Tottenham Hotspur are facing an intriguing deadline day as Thomas Frank looks to strengthen his squad. The side's fightback to secure a draw against Manchester City on Sunday offered grounds for optimisim but Spurs still lack squad depth. The club's mounting injury problems have presented a challenge. While pursuing multiple targets on deadline day is difficult, Frank has not dismissed exploring the loan market to reinforce his squad in the short-term.
"We're still in the market, so it's not that we are not trying, but it's just that the short term also needs to be with a long-term view. That's a big thing," the Spurs manager explained. "[A loan] that's different, doing a loan that fits and can help us. That's different compared to buying a player for £30-£40million, that does he really improve us much more to what we've got now? That's two different things."
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Major deals done
Spurs have already secured two new additions during the January transfer window. Conor Gallagher was the first to join in a £34.6million move from Atletico Madrid. The 25-year-old has integrated seamlessly into the Spurs side, featuring in three successive league games since his return to England.
Spurs have also signed teenage left-back Souza from Santos. Tottenham completed a £13m move for the 19-year-old defender, who had featured 38 times for the Brazilian club. While he is yet to make his debut for Spurs, he was included in the matchday squad for the weekend's draw against City.
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In terms of player sales, the club sanctioned one significant exit with Brennan Johnson joining Crystal Palace. The 24-year-old, who scored the decisive goal in last season's Europa League final, moved for £35million after seeing his opportunities limited under Frank this term.
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Three possible deadline day moves
Tottenham had been close to signing Liverpool legend Andy Robertson before hitting a setback. The seasoned left-back, whose contract expires in the summer, had reached an agreement with Spurs.
However, the transfer stalled when Liverpool were unable to recall loanee Kostas Tsimikas as cover. Tottenham may revisit their interest in Robertson before the deadline, particularly if Liverpool can terminate Tsimikas' loan spell at Roma.
Monaco's Maghnes Akliouche has also been touted as a potential midfield target. Spurs had their eye on the French international during the summer and the combination of Mohammed Kudus' injury and Johnson's departure means there's a spot for Akliouche in the team.
football.london previously reported that Monaco were scouting replacements for Akliouche ahead of his departure, though Spurs are up against the clock to finalise a deal before Monday's 7pm GMT deadline. The club have also been linked with Manchester City forward Omar Marmoush during this transfer window.
It was claimed that Spurs were planning a £26m bid for the striker, who made a brief appearance at the weekend. Meanwhile, Frank has asserted that Randal Kolo Muani will stay at the club.
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Despite welcoming two new players this winter, the Spurs manager has conceded that his team's injury problems have left his squad weaker than at the start of the transfer window. "I think that's fair. I think we lost, I can't remember, six or seven players inside three weeks in January," he said.
"That's crazy, and some of them extremely unlucky, definitely Lucas and Ben with clear contact injuries. Then there was, I can't remember all of them, but there were definitely too many. So yeah, of course it's weaker than we started the first of January."