Tottenham Hotspur need to sign a new striker. As the shots come pouring in but the goals come trickling out with defenders outscoring forwards, Spurs are realizing that they may simply be a truly great No. 9 away from being Premier League title contenders - or they may only be a simply decent scoring striker away from that status.
Dominic Solanke was the only player on the pitch against Crystal Palace who did not have a good game, and that alone was enough for Spurs fans to come to a collective realization that he is not nearly good enough - of course, if they had not already felt that way before.
Omar Marmoush or even Dejan Kulusevski will be options at the No. 9 position in the coming months but when the January transfer window opens, Tottenham Hotspur will be looking for a striker. Eli Junior Kroupi of Bournemouth hit the ground running like he never left upon his injury return off the bench against Leeds United with a great all around game, but it is highly unlikely that the Cherries even entertain offers for a player they were not at all keen to sell this past summer either.
Serie A is worth looking into for Tottenham
So that leaves Tottenham in a tough spot, because they clearly need a new striker who can bring home the goals but there are no real options. Established strikers are hard to come by and not likely to move in the winter, so the two best options Spurs may have to gamble on before going after Kroupi hard next summer are two unproven, rising options out of Serie A.
Even without Fabio Paratici to carry on the pipe line of talent coming into N17 from Italy, Frosinone's 22 year old Italian sensation Antonio Raimondo and Monza's breakout 21 year old Portugese Gustavo Varela have been the two best scorers in Calcio and look legitimately promising.
Varela has an even 9 goals in 9 games with a key pass per game and 1.6 combined dribbles completed and fouls drawn per game. He has been one of the deadliest scorers in European football with a much, much better all around game on paper than Dominic Solanke.
Meanwhile, Raimondo has 8 goals in 10 starts for his underdog side, and while he has no dribbles completed at all and not many key passes in the Solanke vein, he is still a big presence with 1.1 fouls drawn per game.
Between the two of them, Gustavo Varela is younger and better with more goals, better dribbling, and better chance creation, but both would be superior to Solanke. And while they are gambles like keeping Will Lankshear would have been, they are proving it in a top five league in European football and two of the rare options actually distinguishing themselves right now as both realistic and quality while being young enough to develop.