Cash-strapped Spurs will sell to buy this summer
TOTTENHAM are set to prioritise strengthening their defence this summer, but will have to sell players first amid significant financial constraints. Spurs announced losses of £63.9million in November and have been hit harder by the pandemic than most, so will aim to sell a host of players in the hope of raising funds and freeing up wages. Sportsmail understands some intermediaries have already been told that the club must sell before they buy, though there is an element of posturing in that stance ahead of what will be a difficult window to navigate for most clubs. Tottenham will be on the lookout for a new goalkeeper, right back and central defender when the window re-opens. But the club will look to offload at least six players to carry out their plans this summer. Danny Rose looks certain to finally end his 14-year spell in north London when his contract expires at the end of the season, while the futures of Serge Aurier, Hugo Lloris, Erik Lamela and Juan Foyth are also in doubt. Gareth Bale, who is costing Spurs about £250,000-a-week in wages, has already said he will go back to Real Madrid when his loan expires. Fellow loanee Carlos Vinicius is set to return to Benfica, with Tottenham unwilling to pay the £36m option they have to buy the striker permanently. Instead, the club have started looking at potential replacements for Vinicius — with Stuttgart’s Sasa Kalajdzic, a 23-year-old Austria international, among the players the club are considering as a back-up for Harry Kane. Former mainstays Dele Alli and Harry Winks have fallen out of favour under Jose Mourinho and would command significant transfer fees, but their futures could be determined by whether the Portuguese is still in charge next season. Burnley keeper Nick Pope is understood to be Spurs’ first choice to replace Lloris if the Frenchman is reunited with former boss Mauricio Pochettino at Paris Saint-Germain. Wolfsburg No 1 Koen Casteels has been watched extensively in recent months and would represent a more economical option if Pope’s valuation, which could rise above £30m, proves prohibitive. The constraints on spending this summer will be of particular interest to Mourinho, who would certainly back the club’s stance of prioritising defensive talent following a disappointing campaign at home and on the Continent. Mourinho is fighting to keep his job, the pressure on his position intensifying following Sunday’s loss to Manchester United that left Spurs six points off the top four. But even if a new head coach is appointed ahead of next season, his ability to sign fresh talent will be compromised.