Tottenham Hotspur have been forced to put transfer plans for this summer on hold amid the double uncertainty over head coach Ange Postecoglou and whether the club will be competing in Europe next season.
Postecoglou’s team cannot qualify for Europe through the Premier League, but could still snatch an unlikely Champions League place by winning the Europa League.
Spurs, who travel to Wolves on Sunday, will need to win the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany next week to keep that hope alive.
Postecoglou is likely to be sacked if Spurs miss out on Europe and could leave the club even if he does deliver Tottenham’s first trophy since 2008 and qualify for the Champions League.
That double uncertainty and the size of the swing in Tottenham’s potential fortunes is, according to well-placed sources, making it virtually impossible for the club to make concrete transfer plans for the summer.
One source told Telegraph Sport: “Tottenham, more than any other club, are in an impossible situation in terms of planning for next season. They cannot make definitive plans on transfer targets or existing players while they don’t know if they will be in Europe or if the head coach will still be in charge.”
Tottenham are not the only club who cannot be certain whether they will play in the Champions League next season, with the top-five race in the Premier League currently involving a number of clubs.
Qualifying for the Champions League will have a big impact on transfer budgets. But most of those clubs can be confident of qualifying for some sort of European competition and the likes of Nottingham Forest, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Aston Villa have no doubts over their managers.
Manchester United face a similar scenario to Spurs, but they do not have the same uncertainty over head coach Ruben Amorim – leaving Tottenham as the club with the biggest potential change in circumstances in the Premier League.
Agents have already opened discussions with clubs over players who are likely to attract widespread Premier League interest this summer, with clubs like Chelsea hoping to do their business early.
But players, such as Southampton’s teenage star Tyler Dibling, cannot be sure if Tottenham will be playing in Europe or whether Postecoglou will be the head coach.
The source added: “All managers have defined styles of football and players they are attracted to, none more so than Postecoglou. But that style could completely change if he goes. It’s all a bit of a mess and nobody can really get any answers.”
The uncertainty around Tottenham also impacts decisions over the current squad, with sources believing defender Cristian Romero could leave if the team fail to qualify for Europe and that the size of the first-team squad may potentially need to be cut if ...
