Sky Sports pundit claims Tottenham 27-year-old lacks three qualities to replace Son

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Tottenham Hotspur are now down to their the barest of bones in the striking department following the injury to Heung-Min Son.

Lee Sharpe believes Lucas Moura doesn’t ‘get at players much’ or ‘run behind as much’ to warrant him replacing the injured Heung-Min Son as a striker. 

Speaking to Football Centre on Sky Sports News (18/02/2020), former Premier League winner Sharpe also believes Moura, 27, lacks the ‘strength’ to play that role either. 

The elation of Tottenham’s dramatic win at Villa on Sunday was short-lived when Jose Mourinho shared the news on Tuesday that Son could be out or the rest of the season because of a broken arm, as reported by BBC Sport.

This has put Spurs in an already sticky situation because Harry Kane is also sidelined and now he is joined by Son in the treatment room, which has left an already bare striker cupboard near-on empty. 

With Moura looking like the most likely candidate to replace Son up top, former Manchester United man, Sharpe, doesn’t think he is the player to replace his injured teammate. 

“I don’t think Moura gets at players much,” Sharpe told Sky Sports. “He doesn’t run behind as much. I think he is a nice, tidy player, but he doesn’t have the strength and power that Son has.

“Missing both Kane and Son is going to be a huge, huge miss for Mourinho now. This is the sort of thing that could be the deciding factor [in the race to finish in the top-four] when it comes to the close games like we saw at the weekend.”

It remains to be seen who does fill that attacking void for Mourinho because there isn’t an obvious replacement and a case can be made for those who aren’t the obvious choice.

Mourinho has already ruled out youngster Troy Parrott, who is a natural number nine, so Spurs could use Moura, because whilst he isn’t as good as Son, he can make those runs off the ball and be a livewire in the attacking third. 

Someone like Dele Alli loves running in behind at any given time, and he has the physical strength to win his duels compared with someone like Moura. Or the new kid on the block, Steven Bergwijn, who has made an impressive start to life in North London can be used in that role.