Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has made his transfer priority absolutely clear after the clash with Newcastle United in Australia.
Tottenham’s season supposedly came to an end on Sunday with the 3-0 win over Sheffield United.
Fifth place, Europa League football secured – time for a rest, right?
Well, not quite; Tottenham immediately flew out to Australia for a post-season friendly against Newcastle United.
The decision to fly across the world and play a friendly straight after the final game of the season caused controversy – especially with Euro 2024 and Copa America on the horizon.
Tottenham played out a 1-1 draw with Newcastle as James Maddison’s opener was cancelled out by Alexander Isak.
The game bizarrely went to penalties – something even Ange Postecoglou didn’t expect – and Tottenham were beaten 5-4 on spot kicks.
Ange Postecoglou on Tottenham transfer priority
Now Tottenham’s summer can really start with this game out of the way and the focus will be on incoming transfers.
Spurs missed out on the top four and Postecoglou would no doubt love to bring Champions League football back to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Tottenham will need new recruits to make that happen though and the summer transfer window will be a pivotal one.
This will be Postecoglou’s third window as Tottenham manager and fans are expecting to see major arrivals.
Postecoglou has now told Football London exactly what he wants – and his demands will come as no surprise to Tottenham fans.
Postecoglou claims he needs more attacking players, suggesting that signings in the final third are ‘absolutely’ needed.
The Australian noted that injuries and departures left Tottenham threadbare in attack and Spurs simply have ‘bulk up’ in that area this summer.
Postecoglou is calling on Daniel Levy to invest in attacking players this summer, believing that Tottenham need more options in order to compete in Europe.
“Yeah, absolutely. It’s no secret. You saw the way we finished the season,” said Postecoglou. “We obviously lost Richy and Timo as well with injuries but we’re fairly light in that area. We started last season with Manor [Solomon] and [Ivan] Perisic and we were quite healthy in that front third in terms of numbers, but as the year went on it became pretty evident that we need to bulk up. We’re in Europe as well next year so we’ll have more games and it’s definitely an area of the park we’ll need to strengthen,” he added.
Attackers linked with Tottenham Hotspur
Postecoglou has so far resisted temptation to bring in a centre forward even with Harry Kane’s departure last summer.
Versatile forwards Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner arrived instead, predominantly playing out wide under Postecoglou.
The time may have come for a real striker to arrive and some names have been linked in recent times.
Feyenoord hitman Santiago Gimenez is believed to be a key target and was even spotted at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in April.
Cercle Brugge attacker Kevin Denkey and Royal Antwerp’s George Ilenikhena are thought to be on the radar, but jumping from Belgium to England is a big step.
Tottenham could go for a more experienced option instead with Brentford’s Ivan Toney a target amid questions over his future in West London.
At least one winger will surely be on the wish list with Athletic Club’s Nico Williams linked and a £43million release clause could be activated this summer.
Tottenham need some investment in that area of the pitch and the signing of a striker alongside a winger who can operate on either flank could be the ticket for Postecoglou.
READ MORE: All seven Ange Postecoglou player exits as Tottenham manager and where they are now