Optimism about Mauriccio Pochettino's Tottenham Hotspur reign in February, following famous derby wins and reaching a cup final, was widespread. The joy of winning in dramatic style whilst using homegrown players was romantic. Since then, this has rapidly evaporated.

Recent results, against the likes of Burnley, Aston Villa and Stoke, have blighted what was previously seen as a season of progress, with many now calling for Pochettino's head. 

Spurs' form arguably dropped off following the Arsenal victory. Scraping a draw against out of form West Ham, suffering a calamitous defeat away at Fiorentina and then losing the Capital Cup One final, left little hope attaining Champions League football or of winning a trophy.

Neither are blameless for the drop off in form but following past criticism over Daniel Levy's impatience with managers, it seems it will be the players who will pay the price.

Despite Spurs boasting an expansive squad, the selection pool this season has been extremely narrow. It seems clear that the Argentine manager does not trust a huge amount of the players bought under different regimes. Hence, it seems clear that there will be a large clear out of the players barely used this season.

Here are five players who could no longer be at Spurs following this transfer window:

1) Vlad Chiriches

Position: Centre Back

Bought for: £8.36 Million

Current Market Value: £7 Million

Linked Clubs: Roma

Despite being athletically sound, with good pace and agility, Chiriches failed to build on some strong displays last year, most notably in a famous away win at Old Trafford. He is not a good enough ball player, and this has been glaringly obvious. Symbolises Spurs' recent defensive clumsiness.

2) Younes Kaboul

Position: Centre Back

Bought for: £5.19 Million

Current Market Value: £4.84 Million

Linked Clubs: Sevilla

Kaboul was a dominant force in central defence under Harry Redknapp. However, following a nasty injury, Kaboul has failed to recapture anything anything near to the form he showed under Redknapp, and despite being named Club Captain earlier this season, he hasn't featured since November. Looks certain to leave.

3) Etienne Capoue

Position: Central Midfield

Bought for: £11.4 Million

Current Market Value: £6.6 Million

Linked Clubs: Napoli

Has failed to establish himself in the side, despite Sandro's departure, due to the rise to prominence of Nabil Bentaleb. Distribution imprecise, positioning poor at times and a lack of composure have left him out of favour, leading him to resort to changing the colour of hair instead of featuring in matchday squads. No place for players with pink hair at Spurs - must go.

4) Roberto Soldado

Position: Striker

Bought for: £26.4 Million

Current Market Value: £12.32 Million

Linked Clubs: Bayer Leverkusen

Despite clearly giving his all throughout, this spell at Tottenham Hotspur has not born fruit for the Spaniard. Clearly affected mentally by his failure to recapture the form he showed at Valencia, a fresh start at a new club would be best for the 29 year old whose evident recent pain has been sympathised with by many Spurs fans  and who may still be able to rediscover his goal scoring prowess elsewhere.

5) Emmanuel Adebayor

Position: Striker

Bought for: £5.63 Million

Current Market Value: £6.16 Million

Linked Clubs: West Ham

Tim Sherwood coaxed world class form out of Adebayor last term, but Mauriccio Pochetinno has been unable to do the same. Seems to have little drive and with Harry Kane preferred, it seems he has lost his place in the Spurs pecking order, despite being paid £100,000 every week. Levy will be desperate to sell Adebayor to free up his wage bill, however it will be difficult to find a club who can afford the ageing Togolese striker's wage demands. Being booed by his own fans upon entrance to the pitch is evidence enough to suggest he is not wanted by the fans, and his sporadic appearances make it seem clear that the manager is far from convinced. Club will pull out all stops to sell.

The sale of these players are not only important for freeing up funds to pursue transfer targets but are also important in changing the dynamic of a youthful set up whose progress has argably been stunted this season by a lack of strength in depth this season. Of course, acquisitions are also important and to this effect Spurs have set up a meticulous scouting system under newly appointed Paul Mitchell which looks to prioritise young players with high potential in this summer's window.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
James White
Understanding the complex is hard. Delivering that which is complex is genius.