Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou says he is “planning all scenarios” in the January transfer window, highlighting that two of his unused substitutes in Thursday’s Europa League draw against Roma were 16-year-old schoolboys .
Defender Malachi Hardy and midfielder Luca Williams-Barnett have not yet signed their professional contracts and attended school on Friday after sitting on the Spurs bench during Thursday night’s 2-2 draw against Roma.
Tottenham is one of several clubs competing in the Premier League and Europe with a squad plagued by injuries.
Postecoglou was asked to assess his team’s season so far, which sits sixth in the league before ninth-placed Fulham visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday (13:30 GMT).
“Once again we had four schoolboys on the bench last night (including Callum Olusesi and Maeson King), two of them were at school this morning,” he said.
“We are working quite hard with some quite limiting factors and still maintaining competitiveness in the competitions we participate in.
“We are in a good position to advance to the next round and we had to deal with some adversity. I think our season so far has been solid.
“Obviously there have been some extremes that cloud people’s image of where we are. I always try to take a step back and take a broader view.”
Spurs are currently without seven players, including defender Cristian Romero, who Postecoglou says is “close but unlikely” to return to face Fulham.
Micky van de Ven (hamstring) and teenager Mikey Moore (ill) could return before January, with Rodrigo Bentancur currently suspended until Boxing Day for a racial slur, pending an appeal to reduce a seven-game ban.
When asked if the answer was transfer activity in January, the Australian coach said he had had “several meetings” with technical director Johan Lange for a “strategy in January”.
Postecoglou added: “A lot will depend on where we are as a team at that time.
“Once in a while, really only Romero and Van de Ven will be back in that time period, but hopefully Richarlison will be back in the New Year and we’ll just assess where we are in terms of the team.
“I think last year we did some business [Radu Dragusin and Timo Werner] “Which ended up helping us, but nothing concrete now because January is always complicated.”
