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Mauricio Pochettino is already ­talking up Spurs’ chances of challenging for the Premier League title next term.

But I just cannot see it. They are one million miles away, writes Stan Collymore in the Sunday People.

In fact, if they are not careful this summer, Tottenham could end up with a squad that is not as strong as the one the Argentine is currently ­working with.

Look at this logically. If they are to win the league, they will have to overhaul Chelsea – and a quick look at their players shows they are way off.

Hugo Lloris is up there with Thibaut Courtois and Petr Cech in goal – but the two defences are

not comparable.

(Image: Getty)

Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason have been very good in midfield, but next season you’ll be asking those two rookies – in only their second full seasons – to do what Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas are doing for Chelsea. That’s asking a lot.

Further upfield, Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen don’t come near Eden Hazard and Willian.

Then you’ve got Harry Kane, on whom there has been a huge over-reliance during this ­campaign and he will be a marked man because of that

next season.

I don’t think he will score more goals than Diego Costa next term when there is a real ­burden of expectation upon him.

Gallery: Spurs held at Southampton

But my fear for Spurs is that, come August, there’s a chance their squad might actually end up being worse than it is now.

Who are they going to get? Christian Benteke would relieve some of the pressure for goals on Kane and he’s available, but Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal will be in there and two of those clubs can ­offer him Champions League football.

Morgan Schneiderlin would ­complement Mason and Bentaleb, but he alone won’t turn them into a side capable of challenging for the title.

We can all be clever with hindsight, but Spurs didn’t half drop a clanger with the £85million they pocketed from the sale of Gareth Bale.

(Image: Getty)

Chairman Daniel Levy and technical director Franco Baldini chose to bolster their squad with seven new faces when they’d have been far better served ­making one marquee signing and two or three smaller ones.

They went for Roberto Soldado, Erik Lamela & Co in one crazy week which saw their record transfer fee tumble several times.

And in the signings of Soldado, who had a proven track record in Spain, and Paulinho, the player of the tournament for Brazil at the 2013 Confederations Cup, you could understand the logic.

But none of the managers who have been at the club in the past couple of seasons – Andre Villas-Boas, Tim Sherwood and now Pochettino – have been able to get the best out of them and that means the whole transfer policy desperately needs a rethink this summer.

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The manager really needs to get rid of some of the deadwood, to move Soldado, Lamela and Paulinho on to bring some cash in to fund summer moves. But who is going to want them? And who can afford the wages? What Tottenham need to do is take a leaf out of rivals Arsenal’s book, because look at the difference the arrivals of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez have made.

When you make those kind of ­signings the bar is raised for everyone in the dressing room and Spurs need to make that happen right now. Levy needs to open his cheque book and lavish £40m, £50m on one player and lay down a marker for where he wants his club to go.

Pochettino said last week that this is a transition season for the club and that he expects them to be challenging. Look at the facts. I can’t see it. What’s far more likely is that they will find themselves in a battle for fifth and sixth place, maybe fourth, for the next two or three seasons at least.

One top-quality signing per summer for the next two or three years might get them back into the Champions League – but Spurs fans must realise it will be a longer process than they’d hoped.

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