Jermaine Jenas has added to the growing chorus of warnings for Tottenham to increase their wage structure or risk being left behind.
With a little over two weeks of the transfer window remaining, Spurs are the only Premier League team yet to bolster their ranks with a new signing.
Mauricio Pochettino is closing in on a club-record deal for Davinson Sanchez but Jenas feels the club will have to rely on buying young, emerging talent such as the Ajax defender as they cannot attract established stars.
With the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea breaking the transfer records on big names offering wages well in excess of the £100,000 a week Harry Kane takes home, Jenas warns that few star names accept such a pay in the modern market.
"At present, you kind of know that Spurs are never going to make a really huge signing, because of their wage structure," Jenas told BBC Sport.
"Say if Real Madrid made Isco available. They would have to pay upwards of £50m for him for starters but, even if Tottenham did do that, he would not go there for £100,000 a week. Coming from Real, he is going to want close to double that.
"So, at the moment, they are not even in contention to sign that calibre of player. They cannot even consider it.
"Yes, the fact their current strongest XI is so good is one reason it is hard for them to sign players that will improve their team, but their pay structure is part of the problem too."
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