RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesAUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - JULY 26: Mateus Fernandes of Tottenham Hotspur during the pre-season friendly match between Auckland FC and Tottenham Hotspur at Eden Park on July 26, 2026 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images) | Getty Images
If you were on social media today you probably saw the frantic posts from Spurs fans various and sundry that suggested that new signing Mateus Fernandes had done his knee. This rumor originated when training videos emerged today from the club in Australia ahead of tonight’s (tomorrow’s? time zones are weird and Spurs are literally on the other side of the world) preseason friendly against Sydney FC, and Fernandes was not spotted in any of them.
That led to enterprising Spurs fans first freaking the FUCK out about Fernandes possibly being injured, then surmising that he had somehow torn his ACL, and then Zaprudering every frame of every training video they could find to try and spot him and assuage irrational fears. You can understand the terror, of course — after the last two seasons were injury crisis after injury crisis, what Spurs fan wouldn’t instantly assume the worst?
Well, I’m here to tell you that Mateus Fernandes is fine. And if you don’t believe me, believe Alasdair Gold , who woke up to a collective freakout in Sydney and is here to calm us down.
However, football.london understands that while at this point Fernandes is unlikely to start Tottenham’s latest pre-season friendly in Australia against Sydney FC on Wednesday, the midfielder is not injured. Instead it is because head coach Roberto De Zerbi has been pushing the players hard in training, especially those who returned earlier to pre-season, and various players’ time in sessions and matches is being monitored and managed based on a variety of factors such as fatigue, little niggles, illness or even jet lag.
— Alasdair Gold, football.london
There. It’s fine! Everything’s fine. No, not “cartoon-dog-sitting-in-a-burning-building” fine, ACTUALLY fine. He’s good. He’s just being rested, and that’s okay.
I’d expect a few more senior players to be involved in the Sydney match than in the previous two friendlies, but still with a ton of rotation. De Zerbi is pushing the players in training, but is not going to push them too hard in matches yet, and the rotation will give him the opportunity to evaluate some of the fringe and youth players that went along on the tour.
So no, Mateus Fernandes is not injured. But don’t worry, I’m sure there will be some kind of injury crisis at some point this season. This is Tottenham Hotspur, after all.
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