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The first international break of the 2025/26 season is underway. We may only be three games into the Premier League season but domestic football is now on pause until it resumes on Saturday, September 13.
Tottenham travel to West Ham for a 5.30pm kick-off upon their return to action as they attempt to make it three wins from their first four league fixtures under Thomas Frank. All eyes will be on the London Stadium as new signings Xavi Simons and Randal Kolo Muani could be in line to make their debuts for Tottenham.
Ahead of his Spurs bow, Simons is now away on international duty with the Netherlands. The attacking midfielder, along with new club teammate Micky van de Ven, faces Poland and Lithuania in World Cup qualifiers.
Kolo Muani, on the other hand, is not part of Didier Deschamps' France squad for their games against Ukraine and Iceland. That in turn will give the player an opportunity to get down to work at Hotspur Way ahead of the West Ham fixture.
The vast majority of Frank's Tottenham squad have jetted off across the globe to play for their respective nations during the international break. However, some will be remaining behind at the club's training base after not getting the nod from their country.
Radu Dragusin, as expected, has not received a call-up for Romania duty as he works his way back to fitness from a long-term ACL injury. Frank mentioned ahead of last weekend's game against Bournemouth that the centre-back would be rejoining the team in training in seven to ten days, thus giving the centre-back a bit more time to top up his levels before linking up with his teammates again.
Kota Takai is one player who will be involved with the squad again following a plantar fascia foot problem. The Japan international, who is not in the national team squad for September's games, is to return to training this week, as mentioned by Frank in his press conference last Friday.
Dominic Solanke will also have a period of time to work on his fitness as he looks to return from an ankle issue ASAP. Frank is hopeful his striker will be back after the international break, with football.london reporting on Monday that the player has had an injection in his ankle to help settle it down.
Destiny Udogie did return off the bench in the Bournemouth defeat and he now has the chance to increase his fitness levels prior to his teammates returning from international duty as he is not part of the Italy squad. Others to miss out on call-ups include Antonin Kinsky, Brandon Austin, Yves Bissouma and Dane Scarlett.
There is also James Maddison, who faces spending the vast majority of the season on the sidelines due to the ACL injury he sustained in the pre-season friendly against Newcastle United. Dejan Kulusevski looks set to return from his knee injury at the end of 2025 but for the meantime he is with the Sweden national team as he wants to be with the squad to provide leadership and support for their World Cup qualifiers against Slovenia and Kosovo.
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