Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho is confident the club will bring in a striker before the transfer window ends.
Spurs kick-off their Premier League campaign against Everton on Sunday with Harry Kane currently remaining the only recognised centre-forward in the first-team squad.
Jose Mourinho Expecting Tottenham Hotspur to Bolster Striker Options
Hopeful of Forward Depth
Tottenham are currently heading into a new campaign light in the striker department again. Mourinho has already had a taste of a lack of forward options as a result of injury. Harry Kane’s season-ending hamstring injury last season briefly forced Son Heung-min into the middle.
Son hit six goals in all competitions in Kane’s absence but suffered an elbow fracture which also set him back long-term. Mourinho had been left with little choice but to use the likes of Lucas Moura and even Dele Alli as sole strikers.
But the Spurs boss is keen to avoid such a scenario again and is confident of bulking up the attack with a striker before the transfer window shuts.
“I want, I need a striker,” Mourinho said ahead of his side’s Premier League opener. “But I want to make it very, very clear that the club – the structure above me – knows that I need a striker and also wants a striker.
“Are we going to get one? I honestly believe so. For the balance of the squad, the team needs it because in this moment the squad is getting very balanced, with different options for different positions.”
Spurs also face the added difficulty of Europa League qualifiers alongside Premier League and Carabao Cup fixtures, which will undoubtedly stretch an already-thin attack.
“Especially after the gift we had from the EFL and UEFA, that gives me after 20 years of football a unique experience of playing Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday for two consecutive weeks,” Mourinho sarcastically added.
“We realise that more than ever we need that [another striker]. So, yes, we’re working on it.”
Doubling Up?
In previous transfer windows, Spurs have had trouble adding a second striker to their squad due to Kane’s consistently prolific seasons.
Mourinho has, however, rubbished claims that the striker the club will look to bring in would be a ‘back-up’ to Kane. Instead, they may play together as part of a double act.
“I don’t like that word back-up,” Mourinho continued. “We have one of the best strikers in the world. I know that we have undoubtedly the best striker in England, but I don’t like the word ‘back-up’.
“A squad is a squad. A striker can play with Harry Kane. A striker that comes here is not to be feeling that he is just in a back-up situation.
“So yes we have the best striker in the country but we want a striker that can give us more than we have and to give us more than we have is not just to support us. To support us in such a difficult season is also to try to play and why not play with Harry?”
Main Photo
