While he’s Spurs main target, they feel a summer transfer is more likely. They’ve tried and failed both last summer and this January to lure him from Internacional’s clutches, but to no avail. The Brazilians now they’re in a position of strength when it comes to bargaining and know that waiting until the summer to sell him will both aide them and increase his transfer value (it’s expected he’ll command a fee of between £15-20M).
With the Damiao transfer looking unlikely to go through any time soon, Spurs would be better suited to look at more immediate options. It’s always difficult to find exactly who you’re looking for in January, but there is no shortage of decent strikers out there if a club is willing scratch beneath the surface and to take a risk. The options in the Premier League appears scarce.
Darren Bent isn’t in favour at Aston Villa but with Paul Lambert’s boys in such dire trouble it’s unlikely they’ll be willing to part with the man they paid £24M a few years ago. It would be more realistic for Spurs and AVB to look beyond and even below the Premier League.
They’re unlikely to want to spend too much in this window so a bid for Celtic’s Gary Hooper may be a cheaper alternative (Source: Scottish Record). Since his move from Scunthorpe to Celtic the Englishman has been banging them in for the Parkhead club. He’s been linked with moves to Norwich among others this January and Celtic have said they don’t want to sell. But with the player rejecting a contract last week, it’s hard to imagine Celtic rejecting a bid of £6M plus. Whether he’d be a success remains to be seen, but he’s a tenacious and quick striker who has flourished on the Champions League stage this season, so he may just feel ready to take the leap and prove himself in one of the toughest leagues in Europe.
Looking below the Premier League, the Championship isn’t exactly barren either when it comes to strikers. Blackburn’s Jordan Rhodes had been the target of many Premier League clubs but since he only signed 6 months ago from Huddersfield, it’s unlikely the Venkys would be willing to sell their prize asset for any less than £10M. Another option, and one I particularly like the sound of is Burnley’s Charlie Austin. A goal machine at Swindon (31 goals in 54 matches) and now at Burnley (36 goals in 69 matches) he scored his 20th league goal by November.
These sort of scoring figures are more akin to a player whose club is top of the league, rather than team 18 points behind the league leaders which makes his heroics all the more remarkable. If he can bang in 20 plus goals per season for a mediocre Championship team, the possibilities with the likes of Bale and Lennon flanking him are exciting to say the least.
He may seem an unlikely choice but with Spurs, like most clubs, unwilling to part with large sums of cash in January, he may be a cost-effective and worthwhile target. And let’s admit it, no football fan can resist the romanticism of a player scoring his way up the leagues before arriving and thriving on the top stage. Spurs could go for other strikers; Peter Odemwingie is a goalscorer who wants out at West Brom, but he too blows hot and cold and his recent Twitter antics won’t have enticed any potential suitors. Fernando Llorente of Athletic Bilbao was also a potential option earlier in the window but Juventus have since confirmed his signing on a free transfer in the summer.
They may not be world-renowned or particularly fashionable options, but for me Hooper or Austin would be a shrewd choice for Spurs and either of them could just be the player to keep Spurs Champions League chase afloat. Without any striking reinforcements, don’t be surprised if Spurs are once again pipped to the post.
Feel free to follow @WayneFarry on Twitter for more football talk and opinion.
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