Mauricio Pochettino confirms Tottenham Hotspur's January transfer plans

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has ruled out making any significant signings during the January transfer window in a bid to build on his side's recent impressive run. The win over Chelsea was Spurs' fifth in a row and leaves them seven points adrift of the Premier League leaders after 20 games of the season.

Pochettino has rarely been tempted into making wholesale changes during his tenure at White Hart Lane, instead preferring to tinker with his squad during transfer windows. Last January, the Argentina coach did not making a single senior addition, while the likes of Andros Townsend left on a permanent basis.

The Sun reported mid-week that Tottenham had dropped their interest in signing Wilfried Zaha from Crystal Palace, though Pochettino is understood to be keen on a £30m (€35m) move for the winger next summer. His most recent comments regarding the window correlate with that report, with him stating he is unlikely to be able to improve his squad this month.

"No I am happy," said the Tottenham gaffer when asked about any incoming names in January, according to Talksport. "I am happy in all the areas. We are always open to improvement but it is true that January is a difficult market to improve in."

After overcoming Chelsea with two Dele Alli goals on Wednesday (4 January), Tottenham must bring themselves down from cloud nine and turn their attention to the FA Cup, in which they face Aston Villa. The Midlands club are 12<sup>th in the Championship table and manager Steve Bruce has pedigree in the competition, having won the trophy three times as a player with Manchester United and then reached the final as manager of Hull City.

The team to face Villa is likely to be unrecognisable from the eleven that started the win over Chelsea. Pochettino is definitely without winger Erik Lamela however, with the former Roma man having not played since October, but the Tottenham manager is hopeful of a speedy return.

"He is close but is a little bit frustrated and it's tough for him to not be involved at the moment," he added, according to the club's Twitter page. "He has travelled to Rome with our staff to finish his recovery. We hope after that he can be involved with the team again."