Tottenham must buy players to balance squad amid injury troubles – Mourinho

Jose Mourinho says Tottenham must be active in the transfer market to ensure the squad is capable of dealing with injuries.

The north London outfit have been hindered by fitness issues this season, with star forwards Harry Kane and Son Heung-min still unavailable for selection.

Spurs have lost each of their last four games as they crashed out of the FA Cup and trail RB Leipzig heading into the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie next week.

And Mourinho hopes they can address the imbalance in the team by bringing in new players this summer.

“We know that the players are tired, that the players injured, we know that we have to build a squad more balanced for next season because we don’t believe that the same situation is going to happen,” Mourinho told reporters ahead of Saturday’s trip to Turf Moor.

“But in football anything is possible and you have to be ready to cope with these unpredictable things.

“So we know everything. We need to give a different shape to the squad to be ready for these unexpected things that happen to us but we all know that we have to try to win against Burnley and we have to try to win on Tuesday.

“If we don’t then we leave, like we did in the last match against Norwich, we leave, we sleep, in peace, sad, but we sleep in peace and then the next day, [smacks his hands] here we go again.”

The former Chelsea, Inter and Real Madrid coach says his previous teams were better suited to dealing with such issues due to the depth of the squads, but he does not have that luxury at Spurs.

“But a Jose statistic is also based on when you change players you change and you improve your team,” he continued. “Do you want an example? Arjen Robben on the bench. And [Damien] Duff and Joe Cole playing. Or vice-versa. Minute 70 and one goes out, the other one goes in.

“You know what the defenders of the opposition they do? [Bows head] ‘oh [he swears] It’s exactly that. It’s [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Karim] Benzema and [Angel] Di Maria and then minute 70 you bring [Gonzalo] Higuain, [Jose] Callejon, you know?

“We have the squad for that. Imagine my team playing – Lucas [Moura], Kane and Son. And Lucas and Son, minute 70 they are tired. Let’s go. [Erik] Lamela and [Steven] Bergwijn. We have the squad for that. Midfield players – you are feeling the team is going a little bit down. You feel the players are a little bit in trouble – change one and get another one.

“We have a squad for that. It’s not like I’m saying our squad is not good. The squad is good. In this moment we are in trouble. It’s so simple as that.

“So we are winning and in the moment we are winning, the moment when you kill the game with fresh players, is the moment when our team is going down.

“So I have an answer for everything. For ethical reasons I cannot say much more. I would love to sit and to speak about football and to try and explain everything that I can explain. But there are things that I cannot say much more than this.

“But, I repeat, when I see my team next season, pre-season: Bergwijn, Lamela, Kane, Son, Sissoko, Lo Celso, Dele, Lucas…[we have the squad].”