Mourinho vows to spend intelligently but issues transfer warning

Jose Mourinho says Tottenham will be “intelligent” in the January transfer window and insists any signings will be made for the long-term benefit of the club, rather than quick fixes.

Mourinho has repeatedly said that he will not be overhauling his squad this month and that any business could be dependent on players leaving.

Nonetheless, the likes of Vedat Muriqi, Dani Olmo and Max Aarons have all been mentioned as targets in the past 48 hours.

However, Mourinho insists he walked into the club with his eyes wide open and claims he is on the same page as the club’s often-frugal chairman Daniel Levy.

“That was very clear for me and is very important for me to understand that before I come,” he admitted.

“That’s very simple but in the end what I want is the same as everyone in the club wants.

“It is not I want something and Mr Levy wants another thing. We want the best for the club. That’s obvious and this is not our last transfer window.

“This is our first transfer window, not the last. We are going to have one in the summer, we are going to have one in 2021 January, we are going to have another one in the summer of 2021.

“So this is not our last transfer window.

“We are going to have to try to be intelligent and we have to try to make the right decisions, not just for now, but for the development of a cycle.”

Although he is accepting of the situation, that is not to say Mourinho does not want to add to his squad.

“There is not one manager in the world that is not always looking for more,” he said.

 

“We always want more. You have three goalkeepers, you want four. You have five strikers, you want six. That’s our nature.

“But of course I understand the situation and let’s see what we can do and we have to see if we do something, it’s something that we do not under pressure, it is something that we do also for the future.”

 

Tottenham to call on youth for FA Cup tie

Spurs could do with some additions as they are down to the bare bones for Sunday’s FA Cup trip to Middlesbrough.

Harry Kane, Tanguy Ndombele, Ben Davies, Danny Rose and Hugo Lloris are all injured and the majority of those that do not have injuries have played three games in six days over Christmas.

Mourinho has admitted he is likely to call on youth at the Riverside.

“Everybody’s going to be involved,” he said. “If you go to our squad and no Rose, no Davies, no Lloris, no Kane.

“I don’t know if Eric Dier will be ready but he is still to come back.

“When you say no, no, no, no, no you have to say (Oliver) Skipp, (Japhet) Tanganga, (Troy) Parrott, the young boys in.

“That’s for sure, but sometimes when you say young guys, people that are not playing a lot and you connect FA Cup (is) not important, FA Cup the right space to give opportunities to players, that’s not the case.

“FA Cup (is) very important, by the history of the club, by the connection, by the memories, by what it means for everyone at the club, every fan, the FA Cup is very important.

“So these young players coming in for the match at Middlesbrough doesn’t mean the FA Cup is not important for us.”

Meanwhile, Mourinho has admitted he is planning to loan out Jack Clarke again after Tottenham recalled the young winger from his loan spell at Leeds United.