Tottenham Hotspur have, once again, let their entire fanbase down with another poor summer transfer window to this point, and the worst part is that Daniel Levy actually had Spurs supporters thinking for a second that things would be different with Thomas Frank in charge and a historic Europa League title victory just months ago.
But instead of pairing Nottingham Forest star Morgan Gibbs-White with new winger Mohammed Kudus, Tottenham have signed nobody else to join the attack of a team that finished 17th in the Premier League and just got absolutely embarrassed by Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich 4-0. You know, the kind of club Tottenham need to prove they can get a result against if they want to even have a prayer of competing in the Champions League.
Tottenham have a laundry list of attacking needs, and their desperation to sign another player has only heightened after the ACL tear to No. 10 James Maddison. But as we discuss attacking needs for Tottenham, arguably the most neglected is at the striker position.
Although Dominic Solanke had his positives and was massive in the Europa League, he was also playing against teams like Bodo Glimt. Against the best the Premier League has to offer, Solanke couldn't muster double-digit goals.
Chelsea won't be giving any discounts
His position in his second season after a 65 million pound investment is secure, but his backup, Richarlison, has been on the transfer chopping block this summer. It's easy to forget that since nobody has shown interest in him and things have moved so slowly, and, basically, there's a prevailing belief that Frank will just stick with the expensive and oft-injured ex-Everton star.
But Tottenham are pondering a switch at striker. According to a report from the Daily Telegraph's Sam Wallace, Tottenham are interested in signing Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson this summer as a possible replacement for Richarlison. They haven't tabled a formal transfer offer to their London rivals for Jackson, but their interest is real.
Jackson carries a whopping price tag of at least 80 million euros, because while Chelsea want to get rid of the ill-disciplined striker, they aren't in any desperate need to sell him. He is safely under contract and isn't a bad all-around option.
But he's a terrible candidate for Tottenham. A fee of 80 million euros is exorbitant, and Tottenham aren't going to get any discounts from Chelsea. Spurs already have a good all-around striker who isn't a proven goal-scorer at the Premier League level in Solanke, so why spend even more on a booking machine who has less technical quality?
Tottenham could use more goals, but Richarlison has a better past scoring track record at lowly Everton than Jackson does on a team that boasted Jadon Sancho, Pedro Neto, Enzo Fernandez, and Cole freaking Palmer last season. If anything, splurging on Jackson is a much worse option than just sticking with Richarlison, because, at this rate, Spurs were far too slow to actually address the striker position this summer anyway. There's no need to make a dumb desperation buy and make everything worse.