Mauricio Pochettino has urged Tottenham to intensify their efforts to sign new players as Kyle Walker heads to Manchester City, according to the Mail.
The newspaper claim that the Spurs manager has a “strong interest” in signing Everton’s Ross Barkley and Porto’s Ricardo Pereira.
The Mail report that Pochettino is in the market for a playmaker and a right-back who can replace Walker, who is set to wrap up a £50million transfer to Etihad Stadium in the next 48 hours.
It is said the Argentine wants Spurs to respond to the loss of a first-team mainstay by displaying greater assertiveness in the transfer market.
Tottenham are the only Premier League club not to make any signings this summer although they have been linked with a number of possible new recruits as they aim to build upon their second place finish of last season.
Everton reportedly want £50million for Barkley, 23, even though he has entered the final year of his contract, while Pereira, 23, has a £22million release clause in his contract.
The reportedly imminent arrival of Estudiantes defender Juan Foyth might not reduce Pochettino’s angst given that he is a teenager and might be regarded as a player for the future rather than the upcoming season.
Pochettino does not want Spurs to wait until the final days of the transfer window to bring in new recruits as they have so often in the past, such as when Moussa Sissoko and Georges-Kevin NKoudou arrived on deadline day last August.