Tottenham's Search for Goals: Icardi as a Short-Term Solution
Tottenham’s new era under Roberto De Zerbi has begun with an unwanted statistic: four league games, zero goals. For a club that once prided itself on free-flowing, front-foot football, the silence in the final third has become deafening.
That silence is now pushing Spurs towards a name few expected to see back on a Premier League shortlist: Mauro Icardi.
Spurs’ big gamble: a free-scoring veteran
According to Cronache di Spogliatoio, the North London club are actively weighing up a move for the 33-year-old Argentine as a short-term fix to an attack that has simply stalled. Icardi is a free agent after ending his four-year spell with Galatasaray, a period in which he re-established himself as a ruthless finisher in the Super Lig.
On paper, it makes a certain kind of sense. Tottenham are creating little, finishing even less, and sit 17th in the Premier League with just two points from their opening four games. The numbers are stark: two draws, two defeats, eight goals conceded and none scored. For a manager whose football is built on structure and patterns, the lack of cutting edge has already become an early-season crisis.
De Zerbi needs a penalty-box predator. Icardi has built an entire career on being exactly that.
Heavy spending, light returns
What makes the interest in Icardi so striking is how much Tottenham have already thrown at their rebuild.
This summer, the club committed huge sums to reshape the squad. Sandro Tonali arrived for £100 million, a statement signing meant to anchor the midfield and set the tempo. Mateus Fernandes followed for £85 million, another major outlay. Winger Savio cost the same again, brought in to stretch defences and add unpredictability in wide areas.
Up front, Spurs moved for Omar Marmoush, securing him on loan from Manchester City in a deal that carries a £60 million obligation to buy. The Egypt international has been trusted from the start against Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and in the 3-1 defeat to Liverpool. There have been flashes of what he can offer – sharp movement, willingness to run the channels – but still no goal to his name.
The story is similar with Dominic Solanke. Backed by the coaching staff and given regular minutes, he has yet to score in his first five appearances. The work rate is there, but the end product is not. In a side this short on confidence, every miss feels heavier than the last.
And then there is Richarlison. Once seen as a central figure in the post-Harry Kane era, the Brazilian has been frozen out after what has been described as a disastrous fallout with the club. He has not played since the 3-0 opening-day defeat to Brentford, and his exile strips De Zerbi of another senior option in an already fragile attack.
All that money, all that churn, and still no reliable goalscorer. Hence Icardi.
Icardi’s market and the wage question
Tottenham are not alone in circling. Journalist Nahuel Ferreira reports that Olympiacos have already made formal contact over a deal for the former Argentina international, trying to move quickly while he remains unattached.
No agreement has been reached. The main stumbling block is financial. Icardi’s wage demands are substantial, with reports suggesting he earns around £8.6 million per year. Any club taking him on would need to navigate not just his salary but the wider implications for their wage structure and dressing-room hierarchy.
What they would be getting, though, is proven pedigree. Icardi has collected major honours across Europe, including two Ligue 1 titles with Paris Saint-Germain and four Super Lig crowns with Galatasaray. His reputation as a penalty-box specialist remains intact: a forward who comes alive in crowded areas, finds space where others cannot and finishes with minimal fuss.
For a side that cannot buy a goal at the moment, that profile is understandably tempting.
De Zerbi under early scrutiny
The pressure around De Zerbi is building quicker than anyone at Tottenham would have hoped. His appointment was framed as a bold, long-term play: a coach with a clear identity, tasked with moulding a new-look squad into a modern, aggressive side.
Instead, four league games into the campaign, Spurs look disjointed, blunt and nervy in the final third. The 5-1 win over Charlton Athletic in the Carabao Cup briefly suggested the attack might be about to click, but that optimism evaporated with their midweek exit to Liverpool, a defeat that underlined just how far they remain from the division’s elite.
The system is still bedding in, the new signings are still adjusting, and yet the Premier League table offers no sympathy. Seventeenth place, no goals, and a fanbase already asking how quickly this can be turned around.
That is the backdrop to the Icardi discussions. This is not a long-term rebuild piece or a developmental project. This is a potential stopgap – a veteran finisher dropped into a malfunctioning attack in the hope that his instincts alone can change the mood.
Whether Tottenham decide to take that gamble, and whether they can beat Olympiacos and Icardi’s wage expectations to do it, may say plenty about how desperate they already are. And if the goals still don’t come, where does De Zerbi turn next?
