Mauricio Pochettino has said Tottenham Hotspur are tracking strikers for a possible January move to provide support for Harry Kane. The manager maintained he had options to cover Kane in the event of an injury – namely Son Heung-min, Nacer Chadli and Clinton Njie – but he accepted that none of them are specialist strikers.
Tottenham tried and failed to sign Saido Berahino in the summer from West Bromwich Albion, whom they meet at The Hawthorns on Saturday, and they were still pushing for the deal on transfer deadline day after they had announced the deals for Son and Njie.
When the Berahino talks broke down, Pochettino made it clear he did not want to add another striker simply for the sake of making up the numbers and that he would adapt, if necessary, with Son, Chadli or Njie, players who are fundamentally wide attackers. There have been risks attached to the approach but, happily for Tottenham, Kane has not only stayed fit but has played superbly over the first half of the season.
Pochettino has specific requirements for the striker he wants. He must be an excellent athlete, capable of working in the team’s pressing style and, obviously, bring a goal threat and a good attitude. Berahino fitted the bill but Daniel Levy, the Tottenham chairman, could not reach agreement with Jeremy Peace, his West Brom counterpart. It is unclear whether Tottenham will try again for Berahino next month, and Pochettino warned that signing anybody would be difficult.
“We have offensive players who can play like Harry,” Pochettino said. “There is Sonny or Chadli or Clinton – they can play like a striker. But I recognise they are not specific strikers, so maybe we work to try to find such a player we can add in the next transfer window or in the summer. We are trying to follow players now but it is very difficult.
“What is most important is that we do not rock the balance of the team. It is important we find someone who is very specific. For me, always, you want to find a striker that scores a lot of goals and who has good physical condition, good characteristics, who can press, work hard and is a nice guy, too.”
Berahino has only three goals this season, although that makes him the joint-top scorer in an Albion team who have found goals hard to come by. Only two Premier League clubs have scored fewer. Berahino got 20 in all competitions last season and he may find extra motivation against Tottenham, should he feature.
“You never know because it is impossible to be in that player’s mind,” Pochettino said. “In football, you need to have big motivation in every game. We are very focused on our team and we know the way we want to play. West Brom have a lot of good players. You can’t be more worried about some players because of rumours or what happened in the summer.”
