What Do Tottenham Actually Need in January?

Right now it looks improbable-to-impossible that Tottenham does any incoming business in January, but what would they need if they were to?

For all of the apparent struggles Tottenham went through in the first half of the season, it’s hard to pinpoint an area of the squad that needs an upgrade.

In goal? Hugo Lloris just signed a new contract, as did reserve keeper Michel Vorm. Meanwhile, on-loan youngster Pau López is still waiting for a chance to sign.

Defense? Even with Toby Alderweireld down and Eric Dier stepping up, it rarely faltered. Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies have proven, once again, that they are adequate rotation options for Kyle Walker and Danny Rose respectively.

Midfield? Victor Wanyama is a revelation, and his mobility and range make it easier to slot virtually anyone alongside him. Mousa Dembélé remains the first choice, but Harry Winks is clearly ascendant. Meanwhile, Moussa Sissoko can be used as cover if needed.

Attack? Perhaps Tottenham aren’t scoring at the rate they should be, but it’s hard to criticize the chances being created. Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli are coming good, while Heung-min Son and Érik Lamela are bound to find their footing again eventually.

Perhaps you could say that Vincent Janssen has not yet proved to be a sufficiently talented understudy to Harry Kane, but it’s still early days. For the club to move for a third striker now seems like bad business.

So what are we left with then? It should be clear: re-stocking the Academy.

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Which isn’t to say that the Academy is in any way depleted. But for losing Ismail Azzaoui to Wolfsburg and Miloš Veljković to Werder Bremen, Tottenham has retained a lot of the burgeoning talent in its youth ranks.

The problem — or, at least, the problem eventually — is that these Academy talents become first team talents. Harry Winks, Josh Onomah and Cameron Carter-Vickers are perhaps not yet starters, but they regularly appear on Tottenham’s matchday bench. The under-21s, meanwhile, are forced to do without them.

With the likes of Marcus Edwards, Kyle Walker-Peters and Shayon Harrison, Tottenham’s second team isn’t exactly hurting. Still, they currently sit 10th in Premier League 2, suggesting that perhaps an injection of talent is needed.

Tottenham’s reputation as a youth-centric club means they regularly get linked with various youngsters from England and abroad. But for the aforementioned López and last January’s acquisition of Shilow Tracey from non-league side Ebbsfleet, they rarely do much high-profile business.

Which should not be misinterpreted as a claim that finding young talent willing to join Tottenham’s Academy is somehow easy. Often young players like, say, Rico Henry — a Tottenham target from Leauge One side Walsall who ended up moving to Brentford in the Championship this summer — know that they could just as easily earn professional starts with the lower leagues instead. Convincing them that idling away in the under-21s can no doubt prove difficult.

Teams like Chelsea find a way around this problem though. They recruit young players to decently high wages with promises that, if first team shots weren’t forthcoming, at least loan moves would be. That’s how they hold on to players like Lewis Baker, currently residing with Vitesse Arnhem and looking particularly promising.

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Mauricio Pochettino’s coaching philosophy is such that loan moves aren’t always preferable. The high press style needs to be trained into younger players, and time away with clubs with different tactical methods would ultimately prove counterproductive. Still, it’s not too hard to find high pressing sides out there these days, and deals could be arranged.

In sum, there are ways Tottenham can stay budget conscious this summer while simultaneously planning out for three, four or five seasons in the future. It will take a commitment to pay relatively top dollar for younger, unproven players however, as well as a more robust loan system. Those should be easy enough hurdles to clear however.