Bayern´s Goretzka to miss Tottenham trip, Kovac confirms

Niko Kovac says Leon Goretzka will not recover from a thigh injury in time to play against Tottenham in the Champions League next week.

The Bayern Munich midfielder had surgery earlier this month after he aggravated an existing issue while on Germany duty.

Bayern initially gave no timescale for Goretzka’s recovery but Kovac does not expect his return to be imminent, though there is better news on left-back David Alaba.

“David Alaba has trained today, it looks good,” Kovac told reporters ahead of Saturday’s Bundesliga trip to bottom side Paderborn.

“Let’s see how it develops tomorrow [Friday] with him. Leon Goretzka still takes a bit longer.

“I expect [he will return] only after the international break.”

#Kovač on #SCPFCB: “I want my players to take this game seriously, as every opponent will give at least 100% against us, which means we also have to give 100% too.”#packmas #FCBayern pic.twitter.com/K42FSMRYw3

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) September 26, 2019

Jann-Fiete Arp is yet to make his Bundesliga debut for Bayern after joining from Hamburg and the striker’s wait will continue after he broke a bone in his hand during training.

“We will have to wait on what the doctors say before we can determine when he will return to full training again,” Kovac added of the 19-year-old.

“It is difficult. You have to be careful that the bone grows together again. Shocks and jolts could complicate things, so we need to see what the doctors say so we know when to train again.

“Fiete has gotten the time from us and will continue to get it. We try to make him better every day in training, but you cannot expect too much from him.

“He may have been hyped up a bit too much at a young age, you have to be patient with him.”