Tottenham Hotspur in the January transfer window: Money is tight but midfield reinforcement is required

When Mauricio Pochettino was asked at a press conference on 18 December whether he would spend any money in the January transfer window, he pulled out the pockets of his tracksuit bottoms to reveal they were empty. The implication was clear: there is no money to spend.

Spurs have a new stadium to pay for, with a £637m bank loan, and are now hundreds of millions of pounds in debt because of it. Their summer window was barren, as they tried to sell to buy, but could not, and were left with no outs and no ins.

So will it be the same next month? The two most saleable assets, Toby Alderweireld and Danny Rose, have re-established themselves in the first team and so Spurs would be sabotaging the second half of their season if they let either of them leave the club.

But while money is tight, Tottenham are still in the market for a back-up centre-back and another holding midfielder, with Victor Wanyama and Mousa Dembele both missing much of the season so far. Eric Dier's appendicitis has left them even more exposed in that area. But, as Pochettino suggested, anyone they went for would have to be cheap.

One player who might tick that box is Hull City’s Jarrod Bowen, a winger who has received interest from Tottenham in recent weeks, who have sent scouts to watch him. Bowen has scored 10 goals so far this season playing on the right-hand side, including two against Championship leaders Leeds United at the weekend. Everton, managed by Bowen’s former Hull manager Marco Silva, and Leeds are also keeping an eye on him.

A figure of around £14m could be enough to secure the English talent, whose nationality is reportedly a key pulling factor for Pochettino, with the side having too many non-locally trained players in their squad.