Yves Bissouma will stay on at Tottenham at least until January, as a knee injury has scuppered plans to offload the midfielder.

According to Africa Foot, Tottenham have been dealt a blow in their efforts to offload Yves Bissouma while the Turkish and Saudi Arabian windows were open. The latter is still open, but a knee injury to the Malian midfielder has halted plans to sell him as he will stay on at least until January.

The Yves Bissouma saga began in pre-season when new boss Thomas Frank left the midfielder out of the squad for a game owing to disciplinary problems. The former Brentford boss stated that the infraction was not the latest since he took over at Tottenham, which probably gave the picture that the midfielder came late far too often.

While the season has begun spectacularly, Frank does not plan on integrating Bissouma into his plans, as the midfielder sought regular game time either at the club or elsewhere. Hence, one might assume he was ready to leave Tottenham one way or another, but there have been a few complications.

For instance, Fenerbahce were eager to sign him, and after advancing in talks, the Turkish giants pulled out of a deal. At the time, the reason remained under wraps, but now it is clear that Bissouma has a knee injury that may have put the brakes on a potential transfer.

The Turkish window was open until this week, while the Saudi Arabian market will remain open till September 23. Hence, Spurs may have harboured hopes to offload him, while they were also ready to facilitate a loan move if that helped them to get the player off the books.

A double blow for Tottenham in the Yves Bissouma saga

Not only are Spurs not able to sell Yves Bissouma this month, they are now set to keep paying the player at least until January. Bissouma is expected to stay at the club until January, and he reportedly prefers to stay in England while being open to playing for another Premier League side. Chelsea, West Ham and Newcastle United considered a move, but the veracity of those rumours will need to be verified.

Teams like West Ham were looking at midfield reinforcements and were indeed linked with Bissouma, while Newcastle United also explored the market for a player in the role. Bissouma brings about a level of experience probably missing from the Hammers. As for Chelsea, there are considerable doubts given he is a Spurs player as well as well over the age group the Blues prefer to sign players in.

In what represents another blow, Tottenham did not want to see the 28-year-old at another rival within the Premier League. However, he is now widely expected to explore opportunities in England when the January window opens, which also brings about the possibility of him staying on until next summer, when he could leave on a free transfer.