Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho has said his team "don't need huge investment" this summer and insisted the club can still compete in the market even if they fail to qualify for the Champions League.
Spurs travel to Sheffield United on Thursday aiming to close a seven-point gap between them and Manchester United who are in fifth place, the lowest position offering a spot in Europe's premier competition as Manchester City await the verdict on their appeal over a two-year ban.
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Tottenham have a game in hand over United but the race for Champions League football remains fiercely competitive with the club's chairman Daniel Levy warning prior to the coronavirus lockdown that spending would be impacted should they miss out.
Sources have told ESPN that Spurs ringfenced £25 million per season when refinancing the debt on their new £1 billion stadium but that figure is set to come under renewed pressure from the financial difficulties arising from the coronavirus.
However, when asked about the impact an absence of Champions League football could have, Mourinho said a major overhaul is not required.
"That is normal that a team that qualifies or doesn't qualify for Champions League, it makes a difference in terms of the economical situation, that is easy to understand and easy to accept," he said.
"The two good things are that Mr. Levy wants what I want, what the fans want, which is to win football matches and to try to win trophies.
"That is the first good thing and the second good thing is we don't need much. We don't need many players, we don't need huge investment. That is not our profile as a club, with or without COVID, with or without Champions League. It doesn't matter what happens in terms of the table, we will manage to improve our squad, which is what we want."
That view will be reinforced by tying existing players to new contracts including Eric Dier, who has just 12 months left on his agreement.
"My boss Mr. Levy tells me that he wants Eric to sign a new contract," Mourinho added.
"Eric tells me that he is more than happy here, he is more than happy with his situation, especially now where he feels that we have a certain idea for him and the team. And he tells me also very much that he wants to stay.
"I hope they can find an agreement because I am trying to take the team in a certain direction and when I try to develop a player in the team, it is because I am waiting for the player to stay with us."
Dier is waiting to learn his punishment after being charged with misconduct by the Football Association for climbing into the stands to confront a supporter after Tottenham were knocked out of the FA Cup by Norwich in March.
Mourinho cited the case of Arsenal's Matteo Guendouzi escaping any ban for putting his hand around Brighton's Neal Maupay's throat.
Asked when he expected a decision on Dier's case, Mourinho said: "I think they made a decision when Guendouzi grabbed the other guy by his neck. I think the decision was made in that moment."
Guendouzi was never charged by the FA as opposed to Dier, who is expected to be sanctioned in the next fortnight.
Mourinho also addressed his reported strained relationship with midfielder Tanguy Ndombele during the session.
Ndombele, the most expensive player in the club's history, has watched Spurs' first two Premier League matches since a coronavirus-induced hiatus from the bench amid reports of a falling out between the two. But Mourinho played down his on-field absence as normal for a big club with many quality players.
"When you are a big club and you want to be a bigger club, you have lots of big players, you don't have five or six, 10 or 11, you have lots of very good players. When you have lots of good players, you have lots of options. You can face the season, you can face all the competitions and then the players, the fans, you the press, everyone has to understand that when you have lots of good players, you can only start matches with eleven," Mourinho said. "In many other clubs, it looks like it's normal to have great players on the bench. You go to [Manchester] United, you go to Liverpool, you go to Real Madrid, you go to... Barcelona. Bayern Munich and lots of top players on the bench. That is normal."
He added: "In Tottenham, what I feel is every time a top player is on the bench it's a drama and the players have to understand that it's not a drama. You have to understand it's not a drama and everybody has to understand it's not a drama.
"I hope that next season that we have even more top players on the bench because it means we have to be bigger than where we are now so when a top player is on the bench it doesn't mean there's a story behind it. It means that there's lots of other options."