Tottenham are looking to add a forward to Ange Postecoglou's options this summer with Lille striker Jonathan David on the shortlist but Feyenoord striker Santiago Gimenez is not among those who are believed to be on it.
Spurs are looking to increase their attacking outlets for the coming season with the Australian admitting to football.london last month that he needed new recruits in the front third of the pitch. The north London club have been linked with a move for a number of strikers across Europe in recent months as they seek to continue to fill the void left by Harry Kane's departure to Bayern Munich last summer.
"Yeah, absolutely. It's no secret [we need new attacking players]. You saw the way we finished the season," Postecoglou said. "We obviously lost Richy (Richarlison) and Timo [Werner] as well with injuries but we're fairly light in that area. We started last season with Manor [Solomon] and [Ivan] Perisic and we were quite healthy in that front third in terms of numbers, but as the year went on it became pretty evident that we need to bulk up. We're in Europe as well next year so we'll have more games and it's definitely an area of the park we'll need to strengthen."
football.london understands that Tottenham have compiled a shortlist of forwards who fit their profile of signing players for the present and long-term and therefore are at the most aged in their mid-twenties or younger.
Lille striker Jonathan David is one of the names high on that list with the club having followed the Canada international for some time. The Brooklyn-born 24-year-old, currently at the Copa America, netted 26 goals in 47 matches this season for Lille, having hit the same number the previous season for the Ligue 1 outfit and is a player of serious interest to Spurs.
David's contract runs out in 2025 which could mean he is available for a lower fee than in previous summers, with some reports suggesting a £25million price tag rests on his shoulders once he returns from the Copa America next month. The Canada striker took on Tottenham vice-captain Cristian Romero on Friday night at the tournament, with Argentina running out 2-0 victors.
The other names on Tottenham's shortlist have been compiled by technical director Johan Lange and chief scout Rob Mackenzie, with plenty of emphasis on data and analysis, in conjunction with Postecoglou's demands as they look to find a striker who is a perfect fit for the Australian's system.
Feyenoord's Santiago Gimenez is not believed to be on the shortlist, despite frequent links to the club. The 23-year-old Mexican netted 23 goals this season in the Eredivisie and was spotted at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium watching a game last season, believed to be as the guest of an agent rather than invited by the club.
Those within Spurs have also distanced themselves from reports of a move for Brentford striker Ivan Toney at this stage of the transfer window, while Bologna's Joshua Zirkzee has also been linked but is not a forward that the north London outfit are considering at this point. Juventus star Federico Chiesa, who plays out wide but can also play through the middle in attack as a support striker, is also not thought to be a potential transfer target for Tottenham this summer.
Spurs have certainly scouted plenty of attacking talent over the past 12 months, including RB Leipzig's 24-year-old Belgian forward Lois Openda, who netted 28 goals in 45 matches in the Bundesliga and Champions League last season.
However, the Belgian forward, who can also play out wide, has four years left on his contract and reportedly has an €80million (£67.8million) release clause which becomes active only in 2025 with Leipzig looking for much more this summer if a club were to make an offer.
Another in the expensive but talented category is Swedish star Viktor Gyokeres, who turned 26 this month. The Stockholm-born hitman netted 43 goals in 50 matches for Sporting CP this season. The former Brighton striker came through the same Brommapojkarna academy as Tottenham's Dejan Kulusevski and new signing Lucas Bergvall, who arrives next month from Djurgarden. Sporting have reportedly slapped an £85.8million price tag on the forward though, with interest in him from across Europe's elite clubs.
Spurs have long looked at Bournemouth's Dominic Solanke, who would again fall into that big fee category with reports suggesting he has a £65million release clause that can only be activated by a number of undisclosed clubs. The now 26-year-old netted 21 goals last season for the Cherries and has three years left on his current contract.
Tottenham have previously looked at Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, particularly before the now 24-year-old joined Juventus from Fiorentina, with the club's former managing director of football Fabio Paratici known to be a big fan of the Serbia striker.
Tottenham must also plan for two potential summer eventualities with their attacking options. One is to sign a striker to compete with Richarlison for a spot in Postecoglou's team and the other is to sign someone to replace the Brazilian. While the 27-year-old has stated his desire to remain at the north London club, there has been interest in him from clubs in the Saudi Pro League.
While he netted 12 goals in 31 matches for Spurs and impressed when fit last season, football.london understands that Richarlison's injury record which has seen him miss 20 matches across the past two seasons, with other games when he was not fit enough to play more than a handful of minutes, means the club would listen to any serious offers that come in this summer for the Brazil international.
The striker was signed from Everton for £60million in the summer of 2022 and captain Son Heung-min had to fill in for him on a number of occasions last season.
While the Euros and Copa America will hold up many signings for clubs across the transfer window this summer, with Spurs targeting England and Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze among others, the club are attempting to get some business done earlier as the first team players begin to return to pre-season training from July 6.
"Yeah, look it is important. Last year it certainly benefited us in having a couple of players in early to be with the whole squad," Postecoglou said to football.london about making early signings last month. "Again looking at the schedule this year with international commitments, we're not going to get them all back for the start of pre-season, but if we can get ones in early. It's easier said than done. Everyone wants to get business done early, everyone is keen to bring players in but the reality is that it takes a little bit of time.
"The good thing for us is that we know what we need to do, we've had the plan in place for a while and it's just about now going through that process."
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