Tottenham Hotspur expect to unveil André Villas-Boas as their manager this week and his appointment is set to spark a frenzied period of transfer activity at White Hart Lane in preparation for the new Premier League season.

Negotiations are ongoing with Villas‑Boas and his representative but are considered close to resolution. The Portuguese is now contractually free to take up the reins at another English club following his dismissal as Chelsea manager in March. It is anticipated the 34-year-old will sign a three-year contract at Spurs and could be confirmed in position on Tuesday.

Villas-Boas's backroom team will include José Mario Rocha and Daniel Sousato, key members of his staff during his glittering season at Porto and his ill‑fated stint at Stamford Bridge, following the departures of Kevin Bond and Joe Jordan from the coaching team at Tottenham last week. The manager will arrive keen to re-establish his reputation having been dismissed by Chelsea nine months into a three-year deal with the team outside the Champions League places and the manager having met resistance in the dressing room for the changes he was attempting to impose.

A busy summer reshaping the squad left by Harry Redknapp awaits. Villas-Boas is expected to be followed to the club by Gylfi Sigurdsson, the goalscoring Icelandic midfielder who impressed while on loan at Swansea City for the second half of last season, from Hoffenheim for £8m. The manager also hopes to conclude deals for the Internacional midfielder Oscar dos Santos Emboaba Junior, 20, and the Belgium defender Jan Vertonghen, at around £9.5m, despite the player still negotiating the terms of his release from Ajax.

Those deals will reflect the considerable financial backing to be provided by the chairman, Daniel Levy, to ensure Spurs remain challengers next season. The club have been buoyed by Gareth Bale signing a new four-year contract worth £70,000 a week – an indication in itself that the dressing room are behind Villas-Boas's appointment – though it remains to be seen whether a deal with Manchester City for Emmanuel Adebayor can be thrashed out given the Togo forward's wage demands. He earns £170,000 a week at the Etihad Stadium, an amount Spurs cannot match.

The England striker Jermain Defoe, who endured something of a bit-part role with the club last season, will be retained but Giovanni dos Santos is due to join Malaga and Spurs are braced for a transfer request from Luka Modric, who is agitating for Champions League football, though they will resist selling the Croatia midfielder to another Premier League team. Manchester United and Chelsea have been interested and Real Madrid are also admirers.