The jury is still out on Spurs

– Tottenham Hotspur ended last season behind champions Manchester City and runners-up Liverpool by 27 and 26 points respectively and there is little to suggest the London club can make serious inroads into that deficit in the new season.

Finishing fourth and reaching their first Champions League final with no spending in successive transfer windows and playing “home matches at Wembley until April because of delays to their new ground was a noble over-achievement for Spurs.

They will kick off next weekend at their magnificent new stadium, with £65 million signing France midfielder Tanguy Ndombele in their ranks and manager Mauricio Pochettino (above) still running the project.

Pochettino has worked wonders to secure top-four finishes in four straight seasons.

As of Sunday’s final warmup match against Inter Milan, Ndombele was still Tottenham’s only major signing although promising winger Jack Clarke arrived from Leeds United for £8.5m before going back on loan.

As exciting as the arrival of Ndombele from Lyon is, the squad still has less depth than their rivals and the news that midfielder Dele Alli will miss the start of the campaign with a hamstring injury was unwelcome.

On the plus side, Tottenham’s starting eleven against Aston Villa on Saturday will click seamlessly back into gear.

Their key men are also likely to be fresher too, notably talismanic striker Harry Kane who looks raring to go having begun last season drained by the World Cup.

Kane scored from his own half in a friendly win against Juventus and sounded a rallying cry – suggesting Spurs can push on.

“We’re in a good place,” the England captain said. “As a team, we’ve learnt a lot over the last few years.

“We’ve got to believe and use it as motivation that people don’t believe in us. That’s what I’ve done on a personal note my whole career.”

A couple of more signings and keeping hold of Denmark playmaker Christian Eriksen could give Spurs fresh impetus to do more than just consolidate their place in the top four.

The Argentine’s methods have proved effective at eking every last drop from his fringe players.

But with Manchester United and Arsenal having strengthened over the summer it would leave Tottenham with little room for error. –