Tottenham Hotspur have no real options at striker right now with Dominic Solanke nursing an injury that has been slower to heal than expected and new loan signing Randal Kolo Muani still unable to debut due to a “dead leg”.
But when Kolo Muani and Solanke return to join Richarlison and even young Mathys Tel, Tottenham will have four potential options at the No. 9 position. None of them stand out as obvious winners in a competition, so how do they stack up in comparison and who is the best candidate when everyone is healthy?
For starters, Tel is the least enticing option at striker. He’s more of a left winger with his profile as a dribbler, and finishing is honestly his weakest point. At 20 years of age, Tel is honestly still a prospect, and even though he’s the best option on the left wing right now, which is another strike against him being the (ahem) striker, Spurs supporters have to be careful not to judge him too harshly.
Likewise, Richarlison is third out of the four strikers on the team, because, well, he’s just too inconsistent. His goal-scoring record is more proven than Tel’s, yes, but he’s actually very rarely even scored 10 Premier League goals in a season.
Richarlison isn’t cutting it
Right now, Richarlison isn’t getting the job done, and that alone is as compelling of a reason as any to, by default, rank him behind Kolo Muani and Solanke. Why give the nod to someone who is already not adequate enough?
Picking between Kolo Muani and Solanke for the No. 1 spot as the best striker in the current Tottenham squad isn’t easy. Firstly, we haven’t seen Kolo Muani in the Premier League, and while he was pretty lousy for PSG, he did outplay Dusan Vlahovic at Juventus and was good enough that the Bianconeri tried very hard to keep him. And before all that, he was one of the best all-around strikers in Europe as a breakout star for Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2022/23 season.
The thing is, Solanke’s 2023/24 season for Bournemouth was more impressive than any of Kolo Muani’s seasons in his career, including in Frankfurt. Solanke scored more goals on a worse team, and his all-around track record and even natural abiliity as a former Chelsea, Liverpool, and England youth phenom shows you how much natural talent he has.
Tottenham spent 65 million pounds on Solanke – then a Spurs transfer record – from Bournemouth for a reason. He had a pretty quiet first season at Tottenham, but, then again, nobody was exactly lighting it up for Ange Postecoglou in the 2024/25 Premier League campaign. But in the Europa League when Spurs were firing on all cylinders, Solanke was Spurs best attacking player and crucial to the title triumph, particularly with big goals in big games. And his all-around ability was even better. He has to be the main option at striker, and we haven’t yet seen what he’s capable of under a better tactical coach in Frank.
