Tottenham Hotspur reportedly have no plans to part ways with one of their under-performing midfielders in the summer transfer window.
Yves Bissouma was only a peripheral figure during his first campaign at the club under Cristian Stellini, Antonio Conte and Ryan Mason, but his fortunes changed when Ange Postecoglou arrived at the club.
Together with Pape Sarr, another lynchpin who struggled to win over Conte, the pair were cornerstones of Spurs' success in the early stages of the season, where they took 26 points from their opening 10 Premier League games.
However, as Tottenham's fortunes have gone downhill as a team, Bissouma has also experienced a personal decline since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, where he briefly battled Malaria.
The Mali international was dropped for the North London derby defeat to Arsenal last month, while he completed just 57 and 63 minutes respectively in losses to Newcastle United and Chelsea.
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Bissouma 'to survive Tottenham's summer cull
Bissouma made it through the full 90 in the 4-2 loss to Liverpool at the weekend, though, which marked the first time since the 4-0 win over Aston Villa on March 10 that he completed a Premier League game.
The former Brighton & Hove Albion man, who has also been sent off twice this season, is under contract in North London for just another two years, and there has been no talk of an extension.
However, Football Insider claims that Bissouma is not a candidate for the chop this summer, as Postecoglou still believes that he is well-suited to his intense brand of attacking football.
The 27-year-old has now made 55 appearances for Spurs since joining in 2022, including 25 Premier League starts in the 2023-24 campaign, but he is still waiting for his first goal or assist in Tottenham colours.
An indifferent performance against Liverpool saw Bissouma make three tackles, create one chance and complete all four long pass attempts, but he lost nine of his 12 ground duels and committed four fouls.
Which Tottenham midfielders could leave this summer?
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While Bissouma and Sarr will presumably still be donning the Spurs strip next term, Postecoglou could be waving goodbye to another couple of midfielders, namely Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
A stalwart of Conte's system, the Denmark international has been demoted to a bench role under Postecoglou and scored an own goal against Arsenal last month, on what was just his seventh Premier League start of the season.
In addition, Giovani Lo Celso has failed to kick on at Tottenham, despite finding success during his loan spell with Villarreal, and he has been expected to depart the Lilywhites for some time now.
Lo Celso, who has not started a Premier League game since December, only has a contract at Tottenham until 2025, but it has been claimed that the Lilywhites could perform a surprise U-turn and offer him a renewal.
Oliver Skipp's future is the subject of much uncertainty too, as the Englishman has just four Premier League starts to his name this season, although he only signed a new deal until 2027 a couple of years ago.
Ben Knapton
