Tottenham forward facing month out after returning from World Cup with injury

Tottenham fear that striker Richarlison could be sidelined for four weeks after returning from the World Cup with an injury.

Richarlison was one of Brazil’s top performers during the tournament but had a difficult performance in the quarter-final defeat to Croatia, playing 84 minutes despite appearing to injure his hamstring in the warm-up.

Tottenham rushed Richarlison back for scans on the injury and the Evening Standard note that there are fears the Brazil international could be out of action for around a month.

The club are awaiting the results of scans but there are significant concerns that he will not be available to hand a rest to England’s Harry Kane.

Kane, who missed a crucial penalty as England fell to France in their own quarter-final, started each of the Three Lions’ five games and it was expected that he would rotate with Richarlison in the early weeks of the second half of the season.

However, should Richarlison be forced onto the sidelines, Antonio Conte would have few options other than to play Kane.

Attacking injury woes are nothing new to Conte, who had to cope without Richarlison before the World Cup alongside Sweden international Dejan Kulusevski, who bagged two assists in two games after returning from a thigh problem.

Kane is due back in England on Monday while Son Heung-min is expected to return imminently, giving Conte a closer look at the options available to him as Tottenham prepare to get their season back underway.