Journalist Dean Jones has said that Tottenham Hotspur would only look to sign a striker in January if they manage to offload Richarlison.
Ange Postecoglou made it clear during pre-season that Richarlison is the ideal kind of striker for his system (Sky Sports), with the Australian relying on the 26-year-old to fill Harry Kane’s shoes, which is why the North London club did not replace the number nine in the summer.
However, the Brazilian has struggled to cope with the pressure of being Kane’s successor, with Postecoglou having to move Son Heung-min to the central striker role over recent weeks.
There has been plenty of speculation over recent weeks about Tottenham potentially entering the market for a striker in January.
The likes of Brentford’s Ivan Toney (Daily Express), Lille’s Jonathan David (TEAMtalk), Feyenoord’s Santiago Gimenez (90 min) and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen (Fichajes) have all been mooted as targets for the North London club.
(Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Spurs won’t sign a new striker if Richarlison stays
However, Jones believes that Spurs will focus on reinforcing other areas of the pitch in January and would only sign a number nine if they decide to cash in on Richarlison.
The journalist told GiveMeSport: “Tottenham have decisions to make in the January window and while most people expect their focus to be on signing a striker I don’t expect that to be the case – I think it will be the defence.
“They still want another centre back and the noises I hear suggest it will be the priority once we get to the end of the year, unless a random curveball has been thrown their way in terms of injury or suspension.
“The only way I see a forward coming in is if Richarlison leaves and there is a big problem around that happening: What is he worth now? At the moment he would struggle to attract anything like the £60m price tag that Spurs met when he was signed from Everton.
“Realistically you would struggle to get much more than half that number given recent form and I just do not see Spurs – from a business perspective – doing such a deal.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I do not see Tottenham cutting their losses on Richarlison in January. As Jones points out, the striker’s market value at the moment is not reflective of his quality.
Spurs will hope that he can turn around his form and start playing with the kind of arrogance and swagger that he showed at Everton.
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