Tottenham transfer news: Sky Sports pundit reacts as £40m Chelsea target Santiago Gimenez linked to replace Harry Kane
We’re delighted to welcome former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson as our exclusive columnist as each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium…
Paul Robinson doesn’t think Tottenham actually need to sign Santiago Gimenez as a replacement for Harry Kane because they aren’t in crisis with the way Ange Postecoglou wants them to play.
The Mirror reported on 28 October that Spurs had stepped up their interest in the Mexican as they looked to “fill the void” left by the England captain in the summer, and he has gone from strength to strength at Feyenoord ever since amid interest from the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Brighton.
But while Kane is scoring freely at Bayern Munich the style back at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium under the new manager has been thriving without a traditional number nine, with the likes of captain Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevsky, Richarlison and Brennan Johnson interchanging in attack.
Sky Sports pundit Robinson isn’t surprised at all that the club are being linked to Gimenez, who Feyenoord reportedly see as “one of the best young strikers in the world” according to HITC’s Graeme Bailey (12 January) after 19 Eredivisie goals in 18 games so far this term, but doesn’t think Postecoglou will be putting pressure on Daniel Levy to splash out for the £40million-rated [David Ornstein, 12 January] 22-year-old.
Speaking exclusively to Tottenham News he said: “Spurs are always going to be linked with a number nine since Harry Kane’s gone because that’s the way that they used to play.
“But they don’t play that way any more. You look at the way Ange plays with the front three in behind a striker, the interchanging of the players and the way that they work.
“They don’t necessarily need a figurehead, that number nine.
“Have they missed Harry Kane this season? It’s a hypothetical question. If you put Harry Kane in that team, would he score goals? Of course he would, he’d score goals in any team, but would that system work? Would they play the same way? We don’t know. We can only speculate.
“Do they need a number nine? They’re always going be linked with one.
“I think that with Richarlison and with Son, is Richarlison going to get the goals? He’s starting to play a lot better and starting to look like he will.
“Does Ange want another 25-30 goal-a-season man, or is it going to be spread out like they have been?
“There’s no immediate rush now. We’re not into the New Year and sat mid-table in a crisis thinking, ‘Oh no we’re not going to score goals without Harry Kane, we desperately need to go and get a striker’.
“That’s certainly not the case. Is there room in the squad for one if that’s the way he wants to play? Yeah there is, but it’s not the priority that Ange is going to be looking at.
“He’s not going to be breaking Daniel Levy’s door down saying, ‘Get me a number nine! We can’t score goals!’
“Because there’s goals in that team.”
In other Tottenham news, Spurs have been backed to push for a pair of Premier League defenders this year after signing Radu Dragusin.
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