According to a recent report from The Daily Telegraph, Tottenham are considering a move for Divock Origi following the injury sustained by Harry Kane at the weekend. The England captain picked up an ankle problem in Spurs’ 1-0 defeat to Manchester United at Wembley on Sunday, with reports earlier this week confirming that the 25-year-old looks set to be out of action until the start of March.
And reports suggest that Liverpool’s Origi is one man the North Londoners are eyeing up as a possible replacement for Kane in the next six weeks or so, but were Mauricio Pochettino’s men to indeed land the £9 million-rated Belgian (as per Transfermarkt), they can wave goodbye to winning anything this season.
The Breakdown
Ultimately, there is little doubting that the injury to talisman Kane, alongside the absence of Son Heung-min given he is at the Asian Cup with his country, is likely to hit Spurs hard given the duo have scored 32 goals between them this term, and as such are the two leaders in the club’s goal-scoring ranks.
But with so many crucial matches coming up for Tottenham in all four competitions they remain in, not least a Carabao Cup semi-final clash against Chelsea as well as a Champions League last-16 encounter with Borussia Dortmund next month, Pochettino’s men surely cannot afford to go into the next few weeks without an accomplished option upfront.
Neither Vincent Janssen nor Fernando Llorente have proven to be that man in their respective stints in North London so far, and while Liverpool’s Origi has shown moments of promise during his time on Merseyside, he simply isn’t that man either.
The 23-year-old made the move to Anfield back in 2014 but it wasn’t until returning from a loan spell at Lille that the striker began to deliver for the Reds, netting ten times in the 2015/16 campaign under Jurgen Klopp before adding 11 the season after as Liverpool returned to the Champions League.
Thus, those seasons suggest that Origi may have what it takes to lead the line for a trophy-chasing Spurs in the weeks and months to come, but things have taken a turn for the worst recently to emphasise that he really isn’t the answer.
The Belgium international was shipped out on loan to German side Wolfsburg for the entirety of last season such was his lowly position in Klopp’s pecking order, although only proceeded to bag six times in the Bundesliga before returning to Anfield last summer.
And things haven’t improved at Liverpool with only five appearances to show for his endeavours this term, and while he did net the winner against Everton in the league, and scored a fine goal against Wolves earlier this month in the FA Cup, he hasn’t shown a high enough level in recent times to suggest that he can cut it in the Premier League week in week out.
In fact, his goal against Nuno Espirito Santo’s Wolves in the third round of the FA Cup glossed over what was an otherwise woeful display from Origi at a time whereby he had the chance to impress Klopp – ultimately, he simply isn’t good enough.
And with too many huge games for Spurs coming up in Kane’s spell on the sidelines, luring a striker to deputise for the Englishman could make or break their season – yet landing Origi would almost certainly do the latter.
Tottenham fans… what do you think? Let us know!