Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Christian Eriksen has said the club's lack of activity in the transfer market will not make them less competitive next season, even referring to the overhaul he was part of in 2013 as proof that heavy spending does not guarantee success.
All the clubs that finished in the Premier League top six last season who are expected to rival Tottenham for the title in the upcoming campaign, have all spent large sums on new players.
Champions Chelsea took their summer spending to more than €140 million this week after completing a club record deal for Spain striker Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid, while Manchester United have spent around €120m, including the arrival of Belgian centre-forward Romelu Lukaku from Everton.
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Manchester City meanwhile took their summer spending past €150m with the signing of England full-back Kyle Walker from Tottenham, while Arsenal have broken their club record to sign striker Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon. Liverpool, too, have spent heavily on Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah while Andrew Robertson has also arrived from Hull City.
Indeed, even Everton who finished seventh in the Premier League last season, have made significant moves in the transfer market, spending close to €100m on new signings.
It leaves Tottenham as the odd one out having so far made no signings in the off-season, and after two seasons where the London club closely contested the title, the strengthening of their rivals is sure to make their chances of finally winning the league all the more challenging.
However, Eriksen is not concerned and believes Tottenham already have enough quality in their squad to challenge for major honours whether they recruit new players or not.
"I don't think you need to spend to win anything," he said. "It's just a matter of how you see a team, how the players are - only Walker has left in our team and we know what we did last season so I can't see why we shouldn't be able to do hopefully even better.
"I think it will be very close this season because everyone is in Europe and everyone has to think about two or three tournaments and the top sides will want to win everything so the key is to try and keep everyone fit and sharp."
Eriksen referenced the summer of 2013 when he signed for Tottenham along with six other players as the club went on a spending spree to replace Gareth Bale who had moved to Real Madrid for a then world record fee.
Of those players, dubbed the 'magnificent seven', only Eriksen has proved an undoubted success, while Erik Lamela could also stake a claim before injury limited his contribution over the past two seasons. The other five players - Roberto Soldado, Paulinho, Etienne Capoue, Nacer Chadli and Vlad Chiriches - have all since moved on.
"It's an English thing where you have to spend money to win something apparently," the Denmark midfielder said.
"When I came (to the club) there were seven new players at the same time and you saw how that ended and now the last few seasons we haven't bought as many players and it's changed around.
"Of course you have to have a philosophy. You need a plan and it looks like we have one."
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino, along with chairman Daniel Levy, have tied down star striker Harry Kane to a long-term deal while England midfielder Dele Alli also sees his future at Spurs despite growing interest from across Europe.
A young, talented side is bristling with self-belief ahead of what promises to be a fascinating campaign.
"We as a team are very young and everyone has a long contract, no-one has to go away they are happy where they are," Eriksen, 25, said. "Of course it's something we can improve on because when you are young you learn and that's what we are doing now.
"Everyone knows we have been very close the last two seasons so I think in that time something has been brewing and now this is the third season with the manager to become even better than we were.
"It's the same lads trying to become better, help each other and that makes it easier.
"If you buy a lot of players everyone needs to know what is going on straight away and be a bit lucky. We are lucky at Spurs at the moment. Everybody knows what's going on and what needs to be done.
"Spurs are in a lucky position. We have the feeling something special is on the way."
