‘I understand’: £25m player told Tottenham staff he wasn’t fit to start NLD just 24 hours before kick-off – journalist

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Yves Bissouma told Tottenham Hotspur staff he wasn’t fit to start the north London derby just 24 hours before kick-off, according to Sky Sports journalist Michael Bridge.

Bissouma made the £25 million switch to Spurs from Brighton this summer (BBC) but has only started one game under Antonio Conte.

Football.London reported yesterday that Bissouma may have been handed a start against Arsenal, but had ‘physical problems’.

And now Bridge claims that the 26-year-old actually spoke to Conte’s staff about his muscle fatigue just a day before the game.

Bissouma told tottenham staff he wasn’t fit

Speaking on Sky Sports News, journalist Michael Bridge says Bissouma alerted Conte’s staff that he was suffering with muscle issues.

“Now I understand Bissouma told Conte’s staff he was suffering a bit of muscle fatigue after international duty last Friday,” Bridge said.

“If that formation change did happen, one of [Heung-Min] Son or Richarlison would likely drop to the bench.”

Bissouma has got off to a difficult start to his Tottenham career but put in a promising display from the bench against Leicester City.

The Mali international has found minutes hard to come by, having started just once and making seven appearances as a substitute.

But Conte switched to a 3-5-2 system during the 6-2 win over Leicester and Bissouma looked impressive. The former Seagulls man looked far more comfortable playing in a midfield-three with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur.

It raised the possibility that Conte might stick with the system for the north London derby on Saturday and he even hinted that he could have.

Many Spurs fans were calling for the Italian to stick with the three-man midfield. But now it seems Conte had his reasons for not starting Bissouma on Saturday.