Tottenham Hotspur have finally signed a striker.
The club have long been in the market for back-up to Harry Kane, the immovable England captain.
Since the 2014/15 season, Kane has played a remarkable 200 Premier League games, scoring 143 goals.
This is a player who plays every game whenever he is fit and, as such, Spurs have found it difficult to bring in reinforcements behind him.
There have often been stories of players not wanting to play back-up to Kane, such as Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud, and having concerns over a potential lack of playing time.
This summer, though, they finally achieved their goal of strengthening the forward line.
Benfica striker Carlos Vinicius has arrived on an initial loan that could become a permanent transfer should his short-term stay go as well as planned.
The 25-year-old made his breakthrough last season, scoring 18 goals in 32 league games for the Portuguese club, and will now hope to take the Premier League by storm.
But Sport Witness carries a report from L’Equipe claiming that there were other targets for the position.
One such option was Lyon’s Moussa Dembele, whom manager Jose Mourinho identified as a priority target.
Spurs are said to have entered into talks with the French club over a possible deal, but they wanted to do a loan deal, which did not appeal to the French club.
Lyon had believed they would be able to raise funds by selling one of Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Houssem Aouar, or Memphis Depay.
None of those three left, however, but they were unable to convince Spurs to return to the negotiating table, as they had already signed Vinicius.
GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…
Dembele would have been an interesting signing for Tottenham.
The 24-year-old scored 16 goals in 27 games in 2019/20, but has found minutes harder to come by this term, making four starts and failing to score.
Still, he is a pacey player, one with the ability to create chances and finish them off.
He has been prolific for Lyon in the past, but one has to wonder if he would have wanted to supplement Kane’s threat.
Perhaps he would have offered more tactical flexibility whenever Mourinho wants to play two up top, but still, Spurs have done their bit and have secured the striker they so desperately needed.
That it wasn’t Dembele, given his form this season, does not seem like the worst thing.