With Kane out, can Fernando Llorente salvage his Tottenham career?

By Gary Pearson | Mar 14, 2018

ENFIELD, ENGLAND - MARCH 06: Fernando Llorente in action during a Tottenham Hotspur training session on the eve of their UEFA Champions League match against Juventus at Tottenham Hotspur Training Centre on March 6, 2018 in Enfield, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /

Rumours of Fernando Llorente’s imminent summer departure have picked up steam in recent weeks, but can the out-of-favour forward still salvage his Tottenham career?

Other than a 12-minute explosion of Vesuvius proportions against Rochdale at Wembley a few weeks ago, Llorente’s abbreviated time at Spurs has been mired conclusively with underwhelming, sometimes abject performances.

Three goals in 12 minutes, while impressive, loses prominence and becomes a mere afterthought when taking into consideration the rest of his disappointing body of work. And the fact that his blistering hat trick came against a team almost certainly resigned next season to life in League 2 doesn’t help.

But has Harry Kane’s injury offered Llorente a lifeline, a glimmer of hope?

More from Match Previews

In the cutthroat, exceedingly competitive nature of the Premier League, clubs like Tottenham can’t have passengers in their ranks, no matter how experienced or likeable.

Mauricio Pochettino must trim the fat to remain in the upper echelon of English football. Unfortunately the gangly Spaniard has played himself into the excess fat category.

Llorente, though, with Kane out until April, has a chance to leave Spurs in the summer on a slightly sweeter note. While it’s true that Pochettino has completely lost whatever trust he once had in Llorente, the towering frontman will still see some playing time in the run in, starting against his former side in this weekend’s FA Cup quarterfinal.

Players often save their best performances against former teams. Llorente scored against Swansea on Jan. 2 in his first Premier League start for Spurs. That sentence, taken in silo, reads like a spectacular dream for the towering Tottenham striker. However, that 12th minute header stands as his only goal in 14 top flight appearances for Spurs.

Regardless of those disparaging numbers, Pochettino will almost certainly start Llorente on Saturday, knowing if there’s any match his underachieving forward can come up with the goods, it’s this one.

Pochettino, if things go well for Llorente this weekend, will be more amenable and willing – particularly with Kane sidelined – to offer his forlorn forward another chance in the Premier League.

Spurs, now more than ever, require a solid collective effort to cement their place as a top-four side and might have to pull from the bottom of the barrel to do so. Son Heung-Min definitely has the skill set to stand in for Kane, but it would certainly help Spurs to have a seasoned, experienced out-and-out frontman to have at their disposal.

That is exactly what Llorente was during his time at Swansea, so let’s hope his hat trick against a lesser team like Rochdale is the injection of confidence he needed to return to his former imperious self.

Next: Harry Kane breaks his silence about devastating injury

And what better platform to activate his dormant qualities and rise to the occasion than in Wales, against his former side in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup?

It might sound like a fairytale ending to an otherwise tumultuous Tottenham tenure but one of the best things about football is its unpredictability, and propensity for unlikely, dramatic hypotheticals turning into reality.