Spurs keen to retain 'key' players

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is only looking at 'essential' deals during the transfer window and insists the club will not be listening to offers for key players.

Spurs have been linked with a host of signings since the appointment of Juande Ramos as head coach but Levy is not anticipating radical changes in January, despite a poor defensive record.

Ramos, Levy and sporting director Damien Comolli have already sanctioned the move for Chris Gunter from Cardiff, while Ajax's Urby Emanuelson has been suggested as a possible target from sources in Holland.

Wayne Routledge and Hossam Ghaly are expected to leave Spurs if there is interest from clubs, but Ramos hopes to keep the likes of Dimitar Berbatov and Jermain Defoe at White Hart Lane.

Darren Bent was linked with a move to West Ham United last week but Spurs were keen to stress that they wish to keep the £16.5 million striker, who arrived in the summer from Charlton.

Levy said: 'Juande, Damien and I have reviewed the squad and Juande feels that we are not looking at any major changes.

'We are all clear that the January window is the worst time to buy quality players so we shall not be doing any business that is not essential.

'Once again for the record, we are not a selling club, rather we are building for the future. When we have players on long contracts we have no need to entertain offers.'