Tottenham Hotspur head coach Jose Mourinho has ruled out using Gareth Bale as a central striker while Harry Kane is sidelined through injury.
England's captain was forced off at half-time during Thursday's 3-1 defeat to Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool, having picked up knocks to both ankles. Kane is expected to be out of action for a few weeks, leaving many to question who will fill the void up front.
Carlos Vinicius, Son Heung-min, Lucas Moura and Gareth Bale are the options who immediately spring to mind, but Mourinho - speaking in yet another pre-match press conference (via football.london) ahead of the trip to Brighton - confirmed the Welshman will not be filling in for Kane, explaining that he doesn't see the Real Madrid loanee suiting the role.
"I don’t think [Bale] is a striker, I don’t think he likes to play as a striker," Mourinho said. "It was something that we spoke [about] when he joined us, he was very objective with me, by saying he doesn’t feel he is a left-winger like he was before, he doesn’t feel like he is a No.10 like he was before [either].
"The position that he likes to play is the position where we are playing him every minute we give him, which is [on] the right side of the attack. So when Gareth plays starting or coming from the bench, that’s his position in our game."
Mourinho added that Kane is simply irreplaceable, even though it appears on the surface that he has options at his disposal.
"Harry Kane is Harry Kane, you know," he continued. "There are players in some teams, that are not replaceable. But one thing is to have like last season three or four attacking players all injured at the same time. And another thing is to have Harry Kane.
"Because of course we have Carlos Vinicius, Steven Bergwijn, Lucas Moura, Erik Lamela, Gareth Bale and if I forgot anyone, I apologise for that. Of course it’s a different situation because we have attacking players."
The England international has been in fine goalscoring form this season so far, netting 12 times from a slightly adapted role that has seen Mourinho ask Kane to drop deeper and link up play. The benefit to the switch has been obvious, as he's also contributed 11 assists to Spurs' Premier League cause.
Bale, meanwhile, has struggled to get much of a look in at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after re-joining the club on loan from Real Madrid. A lack of fitness and game time have seen the Welshman underwhelm so far, and Mourinho's words suggest he won't be getting a chance to impress anytime soon.
Source : 90min