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Tottenham Hotspur are looking to make a signing before the end of the transfer window and were holding talks on Thursday about potential targets, football.london understands.

Mauricio Pochettino has always made it clear that it would be difficult for the club to sign players in the winter window and it is not a period of the season when the Argentine is usually keen on bringing in new faces.

Since coming to England in 2013, Pochettino has only signed two first team players in the January window - Dele Alli in 2015 when he was loaned straight back to MK Dons and Lucas Moura last January who was slowly brought into the team with this season in mind.

However, Tottenham's lack of signings in the summer and Pochettino's belief that the squad needs new faces to bring fresh impetus to their challenge on all four fronts means the club are looking to do some business this month and were planning to do so before Harry Kane's ankle injury on Sunday.

football.london understands that discussions were held among Tottenham officials on Thursday about the club's potential transfer targets.

The club's transfer committee contains chairman Daniel Levy, chief scout Steve Hitchen, Pochettino and academy head John McDermott, who advises the senior figures whether there are better prospects in certain positions set to come through, rather than spending on a new player.

Oliver Skipp is one such player who has broken through this season from the academy and the club are keen to not block the 18-year-old;s progress.

Mousa Dembele's departure has brought some extra money into the coffers, while freeing up some of the wage budget and also a foreign player spot in the club's Premier League and Champions League squad. Juan Foyth is expected to be handed his spot in the latter squad.

Despite Kane's injury and Heung-Min Son's departure for the Asian Cup, Pochettino is not someone who goes in for panic buys and Tottenham do not do loan deals, unless they contractually lead to permanent transfers.

The club are looking to move on Vincent Janssen and Georges-Kevin Nkoudou this month to free up more funds although a decision is expected to be made to forgo a January transfer fee for Fernando Llorente in order to provide cover during Kane and Son's absence before the Spaniard's contract ends in the summer.

There has been some talk of 31-year-old free agent and former Manchester United striker Guiseppe Rossi coming in on a pay-as-you-play deal but that does not fit in with Tottenham's policy of short-term deals or making moves for players over a certain age.

football.london understands that the club have not made an approach to Barcelona at this point to discuss the transfer of Malcom, despite reports to the contrary.

The 21-year-old was a target for Tottenham during his Bordeaux days before they moved to sign Lucas from PSG last January.

It was expected to be decided by the club on Thursday whether to pursue Hull City's in-form young attacking midfielder Jarrod Bowen during this window.

Pochettino has previously played down talk of signing the 22-year-old, but Spurs have scouted him regularly this season and were watching again at the weekend as he scored twice against Sheffield Wednesday, making it nine goals in this last eight games.

Tottenham are expected to be looking closer to home at transfers due to the lack of homegrown players in their squads, with Leeds United's Jack Clarke, Sunderland's Josh Maja and Norwich's Max Aarons among those watched closely this season.

With just two weeks left of the transfer window, Tottenham will have to get moving with any deals they decide to pursue - at home or abroad - as the clock is ticking.

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