Jose Mourinho says Spurs have a ‘very hard-working’ player in their ranks, ‘always ready’ to help

Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho has waxed lyrical about Carlos Vinicius, saying he’s a “very hard-working” player always ready to be called upon.

The 25-year-old joined Spurs on loan from Benfica in October, but has largely struggled for game time since his arrival in North London.

That said, Vinicius’s goal contribution rate is high – in 16 appearances for Tottenham, he has registered seven goals and three assists.

The Brazilian was in action on Thursday night, replacing Son Heung-min at half time in the Europa League last-32 first leg against Wolfsberger.

Spurs couldn’t provide Vinicius with much ammunition but he took his 88th-minute goal well, showing great instinct to poke the ball over the line from close range.

When asked by football.london about Son’s half-time withdrawal, Mourinho replied: Son played 90 minutes against West Brom, and 120 against Everton, 90 against City.

“Today I just asked him to do his job, and his job was to help us a little bit to get through this match.

“So I believe 3-0, scoring his goal, which for him is a special goal, he is a very sensitive special kid, emotional kid.

“So he is the last winner of the Puskas Award, and to come here to the Puskas Arena, and score a goal for him has a really special feeling.

“Job done. Goodbye. Let Vinicius play. Vinicius is a very hard-working guy, always ready to help the team when we need, so it was always fair for Vinicius to have 45 minutes and to score his goal.”

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Vinicius joined Tottenham knowing that he was going to be playing second fiddle to Harry Kane, but credit to him for making the most of the limited game time he’s had.

Former Spurs striker Peter Crouch deemed Vinicius a “fantastic back-up to Kane” (BT Sport 2, 9:55am, 26 November).

And on Thursday, he did his job – getting on the scoresheet to put the game well and truly out of reach for Wolfsberger, showing how good he is in the box.

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