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Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Martin Jol has given his thoughts on the club's transfer challenge and revealed what he told chairman Daniel Levy last month.

Tottenham haven't bought a new player for almost 18 months, since they signed Lucas Moura in January 2018, but Jol admitted to football.london that he told Spurs chairman Levy in a recent conversation that he understood why.

However, the popular Dutchman said there were solutions to help Mauricio Pochettino.

"Last year everyone was talking about not buying any players but I said to Daniel 'who would you buy to replace Christian? Who would you buy to replace Jan? Who would you buy to replace Trippier?'" he said.

"You can say now that people are being a bit critical about Trippier, but who would you buy? Aurier? He's already there. If Aurier was at PSG you'd say buy him for Trippier, but he's already there.

"How many better left-backs are there than Danny Rose? How many better number 10s are there than Dele Alli at getting in behind and scoring? Two years ago he was the best penetrating midfielder around.

"Even in Barcelona you couldn't find better. Iniesta was better on the ball but he was not scoring the goals and getting in behind with the unbelievable timing of Dele.

"This season he's probably been a bit average but do you really think Pochettino will think 'I need a better player than Dele Alli now'? I don't think so. He will just keep developing him.

"Or Son, where can you find a better flank player or a second striker than Son? You can't find it. So the only thing you can think of is to get better substitute or back-up players."

He continued: "How many massive stars will go to Spurs to be a back-up for Kane? It's ridiculous. You won't find them. You've got Llorente. Mention one back-up player who's better than Llorente. There is no one.

"What they then need to do is have young players coming through, but I know their U23s struggled this season.

"That's maybe one sign that they're not quite where they should be, because if you look at Ajax and all the big clubs they've got unbelievable players ready to come through. That is the future. You have to develop your own players. That's what they did with Kane and Winks.

"That's one process and the other is when you buy back up players, which is not easy. Then it comes down to expertise. For example Van de Beek in the winter you could bought him for much less because he wasn't always in the team.

"That's what scouts have to do, recognise the players, recognise the market. That is the only thing I can say because after it's too late and Spurs won't pay £50m or £60m."

Jol has one player in particular he thinks Tottenham should make a move for this summer and he's a player Ajax have already said will be leaving the club.

"If I was Spurs I would go for Hakim Ziyech and then you've got Donny van de Beek, but the thing is now Ajax can ask £70m or £80m for their stars," said the Dutchman.

"The old days are over. You can't get Ajax players for £12m or £15m. That time is over. Tottenham need very good scouts and people to find players."

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