Ange Postecoglou reveals Tottenham's plans to sign new striker

Ange Postecoglou has admitted Tottenham Hotspur are hoping to sign a new striker before the end of the transfer window.

Posted Saturday, August 03, 2024 by 90min.com

Spurs have made one signing so far this summer, bringing in promising midfielder Archie Gray from Leeds United for £40m.

Heading into the window, Tottenham were expected to strengthen their attacking options and bring in a belated replacement for Harry Kane. They have recently been linked with Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke, Brentford talisman Ivan Toney and Wolves winger Pedro Neto.

During Spurs' pre-season tour of South Korea, Postecoglou spoke about what he wants from any forward signing this window.

"At Celtic, I had Kyogo, who was a sort of out and out number nine and in Japan, I've always had a striker. It just depends, like last year we had to be a bit creative, it's fair to say. You know but if Harry would have stayed I definitely would have used him!" Postecoglou told football.london.

"So I think for us what's more important is the type of striker we get. You know we play a certain way. We demand certain things from a physical perspective from the technical aspects of it that it's going be a striker that fits that mould.

"It's still the area of the park we're really probably the thinnest when I talk about squad-wise at the moment, so obviously that's a focus for us.

"Irrespective of the approach, I like to think I've always been pretty clear on what I want. I've had success for the most part of my career with transfers and, I mean, I thought last year's window was excellent.

"When I was a Celtic or at Yokohama, I mean, there's still guys that dominate the league that I brought to the league. So I think what hopefully minimises us getting it wrong is I'm really clear on what I want. Now, it kind of helps now with Johan [Lange, sporting director] and his team that they've got some more information around that, but it still comes down to, I think the most successful models are about having a real clear idea about what you're after.

"You know, because if it's just a left winger you want, there are thousands of them all very, very good. It's about finding one that's going to fit into the way you want to do things."

Postecoglou utilised Son Heung-min as a striker last season

Postecoglou added that Tottenham are unlikely to complete all of the business they need to get done this transfer window.

"I don't think it'll all get done [in this window]. I've never believed in quick fixes and I think I said that it would have been great if we had done our business already, but I've always maintained a discipline not to go off and sort of get too emotional through these times," he continued.

"It's a difficult time. This is the part of the season where I've probably got the least control over decisions and I've learned to stay disciplined and make sure that we do what we set out to do. We've added the two young guys, but I also think there's been growth from other guys from last year, which naturally makes us stronger this year.

"But yeah, we obviously still got a hand in this window, but I think we'll go beyond this window. This was wasn't just tinkering around the edges when I took over, it needed, you know, a big shift from where it was. I was just thinking about last year's pre-season, you know, I reckon 50% of the people who were on that tour are probably not here now.

"So we've already done a hell of a lot and we don't need to do as much, but I still think there's... because it's not just about having success one year. What you're trying to build is another, hopefully another cycle of success, and I think that'll take a bit longer."