Sports
Spurs can finally replace Kane by signing “one of the best CFs in Europe”
Tottenham Hotspur are looking to spend in the January transfer window, and the £35m sale of Brennan Johnson to Crystal Palace already highlights the focus on making improvements in the final third.
There has been a marked lack of creativity and verve at Tottenham this season, with Thomas Frank yet to establish the framework that secured comparative riches with Brentford at the Gtech, rising from the Championship in 2021 and plying their way through four comfortable campaigns in the Dane’s system.
Spurs need a winger, for sure, but a lot has been left to be desired at number nine too, with Dominic Solanke struggling for fitness all year and Richarlison ebbing and flowing in front of goal.
Spurs could sign a striker in January
ENIC Group have provided Frank with the funds to seal a number of signings this winter. They have made inroads across recent weeks from a defensive standpoint, but Spurs’ attack simply isn’t clicking together.
Creativity is at a low ebb, to be sure, but there doesn’t appear to be much faith in the goalscoring options at number nine, with Solanke, Richarlison and loanee Randal Kolo Muani paling in comparison to Harry Kane – he’s the club’s record goalscorer, but that hardly needs mentioning.
Tottenham are in for the long haul, and Porto’s Samu Aghehowa could be the perfect up-and-coming forward to drive Frank’s project forward. As per Caught Offside, the Spaniard remains on the Londoners’ list after interest last year, though his employers do not want to sell at the campaign’s midpoint.
Valued at £87m, Samu has established himself as one of the most exciting and prolific attacking prospects in Europe over the past year-and-a-half, and Chelsea and Manchester United are among the other top clubs to have registered their interest of late.
What Samu would bring to Spurs
Samu scored plenty of goals for Porto last season, and journalist Zach Lowy remarked that he has the potential to become “one of the best strikers in Europe“.
Reared in Spain, Samu joined Porto from Atletico Madrid in 2024 after coming close to moving to Stamford Bridge and signing for Chelsea. That might have been a mistake; having remained in Iberian territory, he has fostered his qualities and grown into a complete forward.
Could the 21-year-old become the next Kane, with that in mind?
Replacing the England skipper has been a tough task for the Lilywhites, but Samu might just have what it takes to replace the world-class ace, who now leads an ambitious Bayern Munich project.
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Tottenham’s All-time Record Scorers |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Player |
Apps |
Goals |
|
Harry Kane |
435 |
280 |
|
Jimmy Greaves |
376 |
266 |
|
Bobby Smith |
316 |
211 |
|
Heung-min Son |
454 |
173 |
|
Martin Chivers |
350 |
167 |
|
Data via Transfermarkt |
||
Kane is a superstar, and he was the poster boy for so many years down N17. Solanke and the like all have attributes worth writing home about, but none come close to Kane’s depth and consistency, and that’s where Samu could come in.
Powerful, tall and tenacious, Samu appears tailor-made for Premier League football, especially now that he’s riding the crest of a wave, nine goals from 14 Europa League appearances for Porto and 28 from 44 in the Portuguese top flight.
This is much better than Solanke’s efforts, having only featured twice in the Premier League this season. His injury-affected Spurs career is unfortunate, but Frank and co need to be ruthless going forward, lest the outfit continue to flatter to deceive.
He’s not just a flashy goalscorer. As per data platform FBref, Samu ranks among the top 16% of strikers in Liga Portugal this year for shot-creating actions and the top 5% for successful take-ons per 90.
A successful take-on is recorded when a player beats their opponent by directly carrying the ball past them while retaining possession.
Whereas last year he served as something of a target man, now his physicality and athleticism and dynamism have been allowed to develop.
In this, he shares something with Kane, who is one of the deadliest frontmen of his generation but is also remarkably unique, with the vision of a natural-born number ten and the intelligence of an elite midfield general.
As we all know, it’s not easy to replace a centre-forward of Kane’s standing, but Samu is the full package and he has what it takes to become a superstar in the Premier League.
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