According to Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham are far from Arsenal’s spending level, and he doesn’t see them being able to spend one hundred million pounds on a single player. Spurs are undergoing a period of transformation after Daniel Levy stepped down as chairman in September, and the owners, the Lewis family, have decided to form a new management structure. The ideas for developing the club should lead to growth in sporting achievements, but it is not yet clear whether they can make the leap and compete with Arsenal for the Premier League title. Kyle Walker prepares to take a throw-in; Alexander Isak looks frustrated; Antoine Semenyo chases the ball Premier League: 10 moments to watch this weekend Read More Arsenal, who approach Sunday’s North London derby as leaders, have demonstrated their ambitions by acquiring Declan Rice from West Ham for £105 million in 2023. Tottenham’s record acquisition is Richarlison for £60 million in 2022. Postecoglou is unsure if his predecessor’s prediction last year that Tottenham would never spend £100 million on one player was correct. “In the next fifty years?” he clarified. “Then yes. Building success requires a combination of time and correct process execution. It certainly depends on the team’s starting position. But maintaining the achieved level is still extremely difficult. It’s a matter of time and methodology, and then, of course, investment. If a team aims for success in football, it is necessary to invest in players. We hope to do this competently and thoughtfully, so as not to invest too much in the wrong performers. But whether you need to spend £100 million – I don’t know. We’ll see. I don’t think we’re close to spending £100 million, to be frank.” Postecoglou reflected on whether fifth-placed Tottenham would have to make huge expenditures to catch up with Arsenal. “I am firmly convinced that we need to progress with the players we already have,” he stated. “If you are capable of developing footballers, not all of them should cost 60, 70, 80, 90 million pounds – whatever the figure is. I don’t think anyone has achieved this that way. Liverpool didn’t do that to get to the top. Even [Manchester] City didn’t practice that. You need to work excellently on player development, and I believe we are doing that. It is also important to invest in players with the right potential. Declan Rice is a good example. How old was he when he moved to Arsenal? Twenty-four or twenty-five? That matters. No one reaches their peak without investment.” Forget about newsletter promotion Subscribe to Football Daily Free Weekly Newsletter Start your evenings with The Guardian’s football roundup Enter your email address Marketing settings Receive information about our work, how to support us, and enjoy our content. Subscribe Privacy Note: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content provided by third parties. If you don’t have an account, we’ll create a temporary account for you on theguardian.com to deliver this newsletter. You can fully register at any time. For more details on how we use your data, please see our privacy notice. To protect our site, we use Google reCaptcha, and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply to it. After the newsletter promotion ends Tottenham received £100 million from the Lewis family last month, and further capital injections are expected to expand Postecoglou’s capabilities in the transfer market. He expresses confidence that the management will support his endeavors. “They have unequivocally stated their full commitment to the club, their desire to stay here for the long term, and their ambition for success,” he said. “I am confident that they will support us in our efforts to build a successful football organisation.”
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