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da bwin： Tottenham Hotspur face a massive battle to finish in the top four this season.
There are just six games of the season remaining and Spurs are one of four teams, including Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea, battling for the final two Champions League qualification spots.
But Spurs’ form recently has been abject at best and there is a very real scenario that Spurs could go from being in a title race to qualifying for the Europa League.
Football FanCast breaks down the potential consequences of Spurs failing to finish in the top four.
A tighter transfer budget
Spurs have not signed a player in the past two transfer windows, with their last new addition being Lucas Moura in January 2018.
A failure to qualify for the Champions League would surely have a major impact on the club’s transfer budget this summer.
Chairman Daniel Levy has claimed that the club’s new stadium will not have an impact on the club’s finances, but that appears contingent on qualifying for Europe’s elite club competition.
Finishing fifth or sixth would limit the club’s pulling power significantly and also potentially see the club struggle to pay the prices required to buy elite stars in today’s transfer window.
Pressure on Pochettino
Nobody is suggesting that Mauricio Pochettino’s future is in doubt, right now at least.
But a fall from the title race to a fifth or sixth place finish would surely see questions asked.
Pochettino has urged the club to be brave in the transfer market but, again, there is an expectation that the club will finish in the top four.
That, in itself, is Pochettino’s doing – he has transformed the club and qualifying for the Champions League is now a requirement instead of a desire.
The club may be able to cope with one season outside of the bubble but back-to-back failures may well put his tenure to a premature end.
Doubts over Kane
Harry Kane signed a new contract last summer and appears to genuinely adore playing for Tottenham.
He has scored 164 goals in 250 games for Spurs and is arguably the finest striker the club have had in the modern era.
He is unlikely to seek an exit but a failure to qualify for the Champions League would see vultures circling.
Kane, England’s captain and the Golden Boot winner at the 2018 World Cup, would walk into any team on the planet and the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester United and PSG would surely be monitoring his situation with keen interest.
As mentioned with Pochettino, Kane would surely cope for a season but another failure next season could see a flurry of bids tabled.
A firesale
Spurs are surely set to sell a number of players this summer, purely based on their performances this season. The likes of Kieran Trippier, Ben Davies and Erik Lamela can all be upgraded and have not been at the top of their games this term.
There are doubts over Toby Alderweireld and Christian Eriksen too, with the former holding a £25million release clause in his contract and the Denmark international being courted by Real Madrid.
Spurs can recover from both leaving but there may be more to come: Danny Rose, Jan Vertonghen and Hugo Lloris, along with the likes of Lucas Moura and even Son Heung-Min, may not take too kindly to being in Europe’s second-tier competition next season.
With Son and Vertonghen, in particular, it would be remarkable if a number of clubs did not come knocking.
A half-full new stadium
Spurs have just opened their £1billion stadium, the second-largest in London.
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as it is currently known, has the ability to host over 62,000 fans.
But the prospect of playing a team such as Astra Giurgiu on a Thursday evening is unlikely to whet the appetite of fans in the same way that Real Madrid or Barcelona visiting will do.
It is unlikely that the group stages would bring in a capacity crowd, and may even have an impact on season ticket sales.
Levy and his fellow board members are unlikely to take too kindly to that turn of events.