Tottenham Hotspur's lack of signings might cost them a trophy

Mauricio Pochettino and his team are set for very awkward beginning to the new Premier League season. This has less to do with the schedule that they are opening with and more to do with the fact that a lot of Pochettino's starting XI might not be a 100%.

Hugo Lloris, Jan Verthongen, Danny Rose, Kieran Trippier, Toby Alderweireld (more on him later), Eric Dier, Dele Alli, Moussa Dembele and Harry Kane all got to, at least, the semifinals of the World Cup that just concluded in Russia.

And while that might be a good thing for the players individually, for Spurs it should act as a sign pointing them in the direction of bolstering the squad depth, most notably at centre-forward.

Playing deputy to one of the best centre-forwards in the world is something of a poisoned chalice. You get to learn and work with Kane, arguably the sharpest goalscorer on the planet right now but you also know that you are not going to playing more 10-15 minutes per game for about 25 games a season.

Kane, when fit, is so good that having a good centre-forward waiting to replace him might be a waste of both resources and the player's time.

However, simply having Fernando Llorente on the bench might not cut it if Pochettino is serious on his promise of aiming for trophies instead of the top 4 this season. Since losing the title to Leicester in dramatic fashion in the summer of 2016, Spurs have found it difficult to compete for trophies.

And this season might not be different. One of the options that Pochettino has is playing Son Heung Min as the centre-forward like they did during Kane's absence last season.

That should, however, be the Argentine's third choice plan as they usually move Son from the left to the centre to move Eriksen to the flank- which is how Spurs coped during Kane's absence last season. But this takes away a lot from Eriksen's amazing game and accommodating either Lamela or Lucas into the team leaves Moussa Sissoko as the primary back up on the wings.

We've seen the Frenchmen be so good that he can't be stopped and so bad that he needs to be stopped and no squad aiming for the title or the Champions League should probably include a player of that quality.

Georges-Kevin N'Koudou is another option on the wings. However, his loan move to Burnley last January, while Lamela was regaining sharpness and Lucas was finding his feet in the Premier League, indicates he doesn't have the complete support of his manager.

Jan Verthongen and Davinson Sanchez should be the first choice centre-backs flanked by Kieran Trippier to the right and Ben Davies or Danny Rose to the left. as two out of these three fullbacks have had a long summer ahead of what should be a long season. Here, durability could come into play.

This is why Kyle Walker-Peters or Serge Aurier might have to prove themselves on the other flank.

After Sanchez and Vertonghen, the centre-back list is pretty small. Juan Foyth is a talent but shouldn't be thrown in the deep end of a Premier League contest and Toby Alderweireld wants to leave. Eric Dier is another option at centre-back but placing Victor Wanyama in midfield makes it lose a dimension or two and Harry Winks has room to grow.

Covering for the loss of Alderweireld by promoting Cameron Carter-Vickers could be an option. However, how the youngster takes to the Premier League remains to be seen.

Injuries can strike at any time during the season and Spurs look like they are a couple of bodies short going into the season. It might not be necessary at this time of the season but as the long season goes on and the players who've already had minimal summer breaks start getting fatigued, these same bodies, most notably up front and in the centre of defence, should help Spurs rest their star men and keep on fighting for what's important to them- Trophies.