Tottenham’s Pochettino eyes striker addition in January

REUTERS – Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino hopes to sign an out-and-out striker in the January transfer window to ease the burden on Harry Kane but the Argentine said maintaining team balance was more important than adding to the squad.

After a slow start to the season, Kane has nine goals in his last seven appearances for the club and while Pochettino has other attacking options in Son Heung-min, Nacer Chadli and Clinton N’Jie he lacks another striker who can lead the line.

“We have offensive players who can play like Harry. There is Sonny or Chadli or Clinton – they can play like a striker,” Pochettino told reporters on Thursday.

“But I recognise they are not specific strikers, so maybe we work to try to find such a player we can add in the next transfer window, or in the summer.

“What is most important is that we do not rock the balance of the team. It is important we find someone who is very specific.”

Lining up for West Brom against Spurs on Saturday is Saido Berahino, a forward Pochettino tried to bring to White Hart Lane in the summer before admitting defeat in the chase.

The England under-21 striker was the subject of four failed bids from the North London club and threatened he would never play for West Brom again after failing to secure a last-minute transfer.

Pochettino said there was no concerns about Berahino upping his game against them.

“West Brom have a lot of good players. You can’t be more worried about some players because of rumours or what happened in the summer.”

Tottenham are fifth in the table and are currently on a 13-game unbeaten run in the league.

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)