Summing up Tottenham Hotspur's January transfer window

Well, that was most certainly a transfer window. Tottenham concluded their business on transfer deadline day relatively early with precious few fireworks. In fact, it was completely dullsville, one of the quietest windows I can remember.

Spurs came into the window with a few obvious needs: a striker to back up and spell Harry Kane, a defensive midfield rotation option for Eric Dier, and possibly a new central defender. Names like Moussa Dembele and Saido Berahino were bandied about. Much digital ink was spilled ruminating on potential signings. And by the end of the day Tottenham had signed... Shilow Tracey.

That's not to say that the window was all bad. If you believe the "addition by subtraction" theorem, then Spurs did some halfway decent business in January, shipping off Andros Townsend and Federico Fazio, and extending the contracts of a number of young players.

All that said, it's a bit hard not to feel extraordinarily underwhelmed by this window, even with the knowledge that Spurs rarely do big business in January. Mauricio Pochettino has said and will continue to say that he's happy with the squad that he has and that he won't buy for the sake of buying players. And yet Spurs still have the same problems (if you consider them such) regarding rotation and depth that they had at the beginning of the season. That's extraordinarily difficult for many Spurs fans to understand.

But Tottenham didn't need a big window because they're already doing well. Spurs are title contenders and favorites for Champions League based on the squad they have, and Pochettino has been vociferously saying that he's happy with his existing squad. Son Heung-Min is an extremely capable backup forward, and Spurs are deep in most positions. If it comes down to buying the wrong player or making do with a happy, settled, and above all succeeding squad, then maybe we shouldn't feel so dejected when we don't make many transfers.

Here's a summary of Spurs' activity in the January transfer window.

OUT:

• Kenny McEvoy – free transfer
• Shaquille Coulthirst (to Peterborough United) – transfer, fee not disclosed
• Andros Townsend (to Newcastle) – transfer, £12m
• Milos Veljkovic (to Werder Bremen) – transfer, fee not disclosed
• Federico Fazio (to Sevilla) – loan
• Alex Pritchard (to West Bromwich Albion) – loan

IN:

• Shilow Tracey (from Ebbsfleet United) – transfer, fee not disclosed
• An overwhelming and pervasive feeling of ennui
• Several large pizzas, probably