A 21-year-old star, who has been heavily involved in Tottenham’s pre-season programme, has fallen victim to a serious injury.Of the 35-man Tottenham squad that travelled to New Zealand and Australia, a huge contingent was made up of academy youngsters, many of whom have not made a single competitive first-team appearance.The last few weeks have allowed Roberto De Zerbi and his coaching staff to closely observe many of these youngsters for the first time.The majority of the young guns got plenty of minutes across the club’s friendlies over the summer, with some of them catching the eye of the Tottenham head coach.Credit: @gragrapix / InstagramTottenham starlet Rio Kyerematen suffers serious injury21-year-old Rio Kyerematen was one of the players who saw his stock rise the most across pre-season, having featured in all four of the club’s friendly matches so far.However, John Wenham, who breaks news about the Tottenham Hotspur academy on his social media platform, Lilywhite Rose, has now revealed that the midfielder is expected to be sidelined for a while after suffering a hamstring injury.What makes the news particularly disappointing is that Wenham also revealed that Kyerematen had impressed De Zerbi and his staff across pre-season.Wenham wrote on X: “Understand Rio Kyerematen has suffered a hamstring injury and will be out for a while. Rio had an outstanding pre-season with the first-team and has impressed Roberto De Zerbi and the first-team coaching staff. Speedy recovery Rio.”🚨EXCL: Understand Rio Kyerematen has suffered a hamstring injury and will be out for a while. Rio had an outstanding pre-season with the first-team and has impressed Roberto De Zerbi and the first team coaching staff. Speedy recovery Rio 🤍 pic.twitter.com/ymwmQHsot6— Lilywhite Rose (@Lilywhite_Rose) August 5, 2026Why this vindicates De Zerbi’s decision not to risk some senior playersDe Zerbi repeatedly explained that he did not want to risk playing some Tottenham players in pre-season, given the fatigue and jet lag involved in flying halfway around the world.Many Spurs players have not featured at all in any of the four friendlies so far, as they remain wrapped in cotton wool.While the injury to Kyerematen is unfortunate, it explains De Zerbi’s concerns were correct, and it would have been a much bigger blow if someone like Mateus Fernandes or Destiny Udogie had gone down with a serious injury.READ MORE: Tottenham fans left emotional at latest Dejan Kulusevski and Mo Kudus training videoThe post Tottenham midfielder who impressed De Zerbi in pre-season suffers major injury appeared first on Spurs Web.