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AVB: Spurs will spend regardless of Champions League

Tottenham must hang on to Gareth Bale this summer © PA Photos

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Andre Villas-Boas has revealed he will be given funds to recruit in the summer regardless of whether Tottenham qualify for next season's Champions League.

Spurs are two points behind fourth-placed Arsenal in the race for a Champions League spot, with the re-scheduled fixture against Chelsea set to decide their fate in Europe.

Holding onto Player of the Year Gareth Bale will be a priority for Tottenham, but Villas-Boas insists the club must be prepared to spend big in order to compete for the Premier League title.

Asked whether Tottenham's owners will be scarce with the cash if his side finish outside of the top-four, Villas-Boas said: "No. At the moment our future must be analysed in only one direction.

"For us, the objective is always to improve the team and for that to happen either we have Champions League money to make it easier, or we have to invest and risk a bit more. But the objective is always to better what you did last season. We have to have one direction only."

Villas-Boas will return to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday for the first time since being sacked by the club midway through last season, but the Italian suggested he has very little emotional attachment to the club given the brevity of his time in charge.

"I'm not sure [what it will be like to go back]," he said. "I'm not sure if enough time has passed for me to feel anything. I was just another manager that passed by.

"Obviously I spent three great years there when I was on the staff but when I was given more responsibility I wasn't given enough time. I have great friends who I don't want to undermine by what I am saying and the players gave everything for me.

"It's fine because sometimes the only option is for a manager to go and I have discussed this at length. It would be excellent if we got the three points. At the moment it means absolutely nothing; it's just another opponent in our quest to try to get the nine points that we have to play for."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.