Following in the path of Harry Kane is no easy task – as a few former Tottenham forwards have discovered – and new signing Richarlison will become the latest to try his luck after joining from Everton.
The Brazilian forward has wrapped up his £60million move, £50m up front with around £10m in add-ons, a fee approaching the club’s record signing – and now Spurs have some serious firepower to challenge the elite.
The 25-year-old has become Antonio Conte‘s fourth summer signing after Ivan Perisic, Fraser Forster and Yves Bissouma, as Spurs continue to rebuild their squad ahead of a return to the Champions League.
Everton forward Richarlison has completed his £60million move to Tottenham Hotspur
He is poised to become the latest in a long line of stars to act as backup to striker Harry Kane
After several misfires, the Brazilian star has the quality to challenge star forward Kane
Richarlison, while potentially capable of starting on the right wing and acting as cover for Golden Boot joint winner Son Heung-min on the left, will also almost certainly be the first to step in if Kane misses out.
The England captain is a world-class striker and one of the Premier League greats, but has struggled with injuries at times amid a massive workload for club and country, especially given the club’s lack of adequate competition up front.
Many second-choice strikers have tried and failed to fill his shoes in years gone by – while experiments with youngsters haven’t paid off either, with Son seemingly the only player capable of handling the responsibility.
So below, Sportsmail looks at Tottenham’s questionable history of poor back-up forward – and discusses why Richarlison has the quality to eclipse them all.
Spurs manager Antonio Conte (left) knows he needs cover if the England captain gets injured
Roberto Soldado
After a 30-goal season for Valencia in Spain, former Real Madrid striker Soldado arrived in north London for a then-club record fee of £26m.
He scored a (controversial) penalty on his Spurs debut against Crystal Palace, but finished the season with just six league goals, only two of which came from open play.
The following campaign, he scored just once in 24 appearances. The club promptly sold him for a £16m loss, two years after he had joined.
Roberto Soldado is one of many players who struggled to play second fiddle to Kane up front
Vincent Janssen
Another who bagged plenty in Europe but could not translate that…