Former Liverpool star Andy Carroll is a shock contender to solve the striker crisis at Tottenham. Dele Alli was crocked in Spurs’ last-gasp win, with Harry Kane already out and Son Heung-min away at the Asian Cup. West Ham’s Carroll is a free agent in the summer and could go for £2million. Dele went off on 86 minutes, while Kane’s stand-in Fernando Llorente scored an own goal and missed a sitter. Harry Winks’ injury-time winner sunk Fulham but Mauricio Pochettino admitted: “Dele does not look great. He felt his hamstring and we need to assess him in the next few days.” The deal for Carroll, 30, will rest on whether West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini reckons he needs the 6ft 4in striker to cover for unsettled Marko Arnautovic. Spaniard Llorente, whose Tottenham contract is up in the summer, is the only recognised striker Poch has available so Tottenham would look at offering Carroll an 18-month deal if they decide he fits the bill. Spurs also admire Callum Wilson but his £40m-plus price tag means he is likely to stay at Bournemouth.
Carroll, who missed a sitter in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth, cost £15m from Liverpool 6½ years ago. But injuries have limited him to just 93 starts for Hammers and saw a move to Chelsea collapse last year. Boss Poch is not worried by the prospect of having to take a 1-0 lead to Chelsea for Thursday’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg without Kane, Dele and Son.
He said: “It is not a worry because it’s an opportunity for different players. The most important thing is to believe we can win.”
Spurs trailed 1-0 after just 11 minutes at Fulham thanks to Llorente’s own goal. Dele levelled with a 51st-minute header but the visitors looked like having to settle for a point until Winks nodded in Georges-Kevin Nkoudou’s cross in the third minute of stoppage time. Tottenham stayed third, four points ahead of Chelsea. Pochettino added: “I am so happy with the three points. “It wasn’t the best game but the performance was very solid. In the second half we showed great character.”
Fulham have won just once in 11 games and are still in the bottom two, seven points off safety. Boss Claudio Ranieri said: “It’s unbelievable. We had a free-kick in the 90th minute and I called my players to keep the ball — but they didn’t understand and we put it into their box. “A couple minutes later they go up the other end and score. “It’s not the players’ fault - many of them have never played in the Premier League before, they don’t have experience. But we are alive and the team continues to fight.”
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