Tottenham Hotspur had a better summer than Arsenal: Andre Villas-Boas

Andre Villas-Boas

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas believes that his summer recruits will make a bigger impact on the English Premier League than the summer signings made by Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United.

Arsenal made a club record signing when they acquired Mesut Özil from Real Madrid on transfer deadline day, and Andre Villas-Boas admits that the German international adds a new “dimension” to the Arsenal team.

The ex-Porto manager expects a tough battle for a top four spot but is confident that his team have an edge over their rivals after one of the most successful transfer windows in their recent history.

“All of us have done good business in the transfer window, but Manchester City and us maybe a little bit more than Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool,” Villas-Boas said. “We are happy with what we have done in the transfer window, extremely happy. Arsenal did a great least minute coup with Özil but they will be as competitive as they were before.

“He is a wonderful, gifted footballer and in the end Arsenal paid heavily for a player of that dimension. It’s a €50 million transfer for a number 10 that nobody has any doubt over his ability. They have lots of players for that position also but they have become even stronger with Özil.”

Despite losing their talisman Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee, Villas-Boas is confident that Tottenham can finish in the top 4 this season.

“This is a squad with great potential which has the ability to achieve our objectives that we couldn’t last season,” he added. “At the moment, we are trying to do that — to put these players together and find a style in our play that brings out the best potential of each individual. That is the main objective.

“What we have improved on from last season is the individual quality we have on board and all the players are striving with big motivation to achieve it [UEFA Champions League football].”