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Tottenham’s lack of spending has left Pochettino with an impossible task – opinion

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Tottenham were the first club in 15 years not to spend a penny in a summer transfer window before last season.

Coupled with the fact they had more players than any other club in the semi-finals of the World Cup meant the lack of squad depth really showed towards the end of the campaign.

Spurs won just two of their last nine games in all competitions and limped over the line in fourth place in the Premier League.

Six points off the top at Christmas, Tottenham finished 27 points off Manchester City in May – a slump indicative of a shallow squad.

The Champions League run was miraculous, something which should be hailed as a freakish anomaly given the size of the finances they were competing against.

But refusing to spend is not a sustainable model and both Mauricio Pochettino and Daniel Levy are aware of that.

Pochettino’s comments before and after the Champions League final clearly suggest he will not tolerate another summer with a substantially restricted budget.

As a result, Spurs have already been linked with a number of players to improve their squad – Ryan Sessegnon, Nathan Ake and Tanguy Ndombele, according to Football London.

But regardless of the money Spurs decide to spend this summer, they are already playing a game of catch up that leaves a Premier League title challenge next season bordering on unattainable.

When Spurs travelled to eventual title winners Man City in April, they had a bench of Danny Rose, Victor Janssen, Victor Wanyama, Michel Vorm, Kyle Walker-Peters, Fernando Llorente and Oliver Skipp.

Compare that with City’s that day – Leroy Sane, David Silva, Fernandinho, Riyad Mahrez, Nicolas Otamendi, Gabriel Jesus, Arijanet Muric.

The gulf in squad depth is simply too drastic to be rectified in one transfer window, especially when it is likely Spurs will have players such as Rose, Llorente and Eriksen all leaving.

Pochettino has built a belief and spirit at Spurs that is centred around being the plucky underdogs who continue to raise a glass ceiling.

What Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have built at their respective clubs is deep squads who improve year on year, primarily not because of the spirit of the team but because of the calibre of player they continue to bring in.

What Pochettino has done at Tottenham can be seen as little short of incredible – Spurs’ best manager for decades. But there is a feeling that whether money is spent or not Pochettino has reached a cross road in his project at the club.

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