AVB told to spend AGAIN! After £108m summer spree, Levy to open the Spurs chequebook once more in January window



Daniel Levy has told Andre Villas-Boas the Spurs chequebook will open again in January.

Tottenham embarked on an unprecedented spending spree during the summer transfer window, spending £108million on fresh talent.

However, following Gareth Bale’s world record £85m move to Real Madrid, the club’s summer net spend stands at just £2m.

More money: Daniel Levy has promised Andre Villas-Boas there will be money to spend

New faces: The sale of Gareth Bale means only a net spend of £2m brought the likes of Christian Eriksen to White Hart Lane

Levy will make substantial funds available to his Portuguese manager during the winter transfer window, enabling him to sign a new defender.

He remains keen on signing a new left-back, with Real Madrid’s Fabio Coentrao at the top of his list.

Danny Rose is the club’s first-choice left-back but Villas-Boas is keen to strengthen.

He has also asked his scouting network to identify strikers ahead of January, which could place further question marks on Jermain Defoe’s future.

Defoe has been forced to play second fiddle to new £26m striker Roberto Soldado during the start of the season. Yet he has still scored four goals, albeit all in the Europa League.

In the money: Gareth Bale's world record sale meant Spurs have barely spent

Cover: Ream Madrid and Portugal left back Fabio Coentrao is a target

Spurs skipper Michael Dawson has urged Defoe not to seek a route out of White Hart Lane.

Dawson was close to leaving at the start of last season after Villas-Boas made it clear he was not in his plans.

But after rejecting moves to QPR and Sunderland, Dawson worked his way back into the manager’s thoughts and is now a first-team regular.

Fight for it: Michael Dawson has urged Jermain Defoe to stay at Spurs and fight for his place



‘It’s frustrating when you are not playing: there’s no player who will stand here and claim he doesn’t want to play,’ said Dawson.

‘All you can do is come in, work hard on a daily basis and when you get your chance, you’ve got to take it.