It was abundantly clear once again that Tottenham are in desperate need of a striker during their 1-1 draw with Southampton. For the second round in a row, Jose Mourinho's side will be forced to host a replay at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after squandering their lead. Heung-min Son had opened the scoring, only for Serge Aurier to allow Sofiane Boufal in late on to level things up for the hosts. Mourinho had been waiting to bring on Eric Dier to shore things up but was denied the opportunity before the Saints had scored. It should never have been that close in the first place as the north Londoners could feasibly have been two or three goals to the good by then. 

Lucas Moura and Son put several chances wide, while Angus Gunn made a brilliant left-footed save to deny the latter.

Both have been doing their best to fill in for Harry Kane, who is not expected back in training before April with a torn hamstring, but the truth is neither is an out-and-out striker. Troy Parrott, 17, was not even named on the bench yet again. 

That may have been a nod by Mourinho to Daniel Levy, who was watching on from the stands at St Mary's, as he pleads with the Spurs chairman to reluctantly open the club's purse strings. 

A deal for AC Milan's Krzysztof PiÄ…tek appears to have fallen through and no progress has yet been made on signing Real Sociedad's Willian Jose. Neither would arguably be the calibre required anyway. 

However, Levy may well have a master-stroke up his sleeve with BILD's Christian Falk claiming Spurs have enlisted the help of agent Pini Zahavi after drawing up a list of Bundesliga targets. 

Among them are two hugely ambitious names, the most exciting being RB Leipzig's Timo Werner. 

The 23-year-old has scored 25 goals in all competitions this season, reportedly making him a target of both Liverpool and Real Madrid. 

World Cup winner Mario Götze is also being considered. The Dortmund has made just five league starts this season and his stock has fallen significantly at the club since his return from Bayern Munich. 

Either would be a statement signing from Spurs, but one that given their relative inactivity in the market so far seems unlikely. 

ANALYSIS 

GIVEMESPORT'S Kat Lucas:

How on earth is Mourinho supposed to operate without a striker for four months of the season? That's the reality Spurs are facing up to if they don't act fast with just six days of the January window left. 

In the immediate aftermath of Kane's injury, his side went four hours without scoring a league goal. Moura and Son are NOT strikers, even if the South Korean has ably filled in for him on the past - and in recent weeks, he hasn't been clinical at all even if a headed tap-in against Norwich and today's strike have masked his poor form a little. 

Christian Eriksen's imminent departure means another source of goals off the bench is about to dissipate, so what better way to rectify that than with a bold, statement signing like Werner?

Well, back in the real world, Tottenham are now outsiders to be playing in the Champions League next season and a player of Werner's status - or even Gotze, for that matter - is going to be thinking twice right now. 

It's good news that if - and this is a big if - Levy is serious about signing a top European striker, it suggests he's rethought Spurs' strategy that has plagued them the last few years. Buying back-ups to Kane hasn't worked (see Vincent Janssen, and but for a few memorable Champions League moments, Fernando Llorente). A serious top-four club should be operating with more than one half-decent striker, especially given Kane's injury record. 

Whoever it is that comes in, and Tottenham fans will just be praying for anybody with a pair of football boots who's scored the odd goal in their career, it needs to happen fast.