Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has claimed that his side are struggling to keep up with the spending of the sides around them in the Premier League.
The Lilywhites brought in Moussa Sissoko, Victor Wanyama and Vincent Janssen during the summer in an attempt to push on from last season's third-place finish.
An outlay of around £34m was considerably less than that of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United, however, which Pochettino admits is making life "very difficult" for his side to remain in touching distance at the top.
"For us, it is very difficult to sign players like our opponents," he told reporters. "When you compare Tottenham with Liverpool, Chelsea, City, United and Arsenal, in this moment it is very difficult to compete with them.
"The challenge is to be clever and to take risks - and as we know, when you take risks in football, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose."
Tottenham are expected to delve into the market when the January transfer window opens in just under three weeks' time, with Everton midfielder Ross Barkley said to be among their targets.
