Tottenham players will soon be back at Hotspur Way to begin their preparations for the FA Cup fourth round clash against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Given a few days off by Antonio Conte as a reward for their fantastic win at Leicester City one week ago, a number of the squad have jetted off across the globe for a mini break with the first international break of the year now underway.
Lucas Moura and Pierluigi Gollini have uploaded images from their trip to Dubai to their Instagram accounts so far this week, with Bryan Gil returning to his homeland of Spain and Cristian Romero in Paris.
This week's round of South America World Cup qualifiers have come too soon for Romero to feature for Argentina after not playing since sustaining a hamstring injury against Brazil in the final international break of 2021.
The summer signing has been working his way back to fitness over the past month and has been on the training pitch recently for Tottenham, thus handing Conte a huge boost ahead of their remaining 18 league games.
“I am pleased because I am seeing now he is almost 100 per cent fit and he is very, very close to coming back and for sure after the international break he is available to play and help us,” he said on Romero ahead of last Sunday's game against Chelsea.
“We are talking about another important player for us.”
Making a real name for himself in the Tottenham team under Nuno Espirito Santo before the managerial change in November, the 23-year-old only featured in two Spurs matches for Conte against Vitesse and Everton before sustaining his hamstring injury.
Missing out in the team's last 14 fixtures in all competitions, Romero could potentially make his long-awaited comeback when Brighton & Hove Albion make the trip to the capital next Saturday.
Prior to then, however, Conte will have the opportunity to work with his first-choice backline for a good amount of time on the training pitch at Hotspur Way, something he has not had the chance to do since his first week at the club.
As only South America and Asia World Cup qualifiers are on the agenda this month as well the Africa Cup of Nations, the vast majority of the Spurs squad are not on international duty, including Romero's fellow defenders Eric Dier and Ben Davies.
Although Davinson Sanchez has played well in the right centre-back role recently, the ex-Atalanta man is expected to come straight back in and regain the position which allows him to push forward regularly.
A host of injuries have seen Conte's backline change in recent weeks but he will now have the time to work with Romero, Dier and Davies on a consistent basis and get his plans across to the trio.
The Italian head coach has already made huge strides on the training pitch with his team but Romero has unfortunately missed a large chunk of those sessions due to his spell in the treatment room.
Already tipped to become one of the best defenders in the world at the tender age of 23, Conte's experience in the game only bodes well for the Argentine and he could help take his game to a whole new level.
There has been a big improvement defensively from Tottenham since Conte's introduction and their work at the back will prove key in the final few months of the season as they eye up a Champions League place.
As important as a few new signings would be to help reshape the head coach's squad and get them over the line in the race for the top four, the return of Romero could also be a gamechanger.
Only working with his first-choice backline for a handful of days before they went separate ways for November's international break, Conte finally has the opportunity to do the one thing he has waited for since his first week in the hotseat.
