Having spent years desperately trying to sign a world class striker, it turned out that Spurs had already had a young lad at the club who was pretty tasty in front of goal.
The emergence of Harry Kane will make a big difference in Tottenham’s recruitment process this summer. With Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado likely to leave at the end of the season, Spurs must now try to find players that will complement a proven Premier League goalscorer, rather than facing the pressure of trying to entice more big names.
For several years Tottenham ignored the transfer policies they applied to the rest of the team – signing a mix of young players with potential and older players on free transfers – instead trying to land a big fish to lead the line. It wasn’t a successful strategy. Players such as Roman Pavlyuchenko, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado were all short of the quality required for various reasons.
Now Spurs are free to apply the same principles as they do with other areas of the squad. With Kane established as the main man in a lone striker system, they need players suited and happy to play second fiddle.
One of the issues of playing with only one striker is that you really need three in the squad, despite the fact that it will be difficult to give them all enough games. For that reason it’s imperative that one of these forwards is adaptable enough to gain pitch time in another position.
It’s one of the reasons why Danny Welbeck would have been a decent signing for Tottenham, despite his lack of goal threat. Southampton’s Jay Rodriguez is another player of this ilk that has long been linked with the club since Mauricio Pochettino became manager, though his injury problems complicate any potential deal.
Danny Ings is available in the summer and has shown his adaptability in his early days at Burnley. This is the sort of young, fast player that Spurs should be looking for. With Kane also able to play deeper, there should be plenty of opportunity for rotation and for the two strikers to occasionally play alongside each other in a more traditional pairing.
With Spurs likely to need two strikers this summer and with no likely candidates from the youth side now that Kane has stepped up, perhaps an elder statesman is needed for a third choice striker. As much as he’s struggled at Liverpool, Rickie Lambert might not be the worst option and is used to Pochettino’s system.
So who do you think Tottenham should sign this summer to complement Kane?
Ings has great movement, is English, right age and premiership proven. So is Charlie Austin. Both have over achieved at less fashionable clubs and either would be great additions at reasonable fees. No more foreigners please. Totally pissed off hearing the same old crap about ”bedding in” etc. How long do some of our signings want before we actually see why so much was spent on them?
Islam Slimani out of Sporting.
Big athletic target man type. The rest of the team can look to hit him with long balls when the game calls for it and he’s willing to sacrifice his body to get at the ball at whatever cost. Could lead the line and really open up space between the lines for Kane and Eriksen to get on the ball, which is when they’re at their most dangerous. He’s also a passionate national teammate of Nabil Bentaleb, so hopefully that in could help us convince him to come here.
Son from Leverkusen would be a great addition here. Yes he predominantly plays on the left, but can also play as a centre forward. He’d provide competition for Chadli, which is something we do lack (though he has played well regardless), and cover for Kane. If we sign him alongside someone like Austin, who is a bit less adaptable, but a more than capable young striker who wouldn’t cost the earth, we’d be very well placed