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According to The Daily Mail, Spurs and Mauricio Pochettino are considering the possibility of allowing Fernando Llorente to leave this month as they look to shift some deadweight and build a sizeable transfer budget – while reinforcements are a must for the White Hart Lane outfit this month, selling Llorente would be very misguided.

What’s the word?

Well, The Daily Mail reports that Llorente is included in a list of players – comprising names such as Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama – who could depart in the coming weeks as the Lilywhites look to replace weaker members of their squad in order to maximise their potential to win a trophy this season.

The north London outfit became the first club in Premier League history to make zero squad changes in the summer window – they neither signed or sold a single player – and have perhaps been made to regret that, despite their successes so far.

However, discarding Llorente would surely be a huge mistake if they are to continue challenging on all fronts and his performance against EFL minnows Tranmere Rovers will tell you why.

Useful backup

The 33-year-old was a thorn in the side of Spurs’ League Two opposition all day long and, in helping himself to a hat-trick, quadrupled his goal tally for the season in all competitions.

While he may have failed to net in five Premier League appearances, the Spaniard has been afforded just 27 minutes of football and has Harry Kane to compete with for a starting spot – the Englishman would be difficult to oust from any side but he is indispensable to Spurs.

There is surely little point in selling a forward who so clearly combines effectively with his teammates – when given a chance –  only to bring in someone who is not guaranteed to have that same chemistry right off the bat.

With boyhood club Bilbao offering the 6-foot-4 hitman the chance to return to his former stomping ground, Pochettino must perform a complete U-turn on his decision over Llorente’s future and keep him until, at least, the end of the season.

The former Swansea man may be in his twilight years, but he has shown he is far from spent and can step up when required – what do you think, Spurs fans? Should the club sell Llorente and sign someone else, or place some faith in the number 18? Let us know by voting in the poll below…

Which big 6 club needs to do the most business in January? Check out what the Playmaker FC squad think in the video above…