TOTTENHAM are ready to conduct their transfer business early this summer in a bid to get some pre-World Cup bargains.
The club have a recent history of completing deals late in the window but now are prepared to change tact believing that fees will rise after the tournament in Russia gets underway in mid-June.
New chief scout Steve Hitchen has been working on a list of names for chairman Daniel Levy to progress and manager Mauricio Pochettino has hinted that early activity is possible.
“We are working with Steve,” he said. “The World Cup only can confirm your idea about a player. It is so dangerous to go and scout players in the World Cup because, if a player is good, how after are you going to sign him?
“Sometimes you need to anticipate and say, ‘OK this player can be good for us’ and then he goes to the World Cup. But you need to sign before the tournament starts because he is doing well and then you will have a lot of competition if they are good.”
Tottenham make the trip to Brighton tonight with fourth all but guaranteed but Pochettino has already started an inquest on his side’s performance this campaign.
He is all too aware that a poor start to the campaign cost his side and wants to avoid that happening again next term when they return to White Hart Lane.
“Sometimes there are many questions about how we reduce the gap and how we compete better or reach the level of Manchester City. It is impossible to answer that,” he said.
“But it is not impossible [to win the title next season]. We need to start better than this season.”
Tottenham could pick out-of-favour Toby Alderweireld at Brighton. The Belgium defender has not played in the Premier League since October due to injury and his future at the club looks bleak, but he might get a run-out against the Seagulls, whose defender Shane Duffy says he is relieved to be marking Harry Kane after his encounter with Wilfried Zaha on Saturday.
Duffy is looking forward to tangling with a more conventional centre-forward after Zaha struck twice in a floating role for Crystal Palace to help inflict a 3-2 defeat on Chris Hughton’s side.
“Zaha is a good player,” said Duffy. “For a centre-half it was difficult because I was up against no one the whole game.
“Everyone is saying the defence was terrible and I’m thinking I was marking no one. Every time I looked around I had no one.
“With Harry Kane up against us, you know the runs he makes, you know he wants to get shots off early. Zaha just floats everywhere and it’s quite difficult.”
Source:www.express.co.uk