Tottenham fans were worried Mateus Fernandes had suffered an injury after the 22-year-old was completely absent from the club’s recent training images and videos.

Fernandes had an exceptional international break for Portugal’s U21 side, but it did not come as a surprise when he was left out of Tottenham’s starting eleven at Old Trafford.

Roberto De Zerbi prioritised starting players who were not away on international duty, with the likes of Marcos Senesi, Destiny Udogie, Mohammed Kudus and Dominic Solanke getting the nod.

Fernandes came on in the 89th minute in the game, but he has subsequently not been spotted in training, which has left Spurs fans alarmed.

Tottenham star Mateus Fernandes is not injured

Spurs posted videos and images of the team training in Hotspur Way earlier this week before flying out to Marbella for their pre-season training camp.

However, Fernandes was not spotted anywhere – not in the warm-ups, rondos, or the five-a-side games.

That raised concerns that the former West Ham man had picked up an injury, but those rumours have been dispelled with the midfielder’s latest social media post.

Fernandes took to social media to reveal that he has become a father for the first time, which likely explains his absence from training.

The Tottenham man posted two images to his Instagram story on Thursday evening, with the first one welcoming his newborn son home with his partner, with the caption: “Welcome Goncalo”, and the second photo was of Fernandes holding his son.

It thus appears that the £85m summer signing has been given some time off training to spend time with his wife and newborn

Fernandes could get an opportunity in his preferred central midfield role

At the start of the season, many assumed that Fernandes and Tonali would be De Zerbi’s preferred double-pivot, but the Spurs boss has hardly used the pair together in central midfield.

Fernandes has operated a few times in the number 10 role, but he may now finally get an opportunity to impress in the role where he made his name at West Ham.

With Rodrigo Bentancur suspended for three matches following his red card against Man United, De Zerbi could hand the Portuguese star an opportunity to show he deserves to be a regular starter in midfield.