Jose Mourinho is back in work at Tottenham and has the task of rescuing their season.
January looks set to be a key month as the Portuguese will want to freshen up the squad.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at what Mourinho might do in the January transfer window.
Sell contract rebels
Much of what Mourinho might be able to do in January could depend on Spurs being able to shift out some of their wantaway players. Christian Eriksen, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Danny Rose, Victor Wanyama and Serge Aurier will all be for sale, but that does not mean they will go. Rose has already said he will run his contract down while Eriksen, Vertonghen and Alderweireld will all be able to discuss summer free transfers with European clubs, meaning suitors are not going to be splashing the cash. If Mourinho cannot tempt those four players to stay, then he must convince Daniel Levy to sell them at any cost, even if it is at cut price.
Bring in Bruno Fernandes
Spurs made headway in bringing the Sporting Lisbon midfielder to the club in the summer, getting as far as agreeing personal terms before eventually pulling the plug on the deal once it became clear that Eriksen was not going to leave. Mourinho is a fan of his compatriot, who is having a brilliant season in Portugal, and could bring him to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to help increase their creativity and guile.
Resurrect Paul Dybala deal
Paul Dybala came mightily close to joining Tottenham in the summer, but the deal could not get over the line due to the player’s image rights. A fee and personal terms were agreed with Juventus, so that could also be a move that is fairly easy to resurrect, as long as they can find a way around the rights issue. Dybala could be open to the move as he is not getting a huge amount of gametime at Juve and he would be a signing that would excite the fans.
Sign a defender
It seems impossible that Mourinho will not want to pay some sort of attention to his defence, given its leakiness so far this season. With the future of Alderweireld and Vertonghen unclear, the Portuguese will surely want to strengthen that area. He reportedly made a move for Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly while at Manchester United, seeing a £95million bid rejected, but the 28-year-old might be available for much less now. Nathan Ake at Bournemouth might tickle Mourinnho’s fancy while Nice right-back Youcef Atal has also been linked.
I am Zlatan
Could Mourinho make Tottenham the next stop on Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s world tour? The Swede is currently a free agent following his exit from LA Galaxy earlier this month and the global appeal he carries could tempt Levy into signing him, even though he is 38. He is a close ally of Mourinho’s as they worked together at Inter Milan and Manchester United, where the striker did well in English football. Spurs currently have no out-and-out back up for Kane, so a short-term deal for Ibrahimovic could be something Mourinho pushes for.
