Tottenham Hotspur’s budget may well be smaller compared to other clubs participating in the Champions League, but the Lilywhites are definitely not deterred by the smaller figures.
Spurs will have a good chance of qualifying for the semi-finals of the competition after they beat one of the richest clubs in the world 1-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last week.
The north London club could make history by advancing beyond the quarterfinals for the first time in history. Spurs have not strengthened their squad in the last two transfer windows, instead relying on the existing players to try and break through to the next level.
After the club moved into their new 62,062 capacity seater stadium earlier this month, Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino has insisted that they now need to be contenders for both the Champions League and Premier League trophies. Their last taste of silverware came eleven years ago when Juande Ramos’ side beat Chelsea in the League Cup.
In yesterday’s press conference at Manchester City’s training ground, Pochettino was asked about the club’s budget and its effect on setting targets for the season, including the Champions League.
The Argentine told Football.London: “The moment you decide and the moment you have all the tool to start the competition, you need to start to stop and think we don’t have budget or we have money or not or we are going to compete against different clubs that have different plans.
“The moment you close the squad and have the players, I think it’s about belief in them and try create the plan to be successful.
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“We are here not because we love to play football, because we love to compete and win.
“Of course, maybe if you compare us with another team maybe we are in a different position, financial position or different plan in the last four of five years and we are achieving a lot of things that maybe if you go back nobody believe.
“Now we are at the stage we are going to play this type of competition you must not forget to compete.
“It’s two teams that are going to compete for the same thing and win to be in the semi-finals. Of course, it’s going to be who deserves to win and at the end we need to congratulate one another.
“I’m not going to complain. When you are in the competition, you are in the competition.
“OK, before the start of the season maybe you need to build your team if your expectation is to win the Premier League, maybe you need to make bigger investment or sign players.
“I don’t know, you have different budget or different ideas how you will build your squad. Of course, that is going to be when you finish the end of the season.
“After this season, a chapter is going to be closed and we are going to start another chapter and we need to translate to our fans what we need to do.
“With our new stadium, we need to be contenders to fight for the Champions League and the Premier League because we have the tools to be there.
“It is going to be tough. The same for Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid or Barcelona investing a lot of money is so difficult to win because only one can win.
“It’s going to be a challenge and it’s going to be tough to find a way to be second behind them. Still, we are not there.
“It’s true we are competing at a very good level of the last few years, but I think there’s a lot of work to do to arrive at the last step of the level we want to be at in the future.”
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