Tottenham Hotspur’s striking ranks are even lighter after Clinton N’Jie was ruled out for a month.
The Cameroonian, a £12m summer signing from Lyon – fee reported by The Telegraph, missed last weekend’s 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United and has since been diagnosed with knee ligament damage.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino told Sky Sports on Friday: “Clinton picked up a ligament injury in his knee and maybe we miss him for a while. It’s difficult to say how long. Maybe in the next few days we can communicate better with more specific details. Will it be more than a month? Maybe, yes.”
N’Jie has yet to start a Premier League game since arriving at White Hart Lane. He has made seven substitute appearances and had two starts in the Europa League without finding the net.
But the 22-year-old would likely have been given more opportunities across a busy festive period which could now see Harry Kane – Tottenham’s only recognised senior forward – pushed to his limits.
Kane has already played 28 games for club and country this season – scoring 12 goals – and is desperately short of support in the striking department after Spurs failed to buy a frontman in the summer.
As Sky Sports reports, Pochettino has suggested that the Londoners may look again for forward reinforcements in January, and the injury to N’Jie only increases the likelihood that Spurs will buy.
West Bromwich Albion’s Saido Berahino was the subject of four failed Spurs bids in the last transfer window and will be targeted again along with Marseille’s Michy Batshuayi, according to the Daily Mail.
SEE MORE:
Video evidence Sky Sports are grooming Chelsea captain John Terry as Gary Neville replacement
Tottenham new stadium: Green light finally given for £400m ground bigger than Arsenal’s Emirates
£15m striker admits he wants Premier League move, but drops hint that he’d reject Tottenham