rewrite this title Antoine Semenyo: Tottenham boss Thomas Frank reveals Spurs ‘did everything’ to sign forward before Man City move

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank says the club “did everything” to bring Antoine Semenyo to Spurs before he joined Manchester City from Bournemouth this month.

Frank believes the failed pursuit of Semenyo shows the Lewis family, whose trust have a majority shareholding in Spurs, are “very committed” to the project, as he defended the club’s transfer strategy.

Spurs have only brought in Conor Gallagher and Souza so far in this window, despite their need to bring in a left-sided forward increasing, with injuries to Mohammed Kudus and Richarlison and the sale of Brennan Johnson to Crystal Palace.

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Spurs were one of many Premier League clubs that were in for Semenyo at Bournemouth in this transfer window before he joined Man City in a £64m deal.

Tottenham tried to sign the Ghana international in the summer before he signed a new Cherries deal.

Semenyo scored a match-winning goal for Bournemouth against Spurs earlier this month before he left for City, and Frank will be hoping he does not hurt his side again on Sunday as Tottenham host Man City, live on Sky Sports.

Missing out on Semenyo this month, combined with a lack of transfer activity, has seen the club’s hierarchy come under criticism from fans, but Frank has backed their approach.

Asked if there is a chance Spurs may not sign any more players before Monday’s 7pm deadline, Frank replied: “The club work relentlessly to try to do the best they can to try to improve the squad, especially Johan (Lange), Fabio (Paritici) and Vinai (Venkatesham), and all the people behind them.

“I mean it, we can’t be too obsessed with short-term fixes that don’t help with the long term, because if we don’t do that, then all the hard work we put in now can be limited for the future.

“And that’s not that we don’t badly want short-term success. I can promise that the Lewis family is super committed to this project; they want to do everything.

“And I will go against my rule, hopefully only once, that there’s no doubt it was clear that the club wanted to sign Semenyo.

“They did everything – I think that’s a clear signal that the Lewis family is very committed. That’s a big signing with finances and all that.

“So that’s the quality of players we’re looking for to improve the squad, and if we can’t find that, then it’s definitely better to take the right decisions.

“Not just saying we’re just getting quality players going forward because we all know it’s not that easy, and I’m sure, for whatever reason, we are not able to get another player or players in this window, then for the summer it’s a big summer ahead, and I’m not in doubt we’ll see big improvements there.”