Antonio Conte has berated the injury problems that Lucas Moura is enduring at Tottenham Hotspur, admitting it’s almost like he’s not even part of his squad anymore.
The former Paris Saint-Germain winger hasn’t started a Premier League outing for Spurs this season.
Much of this is because Dejan Kulusevski has been in rip-roaring form for Tottenham, but it’s also because the Brazil international hasn’t been available.
Lucas has been ruled out for the Boxing Day clash away to Brentford.
And Conte has conceded it is a ‘pity’ that such a good player is unavailable so often, claiming it’s hard to even consider him part of the squad these days.
He told a pre-match press conference via Football London: “It’s like you don’t have him. About Lucas Moura, we didn’t have him from the start of the season. And we are continuing to not have him.
“He has this problem, he is struggling a lot to find a solution. For sure it’s a difficult situation. Because I have a good player in my squad, but he’s never available.”
Who can forget Lucas’ Champions League hat-trick in the semi-final of the competition, as he single-handedly fired Mauricio Pochettino’s side to the final against Ajax?
The South American, a £25 million signing in 2018 [Goal], is undeniably a quality player but Conte is right in saying that it’s growing increasingly difficult to rely on him.
