Source: PA
Gary Lineker backs Tottenham to make a good start after quiet summer
Gary Lineker feels T ottenham fans should not be worried by the club's lack of transfer activity - and believes his old side could "steal a march" on their Premier League title rivals. Spurs have sold England defender Kyle Walker to Manchester City in a £45million deal but as yet have not added to a squad which finished runners-up to Chelsea in the league last season. Although all of their top-four rivals have strengthened with big-money purchases, Lineker believes there should be no cause for panic ahead of the new campaign which kicks off this weekend. Lineker was in central London on Wednesday attending a Football Writers' Association Live event which raised money for the London Fire Relief Fund, set up in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire. During a wide-ranging panel discussion, Lineker tackled the issue of his former club not having dipped into the transfer market. "It is all very well when you supporters say 'we have not made enough signings, we need three or four new players coming in', but if you look at Spurs they are actually quite a strong team," said the former England forward, who played more than 100 games and won the FA Cup with Tottenham. "It could perhaps upset the equilibrium a little bit by bringing in three or four faces, other teams that have, (like) Manchester City and Manchester United, they don't know how they are going to adapt immediately. "They have got the problem of knowing their best team, the best selection, the best system that suits those particular players. "Tottenham, and (Arsenal manager) Arsene (Wenger) as well has not brought in too many players, and they might steal a march, get off to a good start because they are the teams which have familiarity amongst themselves and they know what is the best way of playing, so it is not necessarily an advantage to bring in loads of players every summer." Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was also on the FWA Live panel, along with f ormer players Les Ferdinand and Paul Elliott and football journalist Henry W inter. The Gunners boss has moved to bring in forward Alexandre Lacazette for a club-record fee which could end up as high as £52.6m.Wenger feels the current market is "absolutely getting crazy" - with Brazilian Neymar having left Barcelona for Paris St Germain to become the most expensive transfer in world football at 222 million Euros (£200.6m). Wenger said during the FWA Live panel discussion: " Everybody says 'buy', then you say 'who?' "You spend £50m today for normal players, and you still must sell some shirts and some tickets to spend £50m. "That is absolutely getting crazy. the prices have gone up tremendously ."