Tottenham star Rodrigo Bentancur slapped with a seven-game domestic ban by the FA
Things are not going exactly to plan for Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham Hotspur currently in the Premier League.
Spurs have been taking one step forward and three backwards since the start of the 2024/25 season. Ange Postecoglou is unable to bring any kind of stability and consistency with regard to his side’s performances and results.
The Lilywhites suffered humiliation on Sunday as they provided newly promoted Ipswich Town their first win of the season after Postecoglou heavily rotated his squad in the 3-2 Europa League defeat to Galatasaray in Turkey in midweek. After the setback at the weekend, it looks like Tottenham are about to be handed another big blow.
According to transfer insider Paul O Keefe, Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur will be banned for seven domestic games by the FA.
This development comes after the Uruguayan international was charged by the FA in September for allegedly using a racist slur about Spurs teammate and skipper Son Heung-min. The FA confirmed that Rodrigo Bentancur has been charged with an ‘alleged breach of FA rule E3 for misconduct in relation to a media interview’.
Bentancur later apologized on Instagram and said his comments were a “very bad joke”. Son accepted the confession and insisted that his teammate had “made a mistake”. Although the pair had put the incident behind them, the FA conducted their own investigation and decided to charge Spurs’ South American midfielder.
The 27-year-old has had to wait nearly two months to see if the FA will uphold the charge and what kind of ban he will be hit with. If his suspension takes place with immediate effect, Bentancur will miss Tottenham’s Premier League games against Manchester City, Fulham, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Southampton and Liverpool—as well as their Carabao Cup quarter-final tie with Manchester United. As it is a domestic ban, the Uruguayan ace will still be eligible to represent Spurs in the Europa League games against AS Roma and Rangers.
This technically means the next domestic game the central midfielder will be available for Spurs is on Boxing Day against Nottingham Forest. Bentancur featured for Big Ange’s side against Ipswich at the weekend, scoring in the defeat, but that could be his last game for the Lilywhites for over a month.
This comes as a massive blow for Big Ange and Co., just as Bentancur was starting to rediscover the kind of form he showed before his unfortunate ACL injury in 2023. This would put Tottenham’s midfield under serious pressure over the coming months as games are set to come thick and fast. The £75k-per-week maestro has been one of Spurs’ most consistent players of late and he will be a big miss for our side.
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Bentancur’s absence would see Yves Bissouma likely get some regular minutes, or else we may very well summer signing Archie Gray get a run in the first XI in his preferred holding midfielder’s role.
