In? – Out? – Shake it all about?…. perhaps not?

The season of transfers is here, but with no Champions League football to guarantee, who can we realistically expect to bring in and why? Is Scott Parker the answer to our midfield? Is Stewart Downing finally going to sign from Villa? Will Jamie O Hara leave for Wolves? …is Robbie Keane going grey trying to find a new club?

In Goal:

Heurelho Gomes has certainly kept us on our toes this season, just when we are hailing him as the best shot stopper around, he throws one into his own net. Strong links with PSV make his departure look imminent. With other areas of the team needing urgent recruitment, expenditure on a keeper could be an unnecessary use of finances. Shay given would be an ideal replacement, should Gomes leave. The ageing Brad Friedel has also been mentioned in some quarters and certainly seems more reliable than Gomes and at a much cheaper price.

At the Back:

The need for a new right back is the main concern here along with a centre back who can stand up without getting injured for six weeks. Hopefully Redknapp intends to try Kyle Walker next season with Kyle Naughton his understudy. Its about time we tried to play some of these youngsters that we sign, rather than send them out on loan every season. It would also leave us with money to strengthen other areas of the team. Alan Hutton seems to have fallen out with Redknapp and despite some encouraging performances will probably go in the summer. Vedran Corluka will also see his way out of the door (he says with crossed fingers). The one paced Croatian has frustrated Spurs fans with his poor displays and is surely set to leave. Who will buy him? will be the only question that Spurs may struggle to find an answer for.

In the centre of defence I am sure Ledley King will hobble his way through another season and Woodgate will spend most of the time alongside the physio rather than Michael Dawson. That will leave us with Bassong and Gallas to partner the imperial England International. Bassong has voiced his frustration and has hinted he may leave in the summer. With Gallas only going to get slower and the others stringing two games a month together, Bassong should be persuaded to hang around. Younes Kaboul could also be classed as a centre back and right back cover. If Woodgate and King could be fit for a sustainable period we would be fine here, but with that very unlikely, the need to convince Bassong that his future lies at White Hart Lane is ever more important.

The left back slot has been claimed by Assou-Ekotto this season and his form has both impressed and surprised me in equal measure. With Danny Rose now seeming to prove an able deputy that will leave Bale to remain up on the left wing, which will be a benefit for both player and club.

In Midfield:

Bale and Lennon on the flanks is one of the most feared winged attacks in the country and if Spurs can keep this partnership together it would give them a great chance of qualifying for the Champions League next season. The biggest problem is that when one or both of these two don’t play, spurs are a much weaker side. Steven Pienaar is not an able deputy for either and his performances this season have been a distant shadow of the displays that got him his transfer in January. Van Der Vaart and Modric can both be utilised on the flanks but neither have that blistering pace and are much better when played in the centre. Providing we manage to hold onto the likes of Bale, Lennon, Modric and Van Der Vaart, it will only be covers for this quadrant that will be acquired in the summer.

David Bentley will return from Birmingham only to find a suitor for his permanent services next season, while the talented but pace less Kranjcar also looks set to leave. This leaves us with little or no cover for Bale and Lennon and this is where we need to recruit. There is talk of Stewart Downing arriving from Villa and Ashley Young, but these rumours have been around for a while now without any significant movement either way. Giovani Dos Santos could be used as a back up here and would provide pace and guile in the latter stages of tight games, yet Redknapp seems unconvinced of the Mexicans potential.

Jermaine Jenas and Wilson Palacios have questions to ask themselves as their roles as squad fillers will probably extend into next season as well. Its funny how quickly things have changed for Palacios. Regarded as the answer to Spurs’ midfield problems just over a season ago, he will now play second fiddle to Sandro who has become a mainstay in that Spurs anchor role. I think we can expect Palacios to leave in the summer, but if Huddlestone can stay fit and if John Bostock is given the chance to show his potential then Spurs will still have cover for this position even without the Honduran. That then begs the question why all the talk of Scott Parker? With Sandro performing the way he is and two other players capable of covering for him. Why do we need another combative midfielder (I never thought I would hear myself say that).

Up front:

Where do we start? Like a stockbroker with money invested in West Ham, it will be sell sell sell this summer. First out the door will be Roman Pavlyuchenko and the greying Robbie Keane. The change in appearance of the irishman, could well be down to the frustration of warming premier league benches this season, or at the prospect of relocating yet again during the coming months. I would like to see Crouch sold too and possibly even Defoe after his recent self centered slander at Redknapp, but we have to draw a line somewhere.

All the strikers have a case for being sold. Crouch lost us our Champions League quarter final (almost), Defoe whinges too much and is too selfish, and apart from causing me some pain trying to spell his name properly, Pavlyuchenko just doesn’t score enough goals (an argument that could be applied to all of them).

So what do we do? Selling all of them is not a possibility. Without Champions League football to guarantee, we cannot even be sure that better quality could come in to replace them. Some Names have been banded around recently, like Aguero, Rossi, Gyan and Drogba, but is there really the potential to sign this level of player?

Aguero will surely join a Chelsea or Man Utd should he become available, he is that good. How Spurs could sign Drogba would be beyond me, having laughed at his histrionics during games against us and the fact he plays for Chelsea, surely we cant be serious about bringing the sulky Ivorian to White Hart Lane.

The options for top class strikers are limited at the moment and unless Spurs are prepared to buy big and invest heavily, then they will probably have to search hard to unearth some unnoticed potential rather than pull in a top class forward with proven scoring credentials. This could result in us replacing a Pavlyuchenko with a Postiga, god forbid.

There is also the argument that our strikers will surely perform better next season, but with so much at stake, is it really worth taking the risk?