So far, with pre-season over half way gone, the club have followed this trend exactly. With the extra money from television rights, as well as unspent cash from selling Michael Carrick to the aforementioned champions, Spurs have set out on the biggest spending spree in the clubs history, including breaking their record transfer fee paid for a single player by signing Charlton's Darren Bent for a staggering £16m. That prices for English players are ridiculous is without question but the signing of players like Bent, Bale and Kaboul for large sums of cash shows that the clubs officials are aware of the desperate need to keep pace with the likes of Liverpool, who have gone on their own Yankee dollar fuelled spending binge. As far the board are concerned it's spend now, or risk falling irreparably behind the top four.
Having spent close to the £40m mark already on players, you would have been forgiven for believing that, other than letting the dead wood go, Tottenham's manic behaviour in the transfer market is over. Apparently not. According to many sources, including national newspapers and individuals claiming to be 'ITK, the club are still looking to bring in yet more recruits for yet more millions. Only last week it was reported by all major news sources that the club had had a £5m bid for Hertha Berlin's midfielder Kevin Prince Boateng accepted. Since then the deal has stalled due to worries about a long term knee injury, with Levy reportedly reluctant to spend that much cash on such a player.
It doesn't stop there. Over the past few days three other players have been heavily linked to a move to White Hart Lane. Chelsea's fleet footed midget Shaun Wright Phillips , a player manager Martin Jol has admired for several years, is said to be close to joining for around £10m, with Peter Kenyon and interest from Liverpool the only obstacles to the sun of Arsenal legend Ian Wright joining the 'revolution' at the Lane. Wright snr was even quoted as supporting the potential move across London, saying: If my son wants to play for Spurs, I will support him playing for Spurs. If it means small-minded Arsenal fans saying I will not be popular at the Emirates then they are idiots. I am now a football pundit, I am a Londoner and I support all London teams."
The second player to be the subject of Tottenham related rumour mongering, and not for the first time, is Atletico Madrid's left-winger, Martin Petrov . Petrov, who is good friends with Dimitar Berbatov, is understood to be Jol's preferred choice for the troublesome left-midfield berth and according to some sources he is in advanced talks with club, though there is interest from Manchester City. Thirdly, football manager legend Freddy Adu has also been touted for a move to N17, though this remains the least likely of the three deals.
What is most surprising is not that we are being linked with more players but that the stories suggest that we plan to sign more than one of them, taking our summer spending to over £60m, a somewhat expensive attempt at grasping Champions League football. Though undoubtedly exciting for the clubs fans, it remains to be seen whether such a massive outlay will have the desired effect.