Tottenham will be 'clever and consistent' in battle for new players says Mauricio Pochettino

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has claimed Spurs are working hard to scout potential summer targets and move faster than their rivals in the upcoming transfer window.

The Argentine manager bolstered the squad in 2014 with the additions of Ben Davis, Benjamin Stambouli, Michael Vorm, Eric Dyer, Federico Fazio and DeAndre Yedlin, who remained on loan at former side Seattle Sounders during the first part of the campaign.

Meanwhile, Pochettino also secured the services of promising youngster Dele Alli although he automatically re-joined MK Dons on loan to complete his development.

And while recent reports claimed the Argentine manager is planning to part ways with a number of players who have failed to convince him during his debut season at White Hart Lane, Pochettino has now sent a positive message over the potential arrivals.

"If you punch before the opponent, you have half of the job done. For us, it's important to work hard during the season to take early decisions. This is always important in football," the manager said, according to Standard Sport, after Spurs brought in Southampton's head of recruitment Paul Mitchell in November 2014.

"I think we need to be cleverer than the teams that invest more money than us. I'm happy that we have created a very strong structure now to follow the players around the world, and we need to arrive earlier than the teams that have more possibilities to invest than us."

The manager believes Spurs have the potential to get into the Champions League next season but have to be cleverer than big spenders like Manchester City, Manchester United or Chelsea.

"I think Tottenham have great potential to fight for the top four. Maybe it's not easy to fight against Manchester City, Manchester United or Chelsea because they have behind them a big financial potential and every year they spend a lot of money and sign real players, who can perform right away," the manager added.

"Maybe our project needs to be different. We need to create our own project, our own philosophy and we need to deliver it. Tottenham is different to other clubs – better or worse, I don't know, but we need to create our own philosophy and be special, because we are Tottenham.

"We need to be clever and consistent and we need to fight for that. It's a good opportunity now. That's why I told you this season was one for transition, because we need to settle our philosophy our own way to start to deliver next season.

"It's harder [to be cleverer] because in football all people believe that they are clever. It's never easy. But if you are strong, you have clear ideas and you are consistent and you work very hard, I think you can achieve everything."