Tottenham have hit back at fans criticising the club’s transfer policy.
The north Londoners moved for Dutch forward Arnaut Danjuma on loan and £39million right-back Pedro Perro from Sporting last month.
It came after the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust last month wrote to the board expressing its concerns over the direction of the club. Bryan Gil and Djed Spence left on loan while Matt Doherty agreed a mutual termination of his contract.
A statement from the Spurs board pledging their support for Antonio Conte read this on Friday: “Like everyone at the club, our head coach wants the team to compete for top honours.
“The club has invested heavily in the squad. This is a continual process with the aim of standing the club in good stead on the pitch for years to come.
“Since opening the stadium in April 2019 we have spent more than £500m putting us in the top quartile of spending in the Premier League – and we have made significant investments in the Women’s team too.
“In addition to the summer investment of over £200m we have committed to a further £47m spend this January.
“Despite this we consistently see references to our perceived lack of backing for head coaches and lack of spending. It’s important that we deal with facts – our spend levels quite clearly show that we have backed our football side.
“There is always a fine line between long-term investment and short-termism – which is why our recruitment has to be first class. Mistakes at this level leave a financial and sporting impact for future seasons.
“We have felt the financial impact of supporting player purchases which have not worked out as hoped. We have taken steps to improve this area of operations and the recent windows reflect this.”
Spurs are set to release their financial results this month and the supporters’ trust are hopeful of arranging a meeting with the board to coincide with the announcement of the end-of-year report.
