Tottenham Hotspur have drawn up a three-man list of strikers, with the club attempting to strengthen their attacking options for the new season. Spurs failed to find a replacement for Fernando Llorente after the veteran departed on a free transfer to Napoli at the end of the 2018-19 season, and the lack of options up front was exposed during the 2019-2020 campaign after top strikers Harry Kane and Son Heung-min suffered season-ending injuries with a few months left.
Tottenham have already signed midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Southampton, right-back Matt Doherty from Wolves and goalkeeper Joe Hart on a free transfer ahead of Jose Mourinho’s first full season in charge, leaving just another striker on his wish list.
According to Football London, Spurs have shortlisted three strikers – having opted not to bid for the duo of Ollie Watkins or Callum Wilson of Bournemouth. Watkins has since made a £25 million move to Aston Villa, with the price tag deemed too expensive for Spurs, while Wilson’s age and injury records meant he was considered too much of a risk for the club, but he ended up as Newcastle United’s marquee signing instead – even though https://www.betinireland.ie/ had made Spurs the hot favourites to sign him.
Tottenham are now looking the way of RB Salzburg player Patson Daka, who scored 24 goals in 31 games last season, amongst others, though Spurs are struggling to tempt the right kind of players across to White Hart Lane. The issue for any striker making the switch to Tottenham is amount of game time – the status Kane is afforded in north London meant it will be very difficult for any new addition to topple him, which is a sentiment that was backed by former Spurs defender Micheal Dawson. The former England international acknowledged the importance of Kane to Tottenham, admitting it will be very difficult for any striker to displace the England captain.
Habib Diallo and Arkadiuz Milik of Metz and Napoli respectively are other strikers the club have shortlisted for a possible deal. Their availability isn’t quite as clear-cut as Spurs would like it to be, with Milik also wanted by Roma, who need to offload Dzeko to Inter in order to make the deal work, and Diallo also being chased by Sevilla.
After the drab loss on the first day of the season (when Mourinho professed that he didn’t recognise the team, or like them), Spurs are keen to get a new striker in sooner rather than later.
After the disappointment of last season, which saw fan favourite boss Mauricio Pochettino booted out, and Jose Mourinho taking his place in the dugout but failing to arrest the falling standards in their play, Tottenham will be keen to make this season count. Having been finalists in the Champions League just before LLorente left, they failed to qualify for the premier competition in European football this season, and will have to make do with the Europa League. It is not a set up that attracts the kind of player they need to step up to the next level, so will require some creative thinking from the manager and Chairman Daniel Levy to find a solution.
