Mauricio Pochettino Must Get Tottenham's Transfers Right in the Summer

Tottenham Hotspur face a significant summer. 

After a season of evident progress, despite some admittedly frustrating setbacks, Mauricio Pochettino has a system in place and many of the right players to make a real run at the Champions League. 

Last summer, Spurs addressed their most obvious weakness. 

Having conceded more goals (51) than any other team in the Premier League's top eight, they signed an entire new back four, another goalkeeper and a defensive midfielder. 

Unfortunately, that did not solve the problem. 

Unless Spurs can keep clean sheets in their remaining three fixtures, they will at least match last season's woeful defensive record while the teams around them have tightened up. 

In 2013-14, Spurs were one of five teams in the top eight to concede 40 or more goals. This season, only Swansea City have reached that mark. 

Pochettino was not as heavily involved in Spurs' transfer activity last summer as he will be going forward. 

The club's acquisition of Southampton scouting chief Paul Mitchell as well as Pochettino's own admission that he should have "the final decision" on signings suggests that there will be a focus to Spurs' transfer policy with the Argentinian at the head. 

Spurs' signings last summer were not a disaster.

The problem with those moves is that they don't represent a cohesive plan. DeAndre Yedlin and Eric Dier were obvious examples of opportunistic transfers, Federico Fazio replaced a similar player for a similar fee in Michael Dawson. Benjamin Stambouli was an apparent attempt to sign the next Morgan Schneiderlin instead of the current one because of the disparity in transfer fees. 

Pochettino, Mitchell and Franco Baldini (if he's still around) must be working from the same plan. 

Having spent a full season with this squad, Pochettino knows who he trusts and who he feels he cannot rely on. He will be able to identify the kinds of players he needs while Mitchell and his "Black Box" can search Europe to find them. 

The positive working relationship between this pair is key. If they can combine to get the specific players that Pochettino needs to improve his team, Spurs can threaten the Premier League's top echelon. 

They proved in matches against all of the top five this season that they are competitive. Unfortunately, those examples have proved isolated in a long season. Spurs have also been bloodied on occasion by their rivals at the top of the league, so progress is more than possible. 

The unpleasant spectre of money must necessarily hang over any discussion of transfers.

Spurs are a fabulously rich club by global standards but cannot compete with England's biggest spenders. They have the sixth-highest wage bill (which includes Emmanuel Adebayor's £5 million salary) in the Premier League and will likely finish in sixth place.

Tim Ireland/Associated Press

According to the Evening Standard, Spurs could cut their wage bill by more than 10 per cent (leaving them roughly £10 million ahead of Newcastle United and Queens Park Rangers, per Total Sportek) by selling Adebayor, Paulinho and Aaron Lennon in the summer.

The fact that such a significant sum is tied up in three of Spurs' least useful players is an example of the type of mistakes Spurs cannot afford to make. 

Their wage bill is roughly two-thirds that of Arsenal and Liverpool, which means that in order to compete they cannot afford to waste any of their budget. Spurs must get value out of every penny spent on wages if they hope to close the gap. 

This summer, Pochettino and Mitchell simply cannot afford to go wrong with any of their transfers.

Spurs' team is young—so young in fact that simply by virtue of playing an entire season together, they have improved so much that they could go into next season with no new players at all still expecting to be more of a threat to the top four. 

Players like Nabil Bentaleb, Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen, Dier, Rose and others are still learning their game. Pochettino, a coach first, has improved all of them with his demanding system and lofty fitness demands. 

The return of loaned-out youngsters like Dele Alli and Alex Pritchard only adds to the talent already at Pochettino's disposal. 

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

The structure exists at Spurs for a vastly improved performance next season. Difficult failures in the League Cup final, Europa League and even the FA Cup defeat to Leicester City will prove valuable lessons for Spurs' prodigious crop of youngsters. 

Some of the excitement at the potential of Spurs' excellent young team has been lost in the late-season malaise but the club is on the verge of something remarkable. 

This summer is crucial because the right signings could push Spurs over the hill they have been trying to climb since 2010. The general quality of the squad is higher than it has been since the days of Luka Modric, Rafael van der Vaart and Gareth Bale. 

Now is the opportunity for Spurs to push their way back into England's elite.