Jose Mourinho expects to sign a striker as Tottenham manager hits out at 'non-human' schedule

Portuguese coach keen to bolster squad, with Spurs facing the prospect of two midweek matches for two consecutive weeks later this month

Jose Mourinho believes a new striker would not simply be back-up to Harry Kane. Reuters

Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho is hopeful of signing a new striker before the end of the transfer window as he aims to bolster his squad ahead of a hectic start to the season.

Spurs face having to play two midweek matches for two consecutive weeks later this month should they progress in the Europa League qualifying rounds and the League Cup.

"Yes I want, I need a striker but I want to make it clear, the club knows that I need a striker and they also want a striker," Mourinho said on Friday.

"Are we going to get one? I believe so. For the balance of the squad, the team needs it. Especially after the gift we had from the EFL (English Football League) and Uefa.

"We had an amazing gift that gives me after 20 years of football a unique experience of playing Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday-Sunday for two consecutive weeks."

Mourinho has already added Joe Hart, Matt Doherty and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to his squad but does not believe the presence of Harry Kane should discourage other strikers from joining Tottenham.

"I know we have one of the best strikers in the world, I know we have the best in England but I don't like the word 'back-up'," he said.

"A striker can play with Harry Kane – a striker that comes here is not to be just feeling that he is in that back-up situation."

After hosting Everton to begin their Premier League campaign on Sunday, Spurs face the first of potentially three Europa League qualifiers with a trip to Bulgarian side Lokomotiv Plovdiv.

Should Mourinho's men progress they will play Leyton Orient or Plymouth Argyle in the third round of the League Cup on September 22 and then have another long Europa League trip to Romania or Macedonia two days later.

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Win both ties and Tottenham will have to do the same again a week later.

"It's not human. It is a big risk in terms of our ambitions first of all," Mourinho said. "If we decide that one of these competitions is not important for us we go against the nature of the club, we go against our own nature, we go against our own ambitions, our rights to try and fight for the competition.

"I would like to know who makes a team play Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday-Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday-Sunday. Do they want us to play with the youth team in the Carabao (League) Cup? That's my question."

First up is Sunday's opening Premier League game against an Everton side who have strengthened in the transfer market with the aim of making vast improvements on last season's 12th-place finish.

Everton have signed Napoli's Brazil international Allan, Watford's Abdoulaye Doucoure and high-profile Colombia playmaker James Rodriguez, and manager Carlo Ancelotti has set his players the minimum target of qualifying for Europe.

"I think that the goal we want to achieve is to fight for the first positions of the Premier League to be able to reach Europe next season," the Italian said.

"The goal is quite clear. We have this desire, this ambition. I think we can."