Tottenham Faces Brentford Without Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro
Tottenham travel to Brentford on Saturday without one of their defensive pillars, as Roberto De Zerbi confirmed Micky van de Ven will miss the Premier League opener at the G-Tech Stadium.
The Dutch centre-back has not played a single minute in pre-season and has been absent from training pictures, and De Zerbi drew a firm line under any hope of a late surprise.
“Micky is not on the list tomorrow like Pedro Porro,” the Spurs head coach said in his pre-match press conference.
Van de Ven out, Porro missing, Sarr sidelined
Van de Ven’s absence stems from an issue picked up during Tottenham’s pre-season trip to Australia. The problem has not been described as serious, but it has been enough to keep him out of match action and now the first league fixture.
“Today he worked with us, with the group and he is going very well,” De Zerbi explained. “He suffered a problem during the pre-season of Australia, I don’t know if it was the flight, but not a big problem.
“We have Senesi, we have Ben Davies and in the right condition to play the game tomorrow.”
Porro, meanwhile, is also ruled out. The right-back only rejoined training in recent days after winning the World Cup with Spain and will not be rushed straight back into competitive action.
There is better news elsewhere. James Maddison, Dominic Solanke, Destiny Udogie and Mateus Fernandes are all in contention.
“James Maddison is inside, Solanke inside, Udogie, Fernandes also,” De Zerbi said.
Pape Matar Sarr will not feature, though his issue is not expected to linger.
“Sarr not because he felt some pain, but nothing big,” De Zerbi added.
Spurs still hunting in the market
While he juggles early-season absences, De Zerbi is also pushing on with the rebuild. Tottenham have already been aggressive in the window: Mateus Fernandes, Sandro Tonali, Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi, Andy Robertson and Martin Dubravka have all come through the door.
And they are close to another major addition.
Spurs are closing in on a move for Man City winger Savinho, with reports of a £75 million fee plus £10 million in add-ons agreed and a medical to follow before the Brazilian signs a long-term contract.
De Zerbi refused to be drawn on the specifics of that deal.
“It's not right to speak about players until they are official. Just to say I'm very happy,” he said, before making it clear Tottenham’s business is not finished. “We have not finished in the transfer market. It's an important part.
“So far we have brought in some great players, great spirit and great personality. You know better than me you don't win the games with big names and big players, you have to deserve to win the game. To do that we have to reach the level in character, intention and value and style of play.”
For De Zerbi, the message is blunt. The squad is stronger, the names are bigger, but the real work starts at Brentford on Saturday evening, without Van de Ven and Porro, and with no excuses.
