James Maddison will not be part of the England squad for their upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers following confirmation from Tottenham on Friday morning. Sustaining an ankle injury in Monday's 4-1 defeat against Chelsea but selected by Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate for the Malta and North Macedonia games, the attacking midfielder was only in the squad a matter of hours.

A statement from Tottenham on Friday read: "We can confirm that James Maddison has been withdrawn from the England squad due to an ankle injury. The midfielder will not feature in the Three Lions' UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia, and will remain at Hotspur Way for rehabilitation with the club's medical staff."

Perhaps no shock to Tottenham fans, the injury update on the player means that Ange Postecoglou will have to find a replacement for Maddison ahead of this weekend's Premier League clash at Wolves. The 58-year-old does have a couple of options to choose from, most notably Giovani Lo Celso and Rodrigo Bentancur.

The former is perhaps the more suited to taking on Maddison's role and he himself will have his fingers crossed that he is the one selected after such a frustrating campaign to date. Wowing for Tottenham in pre-season and certainly one of the team's best players in the summer upon his return from 18 months with Villarreal, a combination of Maddison's form and injury has restricted him to only 24 minutes across two Premier League appearances.

Appearing to be Maddison's alternative in the squad, Lo Celso will be desperately unlucky if not selected in the Tottenham XI at Wolves. If he isn't, Bentancur could be the player that comes in and is tasked with linking up midfield and attack.

Returning to the pitch at Crystal Palace two weeks ago after recovering from the long-term ACL injury he sustained in February, the Uruguayan has topped up his fitness in the past two games and could possibly now be a candidate to come in from the off. However, Postecoglou and his Spurs coaching team need to decide whether that is a viable option just yet as they cannot afford to push him too much too soon and then he finds himself back on the sidelines.

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Appearing to be a straight shootout between the duo to take on Maddison's role, Postecoglou does have a wildcard he could choose to unleash in the West Midlands. That wildcard is moving Dejan Kulusevski from his role on the right into a central position.

The Swede is no stranger to the role having played there earlier in his career and also towards the end of last season, with his showing against Brentford certainly one of his strongest of the term. Mentioning in the summer of 2022 that he sees his best position as the No.10 role, Tottenham fans have seen very little of the youngster operating centrally as he has always played from the right since his move from Juventus.

Playing as one of the forward-thinking midfielders in a midfield three when coming through the system at Atalanta, the Stockholm-born player's numbers were incredibly impressive. As per Transfermarkt, Kulusevski has 31 goals and 23 assists to his name when playing as a central midfielder during his career.

A player who is very good on the ball and someone who boasts excellent vision and an eye for a killer pass, the 23-year-old has all the qualities to be a big hit playing as an attacking midfielder for Postecoglou if he chooses to select him there. If that is indeed to be the case at Wolves in Saturday's early kick-off, Bryan Gil could be the player to come in for Kulusevski on the wing and start his first game of the season.

With Richarlison now on the sidelines and set to return to training in the coming weeks after undergoing groin surgery on Thursday, Postecoglou and Tottenham do not have a lot of attacking options as things stand following a spate of injuries. Already losing Ivan Perisic and Manor Solomon to ACL and knee injuries respectively earlier in the season, Spurs' attacking options are extremely light after Richarlison became the latest player to join the casualty list.

The hope will be that Maddison does not find himself in the treatment room for the foreseeable, with Postecoglou set to give an update on the 26-year-old when he holds his pre-match press conference at Hotspur Way on Friday afternoon. Having three very good options to select from when it comes to Maddison's replacement at Wolves, it is now down to Postecoglou and his coaching staff to make their final decision.