Of all the mediocre strikers to be linked with Tottenham during the January transfer window, Olivier Giroud was arguably the best short-term solution.
The Frenchman knows the league and the area, so wouldn’t have taken any time to settle in. He is an excellent target man, which is what Jose Mourinho was looking for, and he’d have been content on the bench when Harry Kane came back. Ignore his Arsenal and Chelsea connections, and the glove fits.
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But is he what we should be looking for in a striker come the summer?
Giroud apparently hopes so. According to The Telegraph, the 33-year-old has a pre-contract offer from Lazio but is waiting to see if Spurs reprise their interest in him when his Chelsea deal expires at the season’s end.
I can see how the 6ft 4in (1.93 m) forward could play a useful role for Mourinho’s Spurs over 12-18 months, but that doesn’t mean I think we should sign him.
We will continue to have a striker dilemma while we continue to treat that dilemma in the same way. We need to be looking to sign a striker capable of playing with Kane as well as covering for him, not just a bona-fide deputy.