Yves Bissouma has had to bide his time since joining Tottenham Hotspur. The midfielder was a £25million signing from Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer, adding extra strength in depth to Antonio Conte's midfield.
Conte has started the season playing his usual 3-4-3 formation, with two holding midfielders and up until Wednesday night's game with West Ham United, the chosen two were Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur. However, after Bentancur sustained a concussion against Wolves last weekend, he was not risked against the Hammers, giving Bissouma his first start in a Tottenham shirt.
Bissouma struggled against the Hammers, though, with an early yellow card for smashing the ball on the floor in anger at a refereeing decision leaving him walking a tightrope. His full debut will not have been what he was hoping for and with Bentancur recovering from his concussion, he could have a wait for another opportunity in the Spurs first XI.
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There is undoubted quality in there, with Bissouma earning rave reviews while wearing a Brighton shirt. But for now, Hojbjerg and Bentancur seems to be Conte's first choice pairing for the midfield two.
And Conte made a frank and honest admission about Bissouma during his pre-match press conference ahead of the Fulham game. He said: "He needs to work, go totally into the idea of football.
"He's a step behind Bentancur and Hojbjerg. The same for [Oliver] Skipp working with me all of last season. I'm pleased with what I've seen during the game and we're talking about a player with good skills and who is strong physically with a good engine."
Skipp has been out of action since the middle of last season. He was due to return to action at the start of the new campaign but suffered a freak accident, injuring his heel when landing after an aerial duel in pre-season training. Skipp had been Hojbjerg's partner until then, when Bentancur signed in the January transfer window.
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