Antonio Conte is reportedly ready to wield the transfer axe.
The Tottenham Hotspur manager, who took over from Nuno Espirito Santo last year, is now preparing to guide his Lilywhites through the second half of the 2021-22 season.
Looking to force their way back into contention of qualifying for Champions League football, Tottenham Hotspur, who currently sit in sixth place, are just two points off West Ham United in fourth but have two games-in-hand over their London rivals.
Having failed to feature in the Champions League since the 2019-20 season, when they ended up crashing out in the Round of Last 16, Conte will now be determined to bring back top-tier European status to Tottenham Hotspur.
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Set to transform the club’s playing squad, according to a recent report from ESPN, the hard ruling Italian is preparing to offload several first-team players.
It has been noted that as many as six current stars could all be sold in the coming windows, including midfield trio Dele, Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele.
It is not just the centre of the park that Conte wants to shake up though – the likes of Steven Bergwijn, Matt Doherty and Japhet Tanganga also face uncertain futures.
In terms of potential arrivals, speaking in a press conference earlier on Friday, Conte recently hinted that the club would welcome former midfielder Christian Eriksen back – although it is expected that if the Denmark international were to return to London it would only be to train.
Elsewhere, key areas of focus for Conte and chairman Daniel Levy are believed to be identifying a new centre-back, a wing-back, central midfielder and a backup striker for star man Harry Kane.
The January transfer window is notoriously difficult to navigate from a commercial perspective though and while Tottenham Hotspur are not known for their huge amounts of spending, offloading will certainly be a priority.