A Tale of Two Tottenham Striker Rumors

Two rumors have risen to the surface in recent days that suggest Tottenham is in – and in for potentially big money – for a striker to supplement and compete with Harry Kane.

The bigger of the two rumors is that Tottenham have supposedly leveled a bid at Atletico Madrid for Jackson Martínez. The Colombian only arrived from Porto in the summer, though he’s failed to impress enough at the La Liga leaders to make his £24.5 million transfer fee seem worth it.

Even still – so the rumor goes – Tottenham are prepared to take a chance with the 29-year-old, and are willing to pay upwards of £22 million to do it. Atletico supposedly rejected the offer outright and are holding out for something closer to what they paid for the player.

Right off the bat, that transfer fee makes this rumor sound borderline preposterous. That is nearly as much as the club spent on Heung-min Son, a player six years Martinez’ junior and who already had experience playing in a system similar to Mauricio Pochettino’s.

More from Tottenham Transfer Rumours

Why would Daniel Levy or Pochettino want to bring in a player nearing the end of his career who has very little experience playing at the level Tottenham’s tactics demand? The reason is pretty straight forward: prior to his move to Atletico, Martinez notched three consecutive 20-goal seasons for Porto. Even if the Portuguese league isn’t exactly among Europe’s elite, that’s still a prolific rate of production.

Were Tottenham desperate for goals and willing to sacrifice a bit of harmony, then maybe Martinez is the answer. For a team that’s third in total goals scored in the league and are just coming off it’s eighth match scoring three goals or more an all competitions this season, that’s simply not the case. If Tottenham needs anything, it’s another young – or at least younger – striker who is willing to take the chances given to him and also play multiple positions.

Which brings us to the second rumor. Should reports be believed, Tottenham are going to make a move for Toulouse striker Wissam Ben Yedder before the January transfer window, and are prepared to offer upwards of £7.5 million for the Frenchman.

Though it might be a bit tougher than that sounds. Toulouse are in the midst of a relegation battle at the moment and might be reluctant to sell a player who has scored 13 goals in his 18 appearances in all competitions so far this term.

Even still, the Yedder is much more in line with Tottenham’s system than the Martinez. He’s younger – 25 – and is capable of playing in attacking midfield as well as striker, though the latter is his preferred position. Most importantly: he’d by two-thirds less expensive.

A deal for Yedder or a player like him would make particularly good sense if one or both of Andros Townsend and Federico Fazio can be sold before the end of the month. Their transfer fees would more than pay for a player in Yedder’s price range, though at the moment it looks like any agreement for Townsend’s transfer would be precipitated by a loan deal until the end of the season.

Next: How Does Oduwa Fit at Tottenham?

The other – and perhaps more likely – option is that Tottenham do nothing. Maybe the club is properly fit to last the rest of the season with just Harry Kane as the only recognized striker. Pochettino spoke recently about the slew of rumors surrounding the possibility of adding another striker to the club and roundly dismissed them, adding that if needed he could always promote from within.

Pochettino’s claims get to the heart of why any rumor linking Tottenham with a striker needs to be doubted. While some cover for Kane would be desirable, is it worth breaking the bank to get it? Or, more importantly, is it worth disrupting the hard-won balance at the club?