Tottenham enter the turn of the year in high spirits on the back of a run of eight matches unbeaten since their slip-up in the Premier League at Bolton Wanderers at the beginning of last month.
With a tough draw in the last 16 of the Champions League coming up, the newcomers to the upper echelons of European football will be looking to trim their squad, currently the largest in their division, in order to fund a couple of acquisitions which could help them achieve fame and glory on both domestic and international fronts.
Although consistently high numbers of injuries within the squad has masked the problem, Spurs's wage bill can and needs to be trimmed in times of relative austerity - even for a club with a new windfall of UEFA's cash.
Players such as Mexico's Giovani Dos Santos (pictured) may be advised to find new homes in just a matter of weeks as club chairman Daniel Levy and manager Harry Redknapp look to capitalise on the relative openness of the two most important competitions for the club this year.
Defenders Johnathan Woodgate and Kyle Naughton, midfielders David Bentley, Jamie O'Hara and Dos Santos and strikers Peter Crouch and Robbie Keane may be sacrificed to create enough revenue to strengthen the first team in crucial areas: goalkeeper, left-back, defensive midfield and forward.
The need for a tall striker who is more lethal in front of goal and has more quality on the ball than both Crouch and Russian Roman Pavlyuchenko has been talked about since the summer.
But Spurs now seem ready to act and could do worse than swallowing their pride and making Ajax an offer for former flop Mounir El-Hamdaouim who has outshone striker partner and long-time Spurs target Luis Suarez in attack this season.
Below are 10 transfer deals which could happen before the end of next month, according to news sources in the tabloid press and online:
OUT:
- Robbie Keane (to Birmingham City, West Ham United or Wolverhampton Wanderers, £7m)
- Peter Crouch (to Newcastle United, part-exchange for Andy Carroll)
- Giovani Dos Santos (to Genoa, £6 million)
- Jamie O'Hara (to West Ham United, £5 million)
- David Bentley (to Liverpool, £6 million)
IN:
- Emmanuel Adebayor (from Manchester City, £12 million)
- Vicenzo Iaquinta (from Juventus, £12 million)
- Stephen Pienaar (from Everton, £4 million)
- Lassana Diarra (from Real Madrid, £8 million)
- Scott Loach (from Watford, £4 million)
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