Tottenham are stuck in a tough spot with their winter striker profile

Everyone knows that Tottenham Hotspur badly need a No. 9. And really, they needed one yesterday. Instead of pursuing a new striker hardcore, Tottenham settled for only landing Omar Marmoush, who is not really an out and out No. 9, considering he has never actually played this role and did his best work at Eintracht Frankfurt before arriving to the Premier League when he was playing off of Hugo Ekitike up top.

So far, the early returns on Marmoush as a goal scorer and an overall player have not been promising, while the main striker in the team after Richarlison's banishment at the hands of Roberto De Zerbi, Dominic Solanke, has been ten times worse. Spurs showed interest in Eli Junior Kroupi this past summer transfer window, but Bournemouth have made it clear that he is not for sale - and Spurs could not sign him anyway after his injury.

They will be back in for Kroupi this winter, as unlikely as he is and as difficult as it will be to compete with Arsenal and PSG for his signature, because he fits a very specific profile of striker that is extremely rare and extremely valuable.

See, Tottenham Hotspur still want to prioritize players who can be great for the next 10 years, not players who are going to decline quickly. They want to build a nucleus of players like Savio, Xavi Simons, and Mohammed Kudus who have upside.

But maybe more importantly than the investment and long term squad planning side of things, Tottenham need a striker who can score and help them win now. They need someone proven or with some track record of scoring, in which case Eli Junior Kroupi is the very unicorn as a U21 prospect coming off 13 goals in limited Premier League minutes.

it is slim pickings, though, to find a striker capable of threatening 20 goals in the Premier League, and it is even more difficult to find one who is not close to the end of his prime - or past it entirely. In that sense, only Victor Osimhen and Kroupi fit the bill of proven players who have at least five years left of quality football in them with the chance to score 20 goals in a season almost immediately. Tottenham are in a tough spot, and the market shows that every team, not just them, are having a hard time finding that profile of striker. Look no further than Barcelona, who had to simply settle on Gabriel Jesus in their summer market.