Ex-Tottenham star suffers horrific injury in potential blow to fight against relegation

Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Lewis Holtby suffered a gruesome gash to the leg whilst playing for Dutch side NAC Breda.

Holtby started in their away clash at Fortuna Sittard in the Eredivisie on Sunday, but played just 38 minutes.

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Holtby went to chase down a ball and collided with defender Justin Hubner around four yards outside the penalty area.

The three-cap Germany international instantly went down in pain and was seen holding his left leg, with the 35-year-old raising his arm to call for help.

A television camera zoomed in and captured him rolling down his sock, which revealed a nasty-looking laceration on his left leg.

Medical staff rushed onto the pitch to treat Holtby, who was ultimately substituted as a result of his injury.

Mohamed Nassoh was the man who replaced him and scored a crucial goal deep into stoppage time.

He found the target from range to earn NAC Breda a vital point during their battle against relegation from the Dutch top flight.

NAC Breda are in 17th, the first of two relegation spots in the Eredivisie, and two points behind Excelsior with four games remaining.

They next face giants Ajax on April 25, although it remains to be seen if Holtby will be fit enough to play following his injury.

Holtby’s career so far

After graduating from the academy of German club Alemannia Aachen, where he made 35 senior appearances for them, Holtby signed for Schalke in 2009.

He had loan spells at VfL Bochum and Mainz, but hit 13 goals and 18 assists in 79 matches for Schalke, where he won the DFL-Supercup. https://twitter.com/ESPNnl/status/2043286762550686181?s=20

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Such success earned him the big move to Premier League side Spurs, who paid a reported £1.5million for him at the beginning of 2013.

However, he netted just three goals across his two-and-a-half years in north London, which included loans at Fulham and Hamburg.

Holtby completed a permanent move to the latter for around £4.6m and even made history on his return to Germany.

During a 4-1 win over Koln, he netted in the tenth minute of stoppage time to bag the latest ever goal in the Bundesliga.

He later moved back to England by joining Blackburn Rovers in the Championship in 2019.

Holty spent only two seasons at Ewood Park ahead of a four-year spell at German side Holstein Kiel, with his NAC move coming last summer.