OPINION
It can’t be easy being Fernando Llorente.
The veteran Spaniard has spent the vast majority of his Tottenham career watching Harry Kane fire in goal after goal from the bench, and was widely expected to crash and burn when the England captain was ruled out with ankle ligament damage in January.
Instead, Llorente has stepped up to the plate with three goals and three assists in six appearances, and has proven beyond doubt that he deserves a new contract.
According to Spurs correspondent Alisdair Gold, writing during a Q&A for Football.London, the club have the option of extending the 33-year-old’s contract by an extra year, and they should definitely exercise that option.
From a purely pragmatic perspective, Spurs would struggle to find anybody to fill the role that Llorente has shown he can perform so well.
Finding a striker who is willing to sit on the bench for the majority of the season, knowing that no matter how well he plays, when he gets his chance he is always going to be dropped once Kane returns, is no mean feat.
Ultimately it would have to be a second rate striker or a veteran like Llorente, and if Spurs were to look at the realistic options available to them in that regard, they would surely conclude that they would struggle to find anybody as capable as the Spaniard.
The only obstacle to Llorente’s extension would potentially be the player himself, who, after his latest run of fine form, may consider the option of one last hurrah with regular minutes elsewhere.
Spurs must do everything in their power to convince him to stay.