FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v Nottingham Forest - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - April 7, 2024 Tottenham Hotspur's Timo Werner in action REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File Photo
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur have a deadline to make Timo Werner's loan deal permanent and beefing up their attack with new forwards will be a focus of the close season, manager Ange Postecoglou said.
German Werner scored two goals in 13 league games after signing on loan in January from Bundesliga side RB Leipzig but missed Tottenham's final matches of the season with a hamstring strain.
"I think from our perspective, there's a deadline there," Postecoglou told reporters in Melbourne following a friendly against Newcastle United.
"Again, a lot of that will depend on the negotiations between the clubs and how Timo feels.
"Again, from my perspective, I'm comfortable with that situation, and I'll let the other guys steer it to see what kind of outcome there is."
Tottenham finished fifth in the Premier League to qualify for the Europa League after topping the table earlier in the season.
A slew of injuries took their toll on the north London club, with James Maddison and Richarlison spending multiple weeks on the sidelines.
Bringing in new forwards in the coming transfer window will be a priority, Postecoglou said.
"Yeah, absolutely. It's no secret. You saw the way we finished the season," he said.
"We obviously lost Richarlison and Timo (Werner) as well with injuries, but we're fairly light in that area.
"We started last season with Manor (Solomon) and (Ivan) Perisic, and we were quite healthy in that front third in terms of numbers, but as the year went on it became pretty evident that we needed to bulk up.
"We're in Europe as well next year, so we'll have more games, and it's definitely an area of the park we'll need to strengthen."
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Alison Williams)
