LONDON, Jan 31 — Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has conceded it will not be easy to compete on domestic and European fronts without a regular striker but said the club will not look to spend big on a forward to meet short-term objectives.
With Harry Kane sidelined until April, Spurs have been linked with a number of goalscorers in the January window, including Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud, Real Sociedad’s Willian Jose and Krzysztof Piatek — who has secured a move to Hertha Berlin.
Although he would have preferred to add another striker, Mourinho claimed he was “happy” with Spurs’ transfer business in January.
“I cannot hide,” Mourinho told reporters today. “If I say it’s easy to play three competitions without a striker, I’m going to lie. I cannot lie. You know that’s important for us.
“If it’s not possible, it’s not possible. For me the great thing is that we’re all together on this at the club.
“There’s nobody to blame and say you could do better than you did. We don’t want a striker to just help us now, to be useful for us. We want a striker to be good for our future, possible to play with Harry Kane together in the future.”
Spurs signed Netherlands winger Steven Bergwijn from PSV Eindhoven for a reported fee of €30 million (RM136 million) this week.
Bergwijn became Tottenham’s third signing of the window, with Gedson Fernandes joining on loan from Benfica and fellow midfielder Giovani Lo Celso of Argentina finalising a permanent move from Real Betis after an impressive loan spell.
“Steve Bergwijn — I prefer to say Stevie — is the kind of player that is good for now but also good for our future, the direction we want to go,” Mourinho added.
“With the difficulties of the market in January, it was really hard to find the striker that is good not just to resolve the problems of today but also the future of the team. So probably we’re not going to do it.”
Despite the fact that Bergwijn has only been at the club for a couple of days, Mourinho has revealed he will be involved in the Premier League clash with Manchester City on Sunday.
“It’s not a drama because he’s played with PSV, so he has match fitness, it’s just a question of learning how to play with us,” Mourinho said. — Reuters
