‘You never know’ - Tottenham manager Antonio Conte breaks silence on Yves Bissouma blow

Tottenham are hopefuly that Yves Bissouma will return for the final stages of the season following his ankle injury.

The Malian midfielder had to undergo surgery for an ankle twist and missed the  Champions League trip to San Siro on Tuesday night.

It’s been a frustrating start to life for the former Brighton and Hove Albion man as he’s not really established himself as the dominating midfielder he was at the Amex.

Bissouma built a reputation for himself as one of the Premier League’s best midfielders with accurate short passes and intelligent use of space, but his big-money move to Spurs has produced eight Premier League starts and 11 substitute appearances.

He’s had no assists or goals yet and even though his passing accuracy is still above 90%, there is a feeling that the injury to Rodrigo Bentancur could have been the perfect opportunity for him to have a consistent run in the team.

Instead, manager Antonio Conte confirmed it was hard to put a time scale on when he could be back due to the delicate nature of the injury he’s carrying.

Conte told the press after the 1-0 defeat to Milan at the San Siro: “About Bissouma he has a stress fracture in his ankle and when this type of situation happens you never know how long a time he needs to recover.

“In my mind, at this moment, is to consider three midfielders, to have this type of performance from Skippy and Pape Sarr makes me happy because I have seen a lot of improvement in these players and it means we are working very well with them.

“It means they are improving and for sure they will be the future for Tottenham but at the same time they will be the present.”

Spurs will hope they avoid a third straight defeat on the spin when they host West Ham United in the league this weekend.