For years, Tottenham Hotspur have had a Harry Kane problem. 

Indeed, with the England captain all but undroppable for both club and country, Spurs' attempts to sign a back-up striker of any note to happily sit behind him in the pecking order has seen them waste reasonably big money on the likes of Vincent Janssen. 

This season proved different, however. 

Carlos Vinicius was thought to have been manager Jose Mourinho's first-choice signing in an effort to bolster his attack and some of his early performances in the Europa League go some way into explaining why.

Already, the Brazilian marksman has recorded an impressive three assists in continental competition, as well as scoring as many goals. 

Praised by the likes of Paul Robinson for some of his performances, the 25-year-old has proven his worth in a European context. 

However, it seems he's struggling to command much of a presence when it comes to life in the Premier League. 

Handed just 12 minutes of domestic action thus far, football.london have revealed he was simply left out of the squad altogether for the crucial game away at Liverpool despite not carrying an injury.

GIVEMESPORT's Jonathan Gorrie says...

Vinicius does look, in the early stages for his career anyway, as a reliable back-up for Kane and has at least afforded him some rest already this season. 

Still, the problem remains.

With Kane proving so influential, he simply cannot be dropped at the moment, even though his performance at Anfield wasn't particularly inspiring. Missing a glorious chance with a header, an argument in regards to potential fatigue could be made. 

The summer signing is expected to get his chance and there's no suggestion he'll suffer a similar fate to that of Janssen or Fernando Llorente and, clearly, talking with the benefit of hindsight is easy but the Liverpool game did offer up chances someone such as Vinicius may have taken.