What transfer business Tottenham need to do in the summer to keep Antonio Conte and Harry Kane

Following the win against West Ham on Sunday, things look a lot rosier in Tottenham Hotspur’s hunt for European football.

There is still a decent chance that the north London outfit will be playing matches on Tuesday and Wednesday nights next season, rather than Thursday.

And the knock-on effect to budget and attraction to players remains huge.

There’s everything to play for across the final two months of the season, ahead of what promises to be an important summer for Antonio Conte’s side, with the Italian’s future not yet fully clear, nor that of talisman Harry Kane, who will be down to two years of his current contract.

With all that in mind, LondonWorld takes an early look at the next transfer window to examine where things lie currently.

What needs to happen

It’s been well documented that Spurs are looking for a left-sided central defender in the summer transfer window.

Meanwhile Antonio Conte has explained previously that his ideal squad make-up would be two players competing for every position.

To that end, more strength in depth is needed in the forward areas, including at wing-back too where Matt Doherty has improved and may yet earn himself another season, but Emerson Royal looks more like a makeweight in another deal by the week.

Tottenham should finish the season having scored the fourth or fifth most goals in the league (they are currently sixth but scoring at a much better rate under Conte than Nuno Espirito Santo).

Extrapolate Conte’s time from Nuno’s and the forward play may even be better than that.

But the north London side do need to tighten up still.

Hugo Lloris has the fourth most clean sheets this season, but his team have been unable to hang in games against the top sides when they have conceded the first goal.

Big defeats to Chelsea and Manchester United at home show much room for improvement, and players with the right mindset may be more needed than those with the necessary skillset as a result in the future.

What might happen

If Champions League football is achieved, then that would greatly enhance the budgets and range of available players to shop from.

With Europa League football, the numbers go down in every way.

The Europa Conference may be best avoided.

One intriguing possibility - and already floated by the manager himself no less - is the return of Christian Eriksen to the club in the summer, when the attacking midfielder will be out of contract at Brentford.

Eriksen is proving his fitness and durability for the Bees currently and may feel a debt of gratitude to Thomas Frank for having that opportunity.

But should helping to see the west London side remain in the Premier League satisfy that, then there could be romance right around the corner.

Eriksen would add the long-range passing and goal-scoring presence that Spurs have missed since the Dane’s departure, and a link-up with former coach Conte would add depth to the Spurs squad and leave Daniel Levy with plenty of budget to find another top class forward to compete with Harry Kane for the spearhead striker position.

Good luck with that, but surely a top class attacking recruit would enable the England captain to be rotated on occasion and for the team to fight on multiple fronts.

Steven Bergwijn or Lucas Moura might yet make way for a high quality replacement.

We’ve already seen that this Conte side have struggled to put together back-to-back performances, but with greater options from the bench, Spurs could attack multiple competitions and potentially go on and do something in one.

Defensive improvement required

While it was a slow start to the 2021/22 season under Nuno Espirito Santos, things are starting to click in attack.

Kane and Son are getting more chances, and Dejan Kulusevski offers a reliable third attacker, with four assists and two goals to his name so far.

The Swede has featured in just a third of the 1,544 minutes Lucas Moura has played in the season to date, with the same attacking output.

While a quality front-line attacker, with Memphis Depay, Lautaro Martinez and Paolo Dybala all linked, would add vital competition in attack, equally important is finding the right additions at the back.

At least one central defender is needed to compete with Ben Davies, and ideally another would arrive to allow Japhet Tanganga to benefit from a loan elsewhere and a regular full season of football.

Thankfully, there are plenty of quality left-sided defenders around this summer, and Spurs should be able to grab one of Nico Schlotterbeck, Josko Gvardiol, Piero Hincapie or former transfer target Pau Torres.

The right signings at the back should help build-up play from deep, where Spurs have struggled at times, and for Conte’s side to become that bit more stubborn.

Key position to recruit in

The final recruit needed may be the most difficult to get right, and perhaps not necessarily because of a lack of available options.

Right wing-back is a specialist position and Spurs have had difficulty filling that berth this campaign.

Emerson Royal has proven himself to be a good defender but has not offered enough going forward.

Watford allowed the Brazilian to cross at will, happy that little would trouble the Hornets, and they were correct.

Matt Doherty has offered goals and assists but a more dynamic option might yet push Tottenham up a level.

Tariq Lamptey, Tino Livramento, Kyle Walker-Peters, Djed Spence, Max Aarons and others will no doubt be examined, and the right man must be found.

Might even Adama Traore be available again in the summer?

Get this right and it could unlock Spurs’ attack next season, balancing out the quick forays of Sergio Reguilon and Ryan Sessegnon on the other flank.

Get those recruits in next summer, and Champions League would greatly aid the chances there, and Spurs may finally be back competing for honours again.