Tottenham are expected to bid for a readymade attacker who’ll be their de facto replacement for Harry Kane, and the Premier League ace favours joining Spurs over Chelsea, per reports.
Kane wasted no time making his mark at Bayern Munich after both scoring and assisting on his Bundesliga debut against Werder Bremen.
However, with new boss Ange Postecoglou bringing an exciting brand of football back to Tottenham, it’s far from doom and gloom without Kane in north London.
Richarlison has thus far been tasked with leading the line in a post-Kane team. The Brazilian is yet to register a goal or assist so far this season, though his tireless running does open avenues for those around him to thrive.
Many expected Tottenham to sign a direct replacement for Kane in the form of a new centre-forward. However, according to Postecoglou, Spurs might have other ideas.
As quoted by Football London, Postecoglou hinted a like-for-like replacement isn’t necessarily in Tottenham’s thinking.
“Not necessarily,” said the Australian. “I know that’s the obvious place people look at because of recent outgoings but we’d been planning for that for a while.
“There’s still areas we can strengthen in all our lines: defensively, midfield, up front.”
Now, according to reports from the Evening Standard and Daily Mail, the player Spurs are turning to to take Kane’s place in the forward line is Brennan Johnson.
The Nottingham Forest ace, 22, is believed to be valued around the £50m mark and is also admired over at Chelsea.
However, per the Mail, it’s Tottenham who the Wales international would favour if leaving Forest.
Explaining why, the outlet claimed the amount of playing time he’ll receive will be front and centre in Johnson’s mind. Per the report, the versatile frontman will greatly favour joining Spurs over Chelsea as a result.
As such, reported Chelsea plans to loan Andrey Santos to Forest as a sweetener to help lure Johnson the other way look doomed to fail.
What’s more, according to the Evening Standard, Tottenham are primed to open the bidding for Johnson.
They state ‘Tottenham are expected to make a bid’ for the attacker if they can first reduce the size of their squad.
Jonathan David, Gift Orban and Mehdi Taremi have also been linked with Spurs, but it’s a move for Johnson that is seemingly now top of the agenda.
Adding fuel to the fire are comments from Football London’s Alasdair Gold (as quoted by the Standard).
Speaking via his YouTube channel, Gold said of Johnson: “He’s got loads of admirers at Tottenham. He will certainly cost more than Gift Orban and again probably plays more out wide but can play centrally.
“Keep an eye on Brennan Johnson links as well. I know [Fabio] Paratici was a big fan of his as well, obviously still involved in his consultancy role at Spurs.”
Johnson bagged eight goals and three assists during his first crack at the Premier League last season.