Tottenham Hotspur could make a shock move for unwanted Liverpool striker Rickie Lambert, with Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino keen on reuniting with the player he coached so successfully at Southampton.
Lambert scored 19 goals in 55 appearances for Pochettino, helping the Saints finish 14th and 8th during the Argentine’s year-and-a-half spell in charge of the South Coast club.
However, he has struggled to rediscover that form following a switch to boyhood club Liverpool, scoring just three goals in all competitions last season and ending the 2014-15 campaign well down our pecking order.
SEE MORE:
Man for man comparison: 7 new Liverpool signings v men they replaced
And now, according to reports in The Times, Tottenham are ready to go head to head with West Brom for the Lambert’s signature – with the player very much surplus to requirements following the summer arrivals of Christian Benteke, Danny Ings and Divock Origi.
The source states that Pochettino wants Lambert as back-up to Harry Kane, with the North London club looking to sign two new strikers in the final weeks of the transfer window.
The Times admit that West Brom are still leading the race for Lambert, having already held talks with him earlier this month, while their manager Tony Pulis – who is quoted by the Liverpool Echo – has also spoken about him.
“Rickie is available,” Pulis said. “Liverpool have made that known. We’d be interested. It’s very important that we get players who will score goals. Rickie’s got a great goalscoring record.”
It’s vitally important – following our new arrivals this summer – that we don’t hold ourselves back by financially by finding ourselves stuck with the deadwood. We currently have eight strikers in our first-team squad – including Lambert, Mario Balotelli and Fabio Borini – none of whom are going to play regularly.
If we can find new homes for all of these players before the season starts, then so much the better.