José Mourinho has made no attempt to hide his frustration at Tottenham’s failure to sign a striker in January, saying he is “going to have a problem” as he fights in three competitions without a recognised senior No 9 for at least another two and a half months.
Spurs’s season has been undermined by the loss of Harry Kane to a ruptured hamstring tendon until mid-April at best and Mourinho wanted to add cover up front during the winter window. The club made enquiries for a clutch of centre-forwards only to miss out on each one. Krzysztof Piatek went from Milan to Hertha Berlin while Willian José and Olivier Giroud stayed put at Real Sociedad and Chelsea, respectively. They even tried for Odion Ighalo, who joined Manchester United.
Mauricio Pochettino, the former Spurs manager, would use the winger, Son Heung-min, as an emergency centre-forward when Kane was unavailable but Mourinho has said he does not see the South Korean as a No 9. His only other real option is in the position is Lucas Moura and he, too, is more comfortable on the wing.
Spurs have struggled to find a striker that is happy to play second fiddle to Kane, who always plays when fit, and they wanted someone in January that would have represented a sound investment over the longer-term. They were able to sign the 22-year-old winger, Steven Bergwijn, from PSV Eindhoven for an initial 30m euros who fitted the bill but they could not find anybody at centre-forward.
Mourinho said he now had four excellent options off the flanks – Son, Lucas, Bergwijn and Érik Lamela. But in the short term, as the team hope to progress in the FA Cup and Champions League, not to mention haul themselves back into the Premier League’s top four, there is a gaping hole in the middle. “Imagine Harry Kane with these four options on the side, it’s magnificent,” Mourinho said. “In this moment, are we going to have a problem [at centre-forward]? Yes, we are going to have a problem. But that’s the way it is.
“I cannot hide. If I say it’s easy to play three competitions without a striker, I’m going to lie. I cannot lie. But if it’s not possible, it’s not possible. For me the great thing is that we’re all together on this in the club. There’s nobody to blame. We don’t want a striker to just help us now. We want a striker to be good for our future, possibly to play with Harry Kane together in the future. And with the difficulties of the market, it was very, very difficult to find [one].”
Spurs sold Christian Eriksen to Internazionale, with Mourinho saying the midfielder had played this season “with the limitations of somebody that wants to leave … without great motivations,” while they loaned another experienced player, Danny Rose, to Newcastle. The manager described the club’s incoming business – Bergwijn and the 21-year-old loanee, Gedson Fernandes – as “two young kids” while he was quick to mention the loss of Kane and Moussa Sissoko to long-term injury. “There is always experience that is needed and a team of young players – only young players – is a team of some naivety, a team that doesn’t have in some moments the know-how, the capacity to adapt, to even make decisions during the match,” Mourinho said. “But on the other side it is very exciting to work with a young team.”
On Eriksen, Mourinho said: “We didn’t tell because of a moral agreement with Christian, but from the first day I arrived [last November], he told me he was not going to sign [a contract]. So then it was for me and Mr Levy to manage the situation – for me to have a player without great motivation but still a good sense of professionalism and respect for the club. And Mr Levy, on the business side, managed to do a great deal with six months left on the contract.
“I tried to persuade Toby [Alderweireld] when Toby told me he was having some doubts [about re-signing] but Christian told me the decision was made and no way. From that moment, I was just trying to build the team without him. That was the reason why I didn’t play him many, many times. At the same time, I knew Christian with some limitations – there are always limitations with a player in his situation – would try until his last day to help the team.
“Christian was a good guy in the dressing room, with the limitations of somebody that wants to leave. You could feel in some matches he was not Christian. We were happy to have him here until the end of the season. Christian would always give us some of his talent until the end of the season. But then it becomes about the future of the team and the future of the team needs the deal that Mr Levy made.”