Jermain Defoe
Jermain Defoe believes Tottenham's new signings can take the club to the next level. [Reuters]

Jermain Defoe is relishing the chance to play alongside Roberto Soldado next season as speculation increases that the Valencia striker will sign for Tottenham Hotspur in the coming days.

Spurs have already completed deals for Belgian winger Nacer Chadli and Brazilian midfielder Paulinho, but it is another top class forward that manager Andre Villas-Boas appears desperate to land.

Having already broken their transfer record once by signing Paulinho for £17m, Tottenham are set to smash it once again as they look to complete a £26m deal for Soldado.

While there has been some speculation that the Valencia forward would be direct competition for Defoe, the 30 year old is excited about the prospect of playing alongside Soldado as he believes he will help take the club forward.

"I can see why Spurs fans would be excited about Soldado coming because I am excited myself about the prospect of playing with him," Defoe told the Mirror. "He is a fantastic striker - sharp around the box and hungry to score goals.

"For me, it's not a case of thinking, 'A top-class forward is coming in, maybe I'm not going to play.' At the end of the day, I work hard and look after myself, so that I can give myself the best chance of bringing goals to the team.

"A guy like Soldado can only strengthen us. Maybe if we'd had him last season as well as Emmanuel Adebayor we would already be in the Champions League. He's a goalscorer.

"Nacer also looks a very good player. From what I've seen of him, he has got fantastic upper body strength and great feet. He's a Tottenham-type of player. Clever, gets on the ball, plays one-twos, looking for the killer pass."

Should the Spanish forward arrive then it would be a major statement of intent from the north London club. Having seen Arsenal sign just one youth player in Yaya Sanogo, Tottenham would have spent more £40m on new talent.

"You're talking about three top players who are going to take Tottenham to the next level," added Defoe.

"Yes, people may say that we missed out on Champions League football last season. But you look at the way the club has responded and straightaway you are excited about the way the team is being restructured to go again."

Having missed out narrowly on a place in Europe's elite competition to their nearest rivals, Defoe believes that the same mistakes will not be made as Tottenham had looked set to finish well above Arsenal at the turn of the year.

"If we just get off to a good start, you never know. It's about having the experience not to make the mistakes that cost us last time around," explained Defoe. "We've got that now."