Ahead of the summer transfer window, Tottenham Hotspur have been linked to an array of strikers.

It's becoming increasingly unlikely that Spurs will activate Carlos Vinicius' £36m option-to-buy when his loan finishes at the end of the season as they do not want to pay that much for him, as per the Daily Mail.

The Brazilian has chipped in with a few goals - scoring ten times - whilst playing second fiddle to Harry Kane, but there are still doubts over his ability and potential to ever be on a similar level to the Englishman.

Granted, that's a hard task for a mere back-up but the majority of his goals have come against lower calibre opposition, including a hat-trick against non-league Marine.

One name that has been mooted is Southampton star Danny Ings, who would certainly add further quality and more importantly, a proven record in the Premier League.

Eurosport's Dean Jones claimed in January that Spurs are monitoring the 28-year-old's situation on the south coast ahead of a potential bid whilst further fuel has been added to the fire, with Carlton Palmer suggesting exclusively to Football FanCast that an agreement may have already been struck.

Ings has scored nine goals this season but regular injury problems have crept back into his game. He's missed nine games in all competitions, ranging from knee and hamstring issues, to just a knock.

His long list of injuries should have Spurs worried, which is why they may be better going for the cheaper alternative, Schalke 04's Matthew Hoppe.

According to Transfermarkt, the north Londoners are among several clubs taking a keen interest in the American forward. He could be available for as little as €10m (£8.5m) this summer, and that'll be right up Daniel Levy's street.

Especially as he'll have to pay over four times that to secure Vinicius - and there's no way of knowing how much the Saints would want for their star man.

Intriguingly, Hoppe has modelled his game on Kane, so who could be better in firstly, replicating his style as a back-up and then secondly, one day replacing him.

The 20-year-old told OneGoal last year: "I didn’t really have a specific team that I would support. But I looked up to Harry Kane a lot, and since I’ve been in Germany, I’ve tried to model my game after (Erling) Haaland and (Robert) Lewandowski."

Hoppe has been a rare bright spark in an abysmal season for the Bundesliga outfit, scoring five goals in only 16 appearances, via Transfermarkt.

The 6 foot 3 forward has even been tipped to become the German league's best-ever American, whilst there have even been comparisons made to Robert Lewandowski.

Former Schalke boss Christian Gross was left dazzled by his work-rate, he said: "I’m impressed with how much effort Hoppe gives for the team, how he gives 100 percent for Schalke."

And he went onto add: "He’s a boy who’s unbelievably ambitious, has tremendous commitment and only thinks about Schalke. He wants to do whatever it takes to get us out of this situation. He really is a model professional. Even though he’s still very young, he doesn’t shy away from working extremely hard."

Obviously, at just 20, he's still very raw but sometimes hard work defies talent and that is something Mourinho will absolutely love. He'd only have to become half the player of a Kane or Lewandowski to make an impact.

Considering he's reportedly available for a bargain seven-figure price, Hoppe would come fairly low-risk. He ticks the boxes for those key figures in the Spurs hierarchy. Levy should get this one done.

AND in other news, Spurs star dealt "significant" injury blow on international duty...