Tottenham to return to policy of signing young players for £10-15m after 2013 transfer

Tottenham Hotspur will return to their 'transfer comfort zone' of targeting young players for fees of around £10m-£15m as of this summer.

Following the world record sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid in the summer of 2013, Tottenham embarked on an unprecedented spending spree that saw them break their own transfer record on three consecutive occasions.

The club's recruitment drive saw them sign seven new players, including Paulinho for £17m, Roberto Soldado for £26m and Erik Lamela for £30m.

But the poor return on an investment that exceeded £100m has led to the club to reconsider their approach.

A meeting between Spurs chairman Daniel Levy and the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust, which was held this week, confirmed that such a strategy proved detrimental, prompting a return to the former policy.

The minutes from that meeting, posted on the Supporters' Trust's website read: "THFC's transfer comfort zone was with younger players around the £10m-15m price range and they would look to return to that policy.

"[It] was felt that moving away from this strategy in summer 2013 hadn't worked well for THFC, however, DL [Daniel Levy] was keen to stress the club had backed the coach [Andre Villas-Boas] and technical director [Franco Baldini] with those purchases."

Such claims however are at odds with those made by ex-Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas, who was sacked six months on from the club's record breaking spree in December 2013.

The Portuguese boss revealed last year he identified Brazilian trio Willian, Oscar and Leandro Damiao and Portugal international Joao Moutinho to replace Bale, in addition to Rafael van der Vaart and Luka Modric, who left the previous summer when Villas-Boas took over in 2012.

Villas-Boas said he had been given the mandate to 'increase Tottenham's competitive level' but insisted promises made to help him do just that were not kept.

Tottenham's efforts to revert to their previous policy were evident last summer where six players were signed, the most expensive of those being 21-year-old Ben Davis from Swansea City for £11m.

The club's move for MK Dons starlet Dele Alli, who will move to White Hart Lane at the end of the season, provided a further indication of that, with their pursuit of 22-year-old Cologne defender Kevin Wimmer another signal of their intent.