Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt a major injury blow after Ivan Perisic suffered a complex ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury in his right knee.
A club statement said: "The experienced Croatia international sustained the injury in non-contact training and will undergo surgery. Ivan will then commence his rehabilitation with our medical staff and is expected to be sidelined for the remainder of the season."
Perisic's impact for Spurs
It has been a near-perfect start for Spurs this season under Ange Postecoglou, having won four of their first five Premier League matches, and drawn the other.
Their latest victory was a 2-1 win against Sheffield United in which Perisic played a key role in the stunning comeback win.
Coming off the bench in the 80th minute, Perisic supplied the assist for Richarlison's equaliser with an in-swinging corner, before then playing one of the final passes in the build-up to Dejan Kulusevski's winner.
Perisic has been brought on by Postecoglou in every Premier League match this season, showing how vital he is in Spurs' squad.
Since joining Spurs in May 2022, Perisic has played 39 times in the Premier League, starting 23 of those matches and providing nine assists, while also scoring once.
Even though Spurs had a poor season in 2022/23, Perisic was still a key figure in attack.
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Since the start of last season no Spurs player has provided more assists than Perisic, while his 13 big chances created are also more than any other current team-mate.
His 53 chances created rank joint-third of current players, and his 209 crosses are the most, with Son Heung-min the next-closest on 121.
Spurs will hope his absence will not hurt them too much as they prepare for their huge encounter with fierce rivals Arsenal in the north London derby this Sunday.