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Forget Berahino: Tottenham’s new-look attack a reason for optimism

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]ransfer deadline day has come and gone, with the window now shut and matters returning to all things on the pitch rather than speculation off it.

For the Premier League, much of the hype in the finals hours of a red-hot market surrounded the potential for Saido Berahino to end a summer-long saga and sign for Tottenham.

The reasons that the move did not happen and the subsequent fallout from the West Brom attacker’s petulance have been covered extensively elsewhere, while Spurs fans have been left scratching their heads over the lack of proven number nines in their squad.

Despite not being able to land Berahino before Tuesday’s cut-off point, Mauricio Pochettino will be confident that he has more comprehensive attacking options now than he did at the start of the summer.

There is no doubting that having Kane as the only option in the striker position of Spurs’ 4-2-3-1 formation is pure folly, but it is likely that the Argentine manager will use others capable of doing a job out of position as the furthest man forward when needed.

As a Spurs fan, one of the most frustrating areas of the team over recent times has been in attacking midfield, with the personnel and tactics of the three men behind the central striker raising serious questions.

However, with two new big-money additions in the form of Son Heung-min and Clinton N’jie coming in to bolster the ranks, there is the potential for a nice balance to the new-look Tottenham attack.

Although both new men are versatile enough to play centrally, Son in particular, or on the flanks, the duo have the attributes to solve Tottenham’s wing issues.

Despite Christian Eriksen being fully able to start on the left-hand side of midfield and still have an influence from wide, the Dane is Spurs’ most creative talent and is best used centrally.

If, as expected, Son is utilised as an option on the left like he has played most of his football for Bayer Leverkusen and N’jie is deployed on the right, this will allow the former Ajax man to take his rightful place in the space behind Kane.

Clinton N'jieThis central pairing showed that they have excellent link-up play last season and having Eriksen as a creative focal point will make Spurs a much more dangerous outfit.

Son arrives at White Hart Lane with a substantial reputation, which is justified after his consistently positive showings for Hamburg and Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.

A hard-working and technically gifted attacker, the South Korea international has proven that he has the skill-set to both score and create for his team and his acquisition should be seen as quite the coup.

On the other side, N’jie is more of a raw talent but has all the ingredients to be an excitement machine in North London.

Blisteringly fast, tricky and intelligent off the ball, the Cameroonian will offer Spurs some much-needed wing play and should he stick to the touchline for the most part it will create more space for others centrally.

N’jie showed at Lyon that he too has an eye for goal. If in 2015-16 he and Son can get anywhere near the collective 18 league goals they scored between them last season, Spurs fans will be delighted.

At 22 and 23 respectively, the duo fit into Pochettino’s ideal of making good young players great and certainly have the ability to succeed in the Premier League.

The fact that both were signed from clubs competing in this season’s Champions League, joining Spurs who are not, should not be overlooked either.

With Nacer Chadli continuing to improve, the impressive Dele Alli having a role to play and returning loan star Alex Pritchard set to be unleashed, Spurs have options.

The new men and Tottenham’s continually changing team will need time to get to the level Pochettino craves and patience will need to be displayed by all involved.

However, despite not having Berahino as a feature in attack this season, Spurs’ options in the final third are as comprehensive now as they have been for a number of years.

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