Tottenham need an experienced understudy to Harry Kane

Tottenham can — and should — buck tradition and sign an older player to serve second fiddle to Harry Kane.

While the England international scores enough for two strikers, his two injury layoffs this past season only solidified the impression that Tottenham need to be able to call upon talent deeper in the roster.

The club attempted to address Kane’s lack of a proper understudy last summer by recruiting Vincent Janssen. The Dutchman scored 27 goals in the Eredivisie the season before, and seemed the perfect addition to mitigate the risk of Kane succumbing to injury.

Barely within a month of the start of the season though, it was clear Mauricio Pochettino didn’t have faith that Janssen was ready for that role. The 21-year-old featured heavily in the opening matches of the season — often alongside Kane himself — but it would be fair to call that early experiment a dud.

That trend continued throughout the season, with Janssen only really appearing for brief substitute appearances instead of outright starts.

Perhaps understandably, the Netherlands international has started to make noises that he’s open to the possibility of moving in order to get playing time.

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That is his right, of course, and it might be what’s best for both club and player. Spurs do need a backup option, though this season made it clear that turning to youth for that player might not be the best bet.

Which is why this week’s rumor that Spurs are interested in signing Atlético Madrid striker and France international Kevin Gameiro looks especially intriguing.

The 30-year-old is a bit of a journeyman, having played for all of Lorient, Paris Saint-Germain, Sevilla and Atlético since 2009.

Over that time period, Gameiro has failed to score less than 10 goals only twice. Eleven of his 16 goals this season came during his 25 starts as a striker for Diego Simeone’s side.

So the Frenchman is clearly capable, even if he is nearing the end of his career. Spurs could do far worse than snapping him up from Atlético this summer — though admittedly The Sun’s £26 million price tag seems especially steep.

In any case, Spurs would do well to turn to players closer to Gameiro than Janssen. Not only do you get a more thorough and proven track record, but you also add a veteran to an especially young side that can never hurt for more leadership.

For a player like Gameiro, it would be understandably difficult to convince him to take a bench role when plenty of clubs would love him in their starting XI.

That is the same basic problem Spurs and many other teams encounter with younger players however. It’s all about managing expectations and giving these players chances where appropriate.

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Moreover, a player like Gameiro is already well-versed in sitting behind a talented, younger striker on the depth chart. Antoine Griezmann was far and away Atlético’s first choice to lead the line, but Gameiro had plenty of looks in all the same.

Spurs can replicate Atlético’s success by following through on Gameiro or finding another long in the tooth striker looking for a healthy team to spend his remaining years of vitality.