Mauricio Pochettino says Tottenham feel no pressure to sign a replacement for injured striker Harry Kane, and has vowed not to “cry” as injuries and departures mount within his squad.
Spurs expect Kane to be out of action until March and there have been reports of interest in 31-year-old free agent forward Giuseppe Rossi, who has been training with Manchester United.
But Pochettino told a news conference: “I think there’s many names that appear in every transfer window. He’s another name to add on the list but it’s only a rumour. We are not considering him.
“It’s a rumour like another but if you ask me, I think no, it’s not a possibility.
“I think [Harry’s injury] is not going to change our mind about the view of the squad. Always we’re open to improving our squad, to adding players that can improve us. But I think that’s not going to put pressure on us to sign some players.
“We know very well the market now is so difficult, and the circumstance that we have. Of course, if we identify the player that is going to help us and can add qualities that we don’t have in the squad, we’re more than open to trying [to make] that happen. But at the moment, I think there’s not too many possibilities to add this type of player that can improve us.
“Of course it’s going to be an important player who’s out for a time. He’s one of the best strikers or players in Europe, or the world, and always it’s going to affect the performance.
“But we think and are in the same way — positive that we can cope with the situation and we have enough players to cover that place, and it’s not going to change our approach in the different games we’re going to play without him.”
Spurs are also short of central midfielders. Moussa Sissoko is due to miss the next fortnight with a groin problem and Eric Dier is not yet fit enough to start after recovering from appendicitis, while Victor Wanyama is also out of action and Mousa Dembele was sold on Thursday.
“In football, you have two options, to cry or to see a possibility for another player to play and step up, and an opportunity to play in a different way,” said Pochettino. “I’m the person that chooses the second option.
“It’s a massive challenge. For me, rather than to sit in my chair and cry it’s to find another way to try and challenge ourselves and be consistent and keep the same level of performance.”
Dembele has joined Chinese Super League side Guangzhou R&F and Pochettino said: “I think he’s a player and a person that we’re going to miss.
“You know very well my feeling about him — he was one of the greatest players that I met in my career. Of course, I wish him all the best.
“His wish was to move to China and his dream became a reality now. It was a pleasure to share with him an unbelievable time here in Tottenham.”
Meanwhile, Pochettino admits he has been disappointed by the “Spygate” scandal at Leeds, where his former manager Marcelo Bielsa has admitted to having the training sessions of his opponents covertly watched.
“It’s a situation that makes me a little bit sad,” he said. “Always my love is going to be with him — he was a person so important to me, to helping me build my career as a player. But after that, we’re talking about one situation that happened last week and I can’t agree [with it]. For me, it’s wrong. I can understand Frank Lampard’s feelings.
“The English people and the culture you create in the past here gives you the opportunity to work in privacy that doesn’t happen maybe in Germany or Argentina or Spain. That makes us feel more responsible to keep that idea, that you can work and feel at home and you don’t need to hide anything.
“It doesn’t change my view about Marcelo but I can’t agree with what happened.”
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