boss could soon have a serious selection dilemma on his hands as Rodrigo Bentancur stepped up his return to action by scoring a screamer in training on Wednesday.
The Uruguay international has not played since tearing his ACL in a 4-1 defeat to Leicester City back in February, but after months of rehabilitation he has now returned to full training.
Postecoglou intends to tread carefully with the 26-year-old given his long spell on the sidelines, but Bentancur is already impressing in training.
In a clip posted on Tottenham’s social media accounts from Wednesday’s training session, the former Juventus midfielder stunned his team-mates with an outrageous hit that soared into the top corner.
The players who did not start in Monday’s win over Fulham were taking part in a shooting drill and had to take one touch to control the ball before unleashing an effort.
Backup goalkeeper Fraser Forster fizzed a half volley at the ankles of Bentancur, who controlled the ball perfectly and in the same motion slammed an effort past what appeared to be number one Guglielmo Vicario.
The rest of the players could hardly contain their excitement at seeing Bentancur nearly burst the back of the net, with Emerson Royal screaming and hugging his team-mate while youngster Alejo Veliz had his hands on his head in disbelief – as did goalkeeper coach Rob Burch.
Although Bentancur is eager to return to the pitch after such a long lay-off, Postecoglou will ease him back slowly – though a return to Premier League action is getting nearer.
‘We’ll be careful with him,’ said the Australian coach last week. ‘He’s now fully training so he’s into the whole session.
‘We’ve drip-fed him into training in the last sort of month and he’s coped pretty well with that. Now he’s in to full training.
‘We’ve got to be mindful that he’s missed a fair bit of football.
‘I think the more he trains with the first-team over the next few weeks, we’ll pick out moment but he’s looking good at training. We’re looking forward to getting him back.’
Bentancur had been in superb form for Spurs prior to his injury, scoring six times in 24 appearances across the Premier League and Champions League last season, and Postecoglou will be keen to get him up to speed before January when Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr are on Africa Cup of Nations duty.
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