Paul Robinson suggests Tottenham may have missed a trick not signing Giroud

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Former Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Paul Robinson reckons the club’s January transfer target Olivier Giroud would have been a perfect fit for Jose Mourinho.

The Chelsea striker was linked with a surprise move to Spurs in the last couple of days of the window and talks were held (Evening Standard), but a move never materialised.

Tottenham were in the market for a new number nine following a serious hamstring injury to Harry Kane on New Year’s Day.

The England captain is going to miss most, if not all, of the rest of the season and youngster Troy Parrott is the only recognised striker at the moment.

In the end Giroud stayed at Stamford Bridge, and Robinson has suggested Spurs missed a trick.

Speaking on Stadium Astro, he said: “The way Giroud plays in the French national team, he occupies the two or three central defenders he’s playing against, he allows [Kylian] Mbappe and [Antoine] Griezmann and the players behind him to do the damage.

“He might not be the prolific goalscorer, but in the system he would have been a perfect fit, in my opinion, for Spurs.”

TBR’s view – Time will tell

It is difficult to say if missing out on £110,000-a-week star Giroud (Spotrac) will be significant for Tottenham.

He’s a brilliant player with bags of Premier League experience, but Spurs have some top-class attackers in their ranks.

Giroud’s association with Arsenal, and Chelsea for the matter, wouldn’t have made him popular with everyone, but he is the kind of physical striker Jose Mourinho has historically favoured.

Robinson does make a good point about the way Giroud plays for France though – his game revolves around bringing the more mobile attackers to do the damage, and Spurs have plenty of mobile attackers themselves would might have benefited from his target man capabilities.