Ange Postecoglou says Tottenham’s summer transfer business won’t be affected by whether they qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Although the lure of playing in Europe’s elite club competition may help persuade players to move to North London, Postecoglou is insistent it wouldn’t change much internally.
Read our other football news stories here:
Champions League: Man City draw Real Madrid, Arsenal play Bayern Munich
Newcastle winger Gordon escapes serious knee injury
Poch eyes return to Wembley in FA Cup
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s trip across London to Fulham, he said: “Just getting to the Champions League doesn’t guarantee anything. It’s just a few games against some different teams.
“It’s about using the opportunity for growth but I doubt whether our off-season plans, in terms of strengthening, would change markedly from where we are now.
“We know what we need, we know the areas to strengthen, we know the players and the profiles we need and that won’t change too much. For us, it’s about growth, it’s not just about having one target.”
Spurs’ 4-0 win at Aston Villa last weekend moved them within two points of Unai Emery’s men, who currently sit fourth, with a game in hand. It is not yet known if fourth or fifth place will be enough to gain Champions League qualification as it is dependent on the UEFA coefficient.
Postecoglou is not focusing on that currently, however, with his next target being three points at Craven Cottage.
He added: “It will be tough. Marco [Silva] always has his teams well organised and they’ve been scoring goals lately.
“They have some obvious strengths but if we have the same focus we had last week [against Aston Villa] around our own football, then we know we are going to be hard to stop.”
Ange provides an update on Micky and Richy ahead of #FULTOT 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/bfj2IbsxEc
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) March 15, 2024
Brazil striker Richarlison could return tomorrow while there was also good news on central defender Micky van de Ven who is expected back after the forthcoming international break.
“Micky is nothing too significant,” said Postecoglou. “He’ll miss tomorrow but we’re quite confident if his recovery goes well in the international break, that he shouldn’t miss too much more.
“Richy trained today so we will see how he pulls up. If he pulls up okay, he will probably be available against Fulham.”
