Thomas Frank has spoken about what he expects Tottenham Hotspur’s transfer strategy to look like during the January window.
Tottenham Hotspur have already been active since the transfer window reopened, with Brennan Johnson completing a move to Crystal Palace.
As well as this, Kota Takai has departed Spurs on loan after failing to make a single appearance since he moved to North London last summer.
However, Tottenham are yet to announce their first January signing, leaving their squad depleted as a host of players continue to be unavailable.
Thomas Frank wants the Tottenham first-team to be improved
Thomas Frank wants Spurs to bring in players who will make his team stronger immediately after their arrivals.
However, the Dane still believes it is important to sign young prospects. Therefore, he will not stand in the way if those at the top of the Tottenham hierarchy decide to add players who might not yet have the quality to be regular starters.
He told Football London: “We are there in the market and will do everything we can to improve the squad, but we should be so aware that short-term impact can’t limit long-term success. But on the flip side, can we do something that will really improve us? I think we should go very hard for that.”
He added: “It always needs to be both players that can impact the team now, that’s the main priority, but at the same time it’s not that we just stop signing teenagers because you need to have players with impact now and players for the long term.
“Sometimes you sign a young player who is good enough to play now, sometimes you sign a young player who comes in and you send him on loan and they are part of the long-term thinking so it will still be a mix of both.”
Franks wants Spurs to sign their favoured transfer targets
One point Frank has emphasised is that Tottenham do not drop too far down their list of transfer targets, because signing players who can make an impact now is highly important.
“We have lists of players and we have priority numbers one, two, three, four, five and six in every position. And if we go to number six…. it’s probably not as good as you want. Is number six good enough for us to get to where we want to be in the future? Probably not. But it’s a fine balance,” he admitted.
“Sometimes you need to take some steps forward before we can get the perfect solution. So, that’s why I’ve said every decision we make needs to be for long-term success but [be] very aware of how impactful it can be now, as well. So that could end with that [no signings]. But of course I hope that we are [active].”
Frank added: “I know that Johan [Lange], Fabio [Paratici], Vinai are working day and night to do everything, together with the recruitment team, the [Lewis] family is backing us with everything. But I think the best clubs take good, sensible decisions.”
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