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Transfer rumors are just the best, aren't they? Ok, well, maybe when you're being linked with Joleon Lescott they're not so great, but take heart, fellow Tottenham Hotspur fans, because I have some transfer rumors that will depress you even more. Remember how everyone seems to think Jermaine Defoe is moving to the MLS? Well, if he does, Spurs are obviously going to need another aging, somewhat mediocre striker to replace him and it looks like they have a bunch already lined up.
First and foremost, and I say that because this is probably the best player we're linked with, is Sunderland striker Steven Fletcher. Fletcher, 26, doesn't score much—in fact, he's never scored more than 14 goals in a season in his career—but he's works hard up front and provides a strong physical presence. However, he's really not all that different from Harry Kane, except being more experienced. Sherwood seems committed to Tottenham's youth movement, so Fletcher doesn't make much sense. However, Sunderland maybe looking for at least £10 million for the Scottish international and spending that much on a player to warm the bench doesn't seem like Daniel Levy's style.
While we're talking about middling Premier League strikers, it's only fair to also mention that the club are being linked with Shane Long of West Bromwich Albion. Long is out of contract with the Baggies at the end of the season and could be available for as little as £4 million pounds, an amount easily covered by the possible sale of Defoe. Long, like Fletcher, is known more for his work effort than his goal scoring. He's reached double digits in goals only twice, once in the Championship and last season when he played as an effective foil to on-loan Romelu Lukaku. Even at £4 million, signing the 26 year-old doesn't make much sense, unless Sherwood is commited to making the squad more British (Ireland is a British Isle, even though it's not part of the UK).
Working up in age, but this time moving abroad, Spurs are also believed to be in the running for Lille striker Salomon Kalou. The former Chelsea attacker left England only 18 months ago and since then has enjoyed some success. He played very well for Lille last year, scoring 16 goals in all competitions and has six more in Ligue 1 this season. Arsenal and Liverpool are also being linked with the Ivorian who scored 60 goals in his time at Stamford Bridge. No price has been mentioned yet, but I can't imagine that Lille, who are chasing the Ligue 1 title and Champions League football, would let the 28 year-old would go for cheap. I'd imagine a fee upwards of £7-8MM would be required to sign Kalou. He would represent an interesting option because of his ability to both play centrally and wide, but I'm not sure there's much benefit to bringing him in.
Finally, two 30 year-olds from Juventus have been linked with moves to Tottenham. Mirko Vucinic and Fabio Quagliarella have both played sparingly for the Serie A leaders, so moves could be on the cards. Vucinic has long been linked with Spurs, but it didn't make any sense three years ago when the Montenegrin was actually good, so I can't imagine why Spurs would do this now. Quagliarella has featured quite a bit off the bench this year, but the Italian, like Long and Fletcher, has never been much of a goalscorer.
So, there you have it, those are all the strikers Spurs have been linked with so far. In my opinion, none of them represent value for money and buying any of them makes no sense whatsoever. If you're Spurs and you just splashed a bunch of cash on Roberto Soldado and you're, allegedly, commited to a youth movement, then you're not going to buy mediocre strikers who are in their late twenties. You should be buying good young strikers like John Guidetti, Jurgen Locadia, Yassine Benzia, or Anthony Martial; or buying guys that are already stars. I can't think of any top strikers that might be in Spurs price range and also want to come to White Hart Lane, but that doesn't mean there aren't any. Remember, there's always Leandro Damiao.
