Tottenham left-back Danny Rose has claimed his side need more squad depth if they are to challenge for major honours next season.
He insisted that the club were lucky not to lose Dele Alli or Christian Eriksen to injuries this campaign, and that Erik Lamela has been a blessing in disguise as it has allowed them to revert to a 3-4-3 formation.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s The Friday Football Social (Friday, 7.15pm), as quoted by the channel’s official Twitter account, Rose delivered his transfer warning to Spurs top brass.
He said: “I think, without being disrespectful to anybody, we could have a better squad in terms of depth.
“Thankfully, nothing’s happened to Dele since he’s been at the club, he doesn’t really get any injuries, but just imagine if that happened. Or if someone like Christian got injured.
“We’ve been lucky with Lamela being injured for large parts of the season, we’ve been able to go to a back-three, so we’ve managed to fit in Christian and Dele without any problems. I think we could have bigger and better depth in the squad.”
"We need better squad depth"
Danny Rose on how #THFC can move forward and challenge for major honours next season pic.twitter.com/m8a7RqvfRn
— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) May 26, 2017
Alli and Eriksen were both star performers for Tottenham this season, and the attacking duo contributed (scored or assisted) to a combined total of 59 goals in all competitions.
Spurs finished second in the Premier League this term, their highest finish in the top-flight since 1963.
They also reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, only to be knocked out by Chelsea, who also beat them to the league title.
Rose had been a regular in Mauricio Pochettino’s back line prior to picking up a season-ending knee injury in January, making 21 appearances in all competitions.
The 26-year-old has played more than 140 league and cup games for Spurs since joining the club from Leeds in the summer of 2007.
The left-back has been capped by England 12 times, however he has not featured this year due to his ongoing injury issues.