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Tottenham plan to sign 2 strikers this summer

By Rucker Haringey

Netherlands' Vincent Janssen (L) celebrates scoring during the EURO 2016 friendly football match Austria vs Netherlands at Ernst Happel stadium in Vienna, Austria, on June 4, 2016. / AFP / APA / GEORG HOCHMUTH / Austria OUT (Photo credit should read GEORG HOCHMUTH/AFP/Getty Images)
Netherlands' Vincent Janssen (L) celebrates scoring during the EURO 2016 friendly football match Austria vs Netherlands at Ernst Happel stadium in Vienna, Austria, on June 4, 2016. / AFP / APA / GEORG HOCHMUTH / Austria OUT (Photo credit should read GEORG HOCHMUTH/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Tottenham plan to add two strikers this summer to provide cover for Harry Kane

Tottenham fans were justifiably upset when the club made the decision to go through the entire season with just one senior striker in the form of star Harry Kane. This summer Spurs are poised to make sure they don’t take that risk again, with the purchase of two strikers on the horizon at White Hart Lane.

The Mirror, among other sources, are reporting that Mauricio Pochettino’s club is close to finalizing a deal with Roma for the acquisition of young striker Antonio Sanabria for a fee of around 15 million pounds. The Uruguayan forward played last season on-loan at Sporting Gijon but it appears that he won’t be headed back to the Serie A club this summer.

Spurs are also reportedly closing in on a deal for Dutch International Vincent Janssen. The AZ Alkmaar star is also reportedly going to cost Tottenham around 15 million pounds. That means that Daniel Levy and company are going to manage to acquire two young, promising strikers for the same price it would have cost the club to purchase the much-hyped Michy Batshuayi.

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Some Tottenham fans might characterize this as Levy failing to back Pochettino with the funds to purchase Batshuayi, but I believe purchasing the combination of Janssen and Sanabria is a significantly better option. Acquiring two young strikers increases gives the club a very good chance that one will emerge as a legitimate back-up to Harry Kane.

If Spurs instead, would purchase Batshuayi, they would be wholly dependent on his ability to grow into Kane’s back-up role. While he has proved more in his career than either Sanabria or Janssen to date, he wouldn’t be a lock to adjust well to Premier League football. There’s a fair chance that he will be a bust wherever he ends up next season.

That doesn’t even take into account the sheer mathematical advantages of signing two players instead of one. Having two legitimate strikers competing to be Kane’s understudy protects the club further against injury than just having on back-up. Simply put, having two possible back-ups for Kane offers the club more protection than just purchasing one.

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Daniel Levy, and the rest of the higher-ups at the club deserve credit for correcting the club’s biggest weakness from last season provided they complete these two deals. At the very least, it’s a good sign for Spurs fans that the club realizes how short they are of quality centre-forwards, and are pursuing multiple targets aggressively early in the summer window.

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