Can Tottenham Hotspur challenge for a place in the top four?

Mauricio Pochettino made Tottenham Hotspur a side to be reckoned with. The North London side reached the EFL Cup final in 2015, finished in the top four for four-straight seasons — including second in 2016-17 — and even made it to their first-ever Champions League final under the guidance of the now Chelsea boss in 2019.

There hasn’t been much for the Spurs fans to celebrate since his departure from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, however. In fact, it’s been nothing short of a turbulent time with Nuno Espirito Santo, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte all been and gone, while former player Ryan Mason has had two interim stints in the dugout.

With a new season getting underway, there is fresh optimism within the club and amongst the fan-base. He wasn’t Daniel Levy and company’s first choice to permanently replace Conte, but Ange Postecoglou is the man leading Spurs into the 2023-24 campaign and the majority of the club’s supporters are on board with the former Celtic boss.

It’s unlikely that the Spurs board have set the Australian manager the target of qualifying for the Champions League in his first season in charge at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with the goal of finishing in the top six and therefore qualifying for the Europa League a much more likely scenario, but is there a chance that they could cause an upset in the EPL top 4 odds and nab one of the Champions League spots?

Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United are the sides the bookies currently have nailed on for the top four places, with Chelsea and Newcastle United also ahead of Spurs in the betting. That’s probably a fair reflection of how the table could look come the end of the season.

Newcastle and Arsenal both secured Champions League football against the odds last term, however, and you can never say never when it comes to the Premier League as stranger things have happened, and seasons just seem to keep getting more unpredictable as the years go by.

Spurs have been busy in the summer transfer window, making the deals for initial loanees Dejan Kulusevski and Pedro Porro permanent, while also bringing in James Maddison, Guglielmo Vicario, Ashley Phillips, Manor Solomon and Micky van de Ven in an attempt to strengthen the squad ahead of the new season.

Between the sticks and in defence are two areas that desperately needed new recruits this offseason and while there are still some reservations over whether or not Vicario is up to the standard needed to replace World Cup winner Hugo Lloris as Spurs’ number one shot-stopper, Van de Ven looks like a very good signing. Although Postecoglou might feel he needs another centre-back before the window closes.

Maddison should also be a great addition to the Tottenham fold. The 26-year-old scored 10 goals and assisted nine in a very poor Leicester City side that suffered relegation last season and in a better squad he could really quick on and have another fantastic campaign.

There is also hope that the issues inside the dressing room have been quashed. Some of the main troubles in recent times have stemmed from egotistical clashes between the managers (namely Mourinho and Conte) and the Tottenham players. Postecoglou seems much more level-headed and if he ensures that there is a sense of unity behind closed doors, then results will surely benefit.

The biggest factor is, of course, if Harry Kane stays or goes to Bayern Munich. The 30-year-old’s move to the German giants has dragged out for the best part of the summer and it seems increasingly likely that he is going to stay at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the final year of his contract as it is believed he wanted the move sorted before the start of the new Premier League season.

Kane has been in fine goalscoring form in pre-season, including netting four in front of the Spurs fans in North London against Shakhtar Donetsk, and he will be keen to close in on Alan Shearer’s all-time Premier League goalscoring record if he stays. Having Kane leading the line would make any team a danger and Spurs could find it very hard to compete without him.

A lot would need to happen for Tottenham to claim a top four spot ahead of their more favoured rivals, but if Kane stays and Postecoglou can get them firing on all cylinders with his attacking brand of football, then we could see a resurgent Spurs side.