Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has said the club are unlikely to splash out on players in the January transfer window, as fears continue togrow that Spurs are beginning to fall behind in the Premier League title race.
Pochettino's men slipped to their second defeat of the season last Sunday as they lost 1-0 to Manchester United. The result means that Spurs are now 10 points behind league leaders Chelsea and are more likely facing a scrap to finish in the top four, rather than challenging for the title.
Spurs go into transfer window with recruitment boss on 16-month notice, scout Ian Broomfield gone & pressure on https://t.co/TR5gUy0GNC via
And whilst some have suggested that the club are in need of reinforcements in the coming transfer window, the manager has insisted that he is unlikely to make many new acquisitions, partly because of the financial restrictions Tottenham are currently under due to the development of their new £450m stadium.
Pochettino told theMail: "It's not about money, it's how you invest the money.The market is crazy. You can see how the value of players has increased. You need to be clever. You need to be imaginative and creative and try to fight for good players at a very good price.
"When you're building a stadium you are not only focused to improve the team ” at the same time you're spending money to create a massive stadium which will be one of the best stadiums in Europe.
"With the new stadium Tottenham will be one of the best teams in the world, for sure. But now we need to be creative. The challenge is to be clever and to take risks."
Tottenham's transfer dealings have suffered a further blow as news has emerged that head of recruitment, Paul Mitchell, is serving a 16-month notice period whilst the club desperately search for his successor.
Although he is unlikely to serve all of that period, Pochettino insisted that Mitchell will remain at White Hart Lane for the foreseeable future, but admitted that the sole focus should not be on off-field matters.
The Spurs manager added: "He will be working until the end of the season. It is difficult to find a replacement. It is not his decision to sign players, it is the club. But with him or without him, it is always difficult to sign players in January.
Tottenham dealt Mousa Dembele injury blow as midfielder set for spell on the sidelineshttps://t.co/kheX9nges0 pic.twitter.com/nBtrgnNveP
"The most important thing is to improve our level of performance. Our results and numbers are in line with the same stage last season but we need to be more aggressive, to play more like a team and show more intensity.
"Maybe the feeling is that we are not playing as we did last season but the challenge is more than just signing players in January."