The winter transfer window is seen as a chance to strengthen the team and to add an extra push half way through the season.
With three major competitions to juggle; one being a push for top four or even a title challenge, it was important for Tottenham Hotspur to use this window effectively. But Spurs have failed to bring anyone in; how influential will this prove to be in how they finish the season? Or will history repeat itself as Spurs' lack of action will leave them trailing behind other clubs?
What business was done?
During the transfer window, Tottenham saw Federico Fazio and Alex Pritchard leave on loan to Sevilla and West Brom respectively. Spurs said goodbye to academy products Andros Townsend, Shaq Coulthirst and Milos Veljkovic.
Manager, Maurcio Pochettino, emphasised during the window that he did not want to disrupt the feeling within the squad by bringing in the wrong profile, which is fair enough considering that when he signed Dani Osvaldo at Southampton, the record signing was caught up in an fight with Jose Fonte leaving the latter with a broken nose. Pochettino was left with a difficult decision as what to do with the striker. The incident resulted in Osvaldo to be suspended for two weeks as the club aimed to part ways with him.
Fazio loan to Sevilla
When you first look at this piece of business by Daniel Levy, it looks like an attempt to get rid of a player that rarely plays - and when he does, produces shocking performances. You would think that this is a good piece of business by the club.
However, the transfer leaves Tottenham with four centre backs, which is normal for a team, but one of them is Eric Dier, who plays center defensive midfielder week-in, week-out. That leaves Spurs with one cover and so meaning a lack of rotation between players. With the North London club still in three competitions, rotation is extremely important especially half way through the seasons when players are tiring.
The main issue with this transfer is the lack to bring in anyone to replace the defender. With Jan Vertonghen out for two months another injury to the defence could rattle the Tottenham team.
Pritchard leaves on loan
Alex Pritchard has featured little this season for Tottenham as he battles with an ankle injury, which he sustained at the Under 21 European Championship in the summer. This is what makes the move a particularly strange one as Pritchard still isn't at the stage of his recovery where he has been training back with the full team. Once he returns back from injury he would have been give chances to feature in the team with Pochettino's commitment to young prospects and at the moment there's no better place to develop as a young player than at Tottenham even if there competition in high.
Townsend leaves boyhood club
The academy product was always set to leave Spurs after his spat with fitness coach Nathan Gardiner, resulting in him dropping down to play with the Under 21s. His hopes of making it to the European Championship with England this summer was also a massive factor in this decision as he chose to leave his boyhood club in search of more game time.
For the club it wasn't a bad deal, as Townsend hadn't featured for them since October against Anderlchht in the Europa League, especially as they managed to claw £12million out of Newcastle United for him.
Spurs fail to sign a striker
Bringing in back up for Harry Kane looked to be top priority for Tottenham this transfer window, but after a deal for 19 year-old Moussa Dembele with Fulham fell through, they seemed to give up on achieving this.
The lack of a second striker worried majority of fans and pundits alike as if the English talent was to pick up an injury the Lilywhites would have no one to back him up. Kane proved pivotal to Tottenham's Premier League campaign last season, scoring 21 goals, and continues to be so in the current one. An injury to one of Spurs' key players will stunt their push for top four or even bring it to an abrupt stop.
However the likelihood that Kane would sustain an injury is reasonably small. With Pochettino's training methods and Kane's willingness to stay on top of his game muscle strains are a distant memory for the striker and the rest of the Tottenham squad. Therefore the only way he would end up injured is through a crunching tackle, which would have a long recovery time. Yes, it is a possibility but reasonably small, however it's a risk the club shouldn't be willing to take.
Yet the club took the risk in the first half of the season, and it payed off so there's nothing to say that it won't again. In addition to this Heung-Min Son and Nacer Chadli are able to play as a false number nine when Kane needs a rest, but neither would be able to fill in effectively if Harry Kane was out for a long period.
With other clubs around Tottenham not strengthening their squads as much it looks unlikely that Tottenham will fall behind as they do not seem to be dropping in momentum or form. However, if there was an injury to at least one more crucial player then tides could quickly change at White Hart Lane.
The season so far has seen many people wonder how far Tottenham can push themselves this year, with no one really knowing what the near future could hold for Spurs. The impacts of this transfer window look again to fall under this category as it could honestly go either way for Tottenham. But it’s a risk the club is willing to take.