Johan Lange delivers 'strong' message on Tottenham summer transfer plans

Tottenham Hotspur sporting director Johan Lange has assured fans that the club will demonstrate strong ambition in the next transfer window.

Spurs have struggled badly in the first half of the campaign, and sit at 14th in the Premier League table with only 29 points from 24 games.

Thomas Frank has been properly backed by the Tottenham hierarchy as the club acknowledges the difficulty he is facing with a host of players missing through injuries.

Spurs signed Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid and Souza from Brazilian club Santos during the January window, but many had expected the club to be more active and bring in more players.

Tottenham also signed Hearts teenager James Wilson on loan, but the forward is a player for the U21 squad.

Johan Lange sends strong transfer message

The lack of transfer activity was slammed by Spurs skipper Cristian Romero, who described the squad’s lack of depth as “disgraceful”.

Tottenham also sold last season's top scorer, Brennan Johnson to Crystal Palace, and they did not bring in a proper replacement despite being linked with a host of players.

Lange has noted that the mounting injury crisis was not anticipated at the start of the season and believes the squad will be boosted by the return of key players.

“The summer market is where eight or nine out of 10 players, they move clubs, so we will go into the summer window with big ambitions of strengthening the team," said Lange, as quoted by Sky Sports News.

"We know there'll be more movements, we know there'll be more opportunities, so the plans are already, can you see, drawn up. We have a clear picture of which position and also which profiles.

“Could we have brought one or two more in this January window? We would have been delighted to do so, but that was not a possibility. So, we are looking forward to the summer, now we focus on the rest of the season and that is very, very important as well because we have big objectives.

"We're still in the Champions League. We want to, of course, be higher in the Premier League and then myself and others will have our eyes already now directed towards the summer transfer window.”

Tottenham really unfortunate with injury crisis

James Maddison ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee back in August, and no specific time frame has been set for when he can return.

The north London club also lost Dominic Solanke for a long spell before he returned to action recently, and missed the services of Dejan Kulusevski.

At the moment, the squad is missing the likes of Micky van de Ven, Romero, Kevin Danso, Djed Spence and Ben Davies in defence.

In attack, the north London club are without Mohammed Kudus, Richarlison, and Solanke, while they are also missing midfielders like Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Bergvall.