Tottenham are behind title rivals after failing to sign a single player this summer, admits Mauricio Pochettino

The Spurs boss acknowledged the gulf in class between his young side and Manchester City after a drubbing in pre-season

Evan Bartlett
Monday 31 July 2017 14:22 BST
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Pochettino said 'we are working hard' to add to the squad after a friendly defeat to Man City
Pochettino said 'we are working hard' to add to the squad after a friendly defeat to Man City (Getty Images)

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Mauricio Pochettino has admitted his Tottenham side are behind their title rivals following a summer in which the club have made zero signings.

Spurs finished second in the Premier League last season but have been installed as fourth favourites for the title this term with Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United having spent a combined £300m on new players.

“Maybe they have a bit of an advantage and are ahead of us because they signed players and kept the players they want,” Pochettino said after Tottenham’s 3-0 pre-season defeat against City in Nashville on Saturday night.

“We are a little bit behind, working hard in trying to sign some players to try to bring some new energy and make our team more competitive.”

Pochettino picked out the league’s top spenders City as a prime example of a club having a different approach to Spurs who have instead focused on developing youngsters.

“City have more senior players than us and they invest more money than us. We have a lot of young players on the bench,” the Argentine added.

“It’s completely different, the squads, but we are busy [with] the squad.”

One of City’s biggest outlays was on Spurs full-back Kyle Walker who was booed by the north London club’s fans when the sides met over the weekend.

“The fans showed they are disappointed,” Pochettino added.

“Tottenham fans love him and he spent nine years at the club. It’s more a spontaneous feeling that they showed.

"They don’t take it personally, only to show him they were disappointed.”

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