Tottenham are now facing a striker shortage after the news broke on Tuesday that star striker Harry Kane will be sidelined until March due to an ankle ligament injury. Kane sustained the injury in the dying minutes of Spurs weekend 1-0 home defeat against Manchester United at Wembley.

Tottenham now have a lack of strikers

There is never a good time to lose a player of Harry Kane’s quality, but the timing could not have been worse with Heung-Min Son off to the Asia games with South Korea.

Kane’s injury coupled with the absence of the in-form Son means that Spanish striker Fernando Llorente is the only realistic central striking option available to boss Mauricio Pochettino.

Tottenham only signed Llorente as a back-up striker for Kane. He has featured very little since his switch to Spurs from Swansea back in the summer of 2017.

In fact, this season he has made just six substitute appearances totalling 36 minutes in the Premier League. The Spaniard has started cup games this season, most notably scoring a hat-trick against League Two Tranmere in a 7-0 FA Cup third round clash.

However, that has arguably been the highlight of a very meaningless Spurs career for the striker. Prior to Kane’s injury, Llorente’s future at the club was in question, as the giant striker was linked with a January return to his homeland.

The Kane injury means that Llorente will stay in north London, at least until the summer anyway, when he can reassess his options.

Spurs, of course, do still have Dutch international striker Vincent Janssen on their books. However, it seems unlikely Janssen will be featuring anytime soon, as Pochettino has stated that the striker is not in his plans.

Attacking midfielders playing up top

As Llorente is the only real central striking option, Tottenham boss Pochettino may decide to use attacking midfielders Erik Lamela or Lucas Moura in a more central role in the coming weeks. Both South American stars have only recently returned from injury.

The pair have talent, but neither has managed to produce much consistent in their career, during their Spurs careers anyway. Both are very good attacking players and could provide an answer to Tottenham’s striking shortage.

One problem with that is that neither has really played as a central striker in the past. However, with no sign of money to spend on a new forward, one or both could be trialled up front.

Still favourites to beat Fulham

Tottenham have a big month ahead of them, with a Carabao Cup second leg against Chelsea and a Champions League last 16 tie with Dortmund. The next month of the campaign could shape Spurs whole season.

Prior to those important cup clashes, the team from north London visit Fulham this weekend, a game Spurs are favourites to win. Even without Kane, most people would fancy Pochettino’s side to beat the Cottagers.

It seems that Mauricio Pochettino is likely to go with Llorente up front for the next few games. It is not an ideal situation for Spurs heading into with such important games.

However, they have very little choice or options at the moment. Everybody associated with the team from north London will be hoping that Llorente can produce a good run of form. Who knows he may not prove to be a bad replacement for Kane.

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