Tottenham Hotspur are likely to be without new winter signing Rodrigo Bentancur today...

What's the latest?

That's according to the Evening Standard's Dan Kilpatrick, who revealed that a work permit for the Uruguay international isn't likely to arrive in time for the 24-year-old to feature against Brighton and Hove Albion in the FA Cup fourth round.

He needed to be in the country to be granted a work permit in time and he didn't arrive back from international duty until late on Thursday, meaning he hasn't been able to train with his new squad and is unlikely to be involved on Saturday night.

Fellow signing Dejan Kulusevski arrived in the country on Sunday and played a part in Thursday's training session.

Bitter blow

This will be a gutting blow to Conte as he surely would've loved to unleash his new star this evening, even more so given the lack of options now available at his disposal.

Bentancur cost an initial £15.9m from Juventus on deadline day and is expected to challenge for a spot in the starting XI from the minute he's available.

The north London outfit sanctioned the loan departures of Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso, as well as the permanent exit of Dele Alli on the very same day, leaving the Italian with less than a handful of engine room choices.

In the Uruguayan, Conte is getting a solid box-to-box option who is capable of contributing at either end of the pitch.

"Bentancur is a complete midfielder, box-to-box, and he's a player who's really reliable," claimed sporting director Fabio Paratici to the club's official website earlier this week.

Meanwhile, The Athletic's Serie A expert James Horncastle has also waxed lyrical about the midfielder. He said:

"He’ll do a lot of the dirty work that will allow Spurs’ flair players to do their best work, and certainly having a lot of blue-collar players in the Conte team - he's always valued players like that."

Indeed, he has proven to be a durable and reliable option in Italy. No player at Juventus had managed more interceptions (73) and tackles (95) combined (168) than him since the start of the 2020/21 season.

Conte would surely have loved to unleash him today, so Kilpatrick's news will leave him and many around the club gutted.

AND in other news, Alasdair Gold drops intriguing claim about Spurs' summer transfer plans...