Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho insists Carlos Vinicius cannot be expected to match Harry Kane if he replaces him against Chelsea tonight.
Vinicius is in contention to make his first Premier League start in the Blues' visit after impressing Mourinho as a half-time substitute in Sunday's 1-0 defeat to Brighton.
"I believe he's adapting," Mourinho told the London Evening Standard, ahead of the match against his former club. "To be the top scorer in Portuguese football brings you to England and then it's not the same. It's not as easy.
"I also believe it's not easy at a club where the other No.9 is Harry Kane. You know that you have immediately a big disadvantage. So you need to be a special guy and a group guy, which he is.
"He's always giving his best. Of course the Europa League was easier, not just because of the power of the teams we played in the group phase but also it's a different style of play, probably more similar to the Portuguese league.
"But he's adapting and I liked his 45 minutes against Brighton. He understands a bit more the physicality, the intensity, the need to bring himself to a different level of football.
"He's not Harry Kane, their qualities are very different. We cannot expect Carlos to interact with Sonny with the same tactical principles that Harry does. But he's a good player, a good guy. We're very happy to have him. He's been useful and he will be even more useful for us in the second half of the season."
He added: "His Bringlish – Brazilian English – is improving a little bit.
"He's such a nice guy that he doesn't need more than Bringlish to communicate with the other guys because he's popular in the group."
