Paulinho
Paulinho could be surplus to requirements at Tottenham under Mauricio Pochettino Getty Images

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino insists that his side have to spend wisely in the market to compete with the likes of Southampton, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea if they have to compete for a spot in the Champions League next season.

Spurs have squandered their chance to finish in the top four this season and the Argentine insists that they need to improve massively in the next campaign for them to have any chance of beating their more decorated rivals to a Champions League finish. Manager Andre Villas-Boas had the chance to close the gap, been given a massive transfer budget by the management following the transfer of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid.

However, the likes of Roberto Soldado, Erik Lamela and others failed to make an impact and the former Southampton man needs to bring in a few players who can score goals and strengthen the squad across the length of the field.

The manager revealed that not a single player is safe in the squad and that he may look to make large-scale transfers depending on the balance of the squad.

"Always you need to analyse the last season and nobody is sure to stay at the club," Pochettino said.

"You need to be professional when you take a decision. My first speech with the players is one thing is the human side, the other the professional side. I am very cold on my professional side when I need to take a decision."

The manager also revealed that there is no point pondering over material which is not relevant any longer and that they need to look forward for a long term solution.

"We need to look forward and learn from our past, but I was not here," the Argentine said.

"You ask me about two seasons ago that maybe the manager had a lot of money to spend like (Ronald) Koeman at Southampton and maybe (Louis) Van Gaal at Manchester United. Are you asking me if I have the same possibility? No.

"We need to learn and look forward. We need to learn. We have a different plan to develop over the next few years and we need to deliver it.

"We need to be clever in the way that we build the new squad because it is difficult to compete with the money – that's true – so we need to be clever. We want good players, with the right profile," he added.