Tottenham Midfield Star Ready to Fight for Starting Spot

Tottenham midfielder Lewis Holtby is determined to fight for his place in the squad, despite the north London club spending over £100m in the transfer market to bring in new faces to the club.

The arrival of Paulinho, Etienne Capoue, Nacer Chadli, Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela had raised concern over the German international's future at White Hart Lane. The Daily Mail reported the midfielder will be sent on a season-long loan, but did not receive any offers for his services.

Holtby missed Spurs' pre-season due to a knee injury. The 22-year-old is adamant to prove his worth at White Hart Lane, despite Andre Villas-Boas adding new faces to their squad.

"I don't know where these rumours have come from. I missed nine weeks for Tottenham and missed the pre-season and it has been a tough summer. We are determined to show the gaffer that everyone is needed at the club and everyone is ready to play in the big games. I am very pleased to be in this squad," Holtby told talkSPORT.

"You need a big squad if you want to challenge for trophies and be strong in every competition. I think we are going to get some very good results this season. I knew that Tottenham was going to be a big club in Europe and to be a part of that, it just makes your game better.

Holtby joined Spurs from Schalke in the January transfer window and has made 11 league appearances last season, out of which seven of them have come from the bench. He is yet to feature in the Premier League this season.

Meanwhile, Holtby's compatriot and Bayern Munich legend Oliver Kahn has criticised Real Madrid's approach in signing former Spurs star, Gareth Bale. The Welshman completed a £85.3m world record move to the Spanish side, after agreeing a six year deal with the nine-time European champions.

"Never before has there been such a huge gap between a transfer fee and the actual market value of a player. It still has to be proven if Gareth Bale can be the next Tom Cruise. The 24-year-old Welshman had nine Champions League appearances so far and he wasn't able to feature in big tournaments with the Wales national team," Kahn explained.