Spurs boss urged to follow Whites' lead

Wanderers' enjoyed success with their method of recruiting quality players on long term loan last season.

Bernard Mendy and Ivan Campo were big hits during their season-long deals from Paris St Germain and Real Madrid while Florent Laville's move from Lyon shored up the Wanderers defence during the second half of the season.

The policy is ideal for less wealthy Premiership sides like Wanderers who cannot afford inflated transfer fees but can pay top wages thanks to the near £20 million a season they receive in Premiership television rights income.

The beauty of the operation is that if Wanderers are relegated they say thank you and goodbye to the big players - and their huge salaries - and can immediately scale down their wage bill to bring it into line with the vastly reduced First Division television income.

The policy has been criticised for limiting first team opportunities for English players as Premiership clubs cannot loan from other Premiership clubs and The Times ran a lengthy article recently claiming Wanderers' loan strategy is worrying for English football.

Spurs do not fall into the bracket of teams likely to be relegated but Roberts believes his old club could benefit greatly by taking a leaf out of Wanderers' book.

The former captain and star of the White Hart Lane side of the 1980s says it represents the London club's best hope of improving their chances of qualifying for Europe next season.

He urged Spurs boss Glenn Hoddle to recruit four or five top quality foreign players on loan to give the side a boost.

He said: "The arrival of quality players would give Spurs fans something to cheer about.

"They could bring in top quality players on a year's loan and if it goes well they could make permanent offers like Bolton have done.

"They could approach top clubs like AC Milan and Real Madrid and find out which players are not in their plans for the next 12 months."