Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is predicting a “complicated” summer in the transfer market, despite his side booking their Champions League spot.
Spurs have sealed a third successive year in Europe’s elite club competition, in a season where they played at Wembley and all the other teams around them spent massively.
There is not likely to be any let-up in that spending by their rivals – an area where Spurs have been left behind in recent years – and Pochettino accepts they may have to target a different kind of player.
“The number of players will be limited, like every season, and the market today is going up,” he said. “The last few seasons have become crazy, no?
“But in the end there is a number of players who can help you improve. Then of course if you have a strong financial side you can go buy some players.
“But of course it is not new for us – we have priority players to sign but they go to a club with more money.
“You say, ‘OK, we need to find another option’.
“Sometimes you need to sign opportunities when you can’t get your top priorities.
“To be sure it is complicated. It will be a new experience for everyone because the transfer window is going to close before the start of the season. No one knows what will happen.
“Of course we are working to deliver what is best for the team. It won’t be easy but we are going to try.”
Pochettino is happy with what Spurs have achieved this season, with an impressive league campaign backed up with a run to the last 16 of the Champions League and the FA Cup semi-final.
“You cannot finish with the feeling that it was not enough,” he said. “A lot of amazing things happened.
“To beat Real Madrid, to finish top of our Champions League group, when it was Dortmund, Madrid, amazing victories at Wembley against Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester United, nearly all the teams.
“After 28 years, to win at Stamford Bridge. Many amazing things happen.”