Are Tottenham ruing Reo Griffiths’s 2018 departure for the first time?

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Following Tottenham Hotspur’s FA Cup defeat on Wednesday, Jose Mourinho admitted, in comments reported by Football London, that he is worried about his players playing again so soon after going the distance with Norwich City.

Spurs were knocked on by the Canaries after a penalty shootout at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. And by this time next week, they will have faced Burnley in the Premier League and then tackled the second-leg of their Champions League knockout tie with RB Leipzig.

And Tottenham are having to tackle this current run without their two best attacking players, with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min sidelined.

Spurs have options up their sleeve. Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn are capable of playing up front. Dele Alli led the line against Norwich. And of course, the fans are desperate to see Troy Parrott used more often.

But it is probably fair to say that none of those players are stamping their authority on the position at a time when Spurs ideally need two or three options to get through their fixture list.

So perhaps this current spell may be the first time since his 2018 departure that Spurs have been made to rue losing Reo Griffiths.

Griffiths boasted a remarkable record during his time in Tottenham’s academy. The striker scored 34 goals in 34 under-18 Premier League games, famously once scoring four in one game against Arsenal.

Could Griffiths have boosted Tottenham’s options right now?

Admittedly, the teenager gave fewer indications that he was ready for the first-team when he was involved with the under-23s. But it still seemed to be a huge blow when he decided to leave almost two years ago to join Lyon.

Griffiths is still awaiting the chance to make his first-team debut for the French side. So it would be a big leap to suggest that he would have been Tottenham’s striker saviour right now had he stayed.

Nevertheless, the 19-year-old may have been an option for Mourinho to turn to. He has scored six goals for Lyon’s B side this term.

And had he got his opportunity, perhaps he could have shown signs that he was ready to realise his potential.

It may have been that Mourinho may have felt that, like Parrott, he was not ready for the first-team fold anyway.

But at a time when his squad is being stretched, having a talent like Griffiths up his sleeve may have perhaps been a real boost for the Spurs boss.