Mourinho: Spurs need a striker but we must look to the future
Tottenham wanted to boost their striking options during the transfer window, with Harry Kane sidelined, but their hopes looked to be over.
Tottenham head coach Jose Mourinho suggested a quick fix might have been the wrong option as the club looked set to miss out on strengthening their front line on transfer deadline day.
The Spurs boss saw hopes of signing Chelsea's Olivier Giroud and Real Sociedad's Willian Jose fail to result in a new arrival.
It meant that barring an unexpected late signing on Friday, Tottenham appeared as though they would go into the closing months of the season with Son Heung-min continuing to deputise up front.
They have attacking midfield strength from the likes of Lucas Moura, Dele Alli and new arrival Steven Bergwijn, who joined from PSV this week.
But Mourinho wanted an extra striker and both Giroud and Willian Jose would have added more of a physical presence to his forward line.
Spurs will be without injured England frontman Harry Kane until April at the earliest, a blow to their Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup prospects.
Mourinho: We want to do things that are good for the future
"I have to answer that yes it would be better with a striker," Mourinho said.
"Yes, we would need a striker to have a better squad, to face the great challenges that we have in front of us in three different competitions.
"But we want to do things not to resolve the problems of today or tomorrow; we want things that are also good for the future.
"For example, Steven Bergwijn - I prefer to say Stevie - he's the kind of player that is good for now but he's also good for our future; he's also good for the direction we want to go.
"With the difficulties of the market in January, it was really hard to find the striker that is good not just to resolve the problems of today but good also for the future of the team, so probably we are not going to do it."
Mourinho preempts Spurs transfer questions
Mourinho jokingly opened his news conference ahead of Sunday's match against Manchester City by attempting to ward off questions about signings.
As reporters prepared to engage with the former Real Madrid and Manchester United boss, Mourinho got the first word in.
He said: "First question: are you expecting any player until the end of the market?.
"First answer: no.
"Second question: are you happy with your market?
"Yes I am.
"Third question: don't you want a striker?"
Gareth Bale's agent again quashed talk of Real Madrid's Welshman returning to Tottenham on Friday, with Mourinho seemingly set to save his transfer kitty for the close-season window.