Jermaine Jenas has suggested that Tottenham need to sign a striker to prove to Mauricio Pochettino that he has the club’s backing.
With Harry Kane injured and Vincent Janssen seemingly out of the equation, Fernando Llorente is Spurs’ only senior striking option at the moment, and BBC pundit Jenas believes that Daniel Levy needs to invest to prevent the Londoners’ season from going off the rails.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, the former Spurs man said: “I honestly feel like this is a real key moment for the relationship between Mauricio and the club.
“It really is a good moment that they can use, Daniel and the club to show Mauricio that they’re fully behind him in terms of not allowing this season to fall apart.
“They have to go into the market. Any potential signings they were looking at for the summer need to be fast forwarded to this window to help maintain what is a good season so far. If it falls apart, if you put your mind into Mauricio, it starts to make you drift the other way, I think.
“If they don’t I worry for Spurs’ season.”
'They have to go into the market' @jjenas8 thinks Kane's injury and Son's international leave is the perfect opportunity for Daniel Levy to prove to Pochettino that Spurs can throw their weight in the transfer market ?
Do you agree #THFC fans?
? https://t.co/NI1sjtpg98 pic.twitter.com/nm9ib63fjF
— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) January 18, 2019
OPINION
Jenas is on the money with this one, but the situation is more complex than it seems. Spurs need a striker, and they need to start spending to really have a chance of making that step up to genuine title contenders, but who are they realistically going to be able snap up in January? Any potential candidates would presumably have to be better than Llorente, would have to be available for a decent enough fee, and would have to be happy with playing second fiddle to Harry Kane for the best part of his time in north London. Few, if any, top tier strikers are going to be content with that, and even fewer are going to be affordable this month. In an ideal world, Spurs would show Pochettino how much he meant to them by spending big, but they can’t just throw money away on some grand gesture that has little positive impact, and for that reason, for all they need one, Tottenham will probably go without a striker this January.