procedure undertaken by the striker in hospital earlier this month, having performed the same operation on 75 occasions.
And Wilson has been quoted by the PA as saying: “I would expect it to be six months before he could return to action.
“There is a big range of opinion because it is such an uncommon procedure and some surgeons may say quicker.
“If the repair was good and sound, the first six weeks he will be nursing the repair and doing very little.
“Six to 12 weeks, providing everything was OK, he will be doing basic strengthening exercises.
“At three months you would start a normal hamstring rehabilitation that you would do if you got a tear in the middle of the muscle.
“If I was talking to a top-level footballer I would want to manage their expectations and say I wouldn’t anticipate them being fit and playing normally in a game for six months following the surgery.
“If it was me I would say aim for getting fit for pre-season training. I am aware in Harry Kane’s case they have been saying April or May – I have to say I would be very surprised.”
Kane’s injury news is not only a hot topic for Spurs fans but also supporters of the England national team.
Many bookmakers make England favourites to win Euro 2020 this summer, but that could well change if their captain and chief goal-getter is unable to play.
England have other options, namely Tammy Abraham and Marcus Rashford – both of whom have scored more Premier League goals than Kane this season.
Kane has only netted 11 times in the league this term, but he is still Tottenham’s leading scorer by some distance.
Dele Alli (6), Son Heung-min (5) and Lucas Moura (4) will all likely need to reach double figures if Spurs are to have any chance of ending the campaign in the top four.