Tottenham and Arsenal are facing challenges with their star No. 10 players, but on very different terms

They may be bitter North London rivals, but right now both Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal have some things to figure out with their No. 10s.

For Spurs, news came today that talismanic striker Harry Kane won’t return to training until at least March after injuring ankle ligaments late in Sunday’s loss to Manchester United.

For the Gunners, Mesut Ozil’s status with the club is nearing Damocletian levels as the undeniably talented attacker seems to have fallen out of favor with first-year manager Unai Emery, and doesn’t seem keen to change that.

Arsenal is amid a transition year no matter where it finishes, with Emery seeking to remake the squad in his image, so Kane is the more pressing issue. A fairly complete striker with no glaring weakness, Kane has been the spark plug behind Tottenham’s recent success. He’s led the team in scoring each of the past four years, three of which have led to top-three finishes and Champions League berths, and with 20 goals across all competitions already this season Kane looked set to lead Spurs back to the same heights.

Only now, he’ll miss a critical part of Tottenham’s schedule. It starts with an away trip on Sunday to Fulham, which is desperately battling to avoid relegation, and Kane will also miss a glut of four fixtures in 10 days starting Jan. 24, including a League Cup semifinal second leg at Chelsea, a fourth-round FA Cup fixture at Crystal Palace and a pair of Premier League home matches.

The end of February and start of March is even more brutal. Spurs travel to Chelsea on Feb. 27, host Arsenal in the North London Derby on March 2, and have the return leg visit to Borussia Dortmund in their Champions League Round of 16 tie on March 5. (Kane will also miss the first leg on Feb. 13.)

That’s, well, that’s a lot.

In Kane’s stead, Tottenham will likely focus on Son Heung-Min up top (although Son is currently away from the team while participating in the Asian Cup) and hope that its talented midfield pairing of Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli can help pick up the slack. Son has 12 goals across all competitions this season, while Eriksen and Alli have six apiece but are more than capable of producing magic at a moment’s notice.

Spurs sit a perilous one point above Chelsea in third place, and some pundits are already forecasting that Kane’s injury could cost them a Champions League spot.

The most immediate threats in that regard are fifth-place Arsenal and red-hot Manchester United, which is sixth on goal differential.

Except, Arsenal has a burgeoning problem of its own.

Emery left Ozil out of the matchday squad entirely this past Saturday, as he’s done on several occasions this season. Ozil is believed to be recuperating from a knee injury suffered over the busy holiday slate, but formal updates on his health status have been few and far between.

Which has led to speculation that Emery and Co. are getting ready to sell Ozil. Theoretically, a playmaker who likes to push forward would fit perfectly within Emery’s aggressive tactics, but motivation has been a question that’s lingered with Ozil ever since he arrived at the Emirates in 2013. Plus, rumors are rampant that Aaron Ramsey, a like-minded attacker who’s long been played too deep in Arsenal’s setups to truly unlock his ability, has agreed to join Juventus this summer when his contract expires. So maybe Emery simply doesn’t see either of them as a long-term solution.

Thinking toward the future is another reason Ozil might be sold before the January transfer window closes. The German is making nearly $450,000 a week under a new contract he signed a year ago, and as Gab Marcotti detailed this week, tumult and turnover in the Arsenal administration led to astronomical wages being spent on three new players: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alexandre Lacazette. That’s tied up the transfer funds considerably, and if Ozil really doesn’t figure into Emery’s future squads, offloading him might be the soundest option.

The rumor mill has already started churning about potential replacements, including James Rodriguez, who’s struggled to find consistent playing time at Bayern Munich while on loan from Real Madrid.

Either way, the Gunners have a decision to make. They either choose to repair the relationship with Ozil, or they choose the transfer market and dive right into the deep end. Tottenham, meanwhile, just needs to tread water with its best player on the shelf.

Joey Gulino is the editor of Yahoo Soccer and moonlights as a writer. Follow him on Twitter at @JGulinoYahoo.

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