James Maddison was pictured leaving the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on crutches and wearing a protective boot after featuring in Spurs’ 2-0 victory over Manchester United on Saturday night.
The £45million summer signing played 90 minutes on his home debut as Ange Postecoglou’s side claimed the home win.
Spurs overran and, in the words of Gary Neville, outplayed United to clinch their first victory under their new boss.
Pape Matar Sarr scored his first for Tottenham two years after joining the north London team, and a woeful own goal courtesy of Lisandro Martinez sealed all three points for the hosts.
But Spurs fans might will have been concerned to see Maddison, who played a starring role in the win, on crutches as he left the stadium.
Accompanied by someone carrying his bags, the 26-year-old was seen on crutches, and wearing a medical boot.
Losing Maddison would be a huge blow to Spurs and Postecoglou, who are still recovering from the departure of their talismanic striker Harry Kane to Bayern Munich.
But there are reasons for Postecoglou to stay optimistic as the midfielder is reported to have told reporters in the mixed zone that the boot and crutches were just precautionary.
The former Leicester player was involved in a painful-looking collision in the penalty area in the dying minutes of the match.
Although the 2023/24 campaign is still in its opening weeks, a number of top flight clubs have already lost regular starters to injury in their opening matches.
Arsenal will be without their major defensive signing of the summer, Jurrien Timber, after the former Ajax player suffered a potential ACL injury that will require surgery and likely sideline him for at least six months.
Kevin De Bruyne is set to undergo hamstring surgery in Belgium and endure a four-month recovery period after limping off in the 23rd minute against Burnley in Manchester City’s season opener, and new Chelsea captain Reece James picked up an issue with the same muscle in their 1-1 draw against Liverpool last Sunday.
Despite initially being taken off as a precaution, James was later examined more closely, and is likely to be out for a few weeks.