Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is "not relaxed" about the club's lack of transfer activity as the start of the Premier League season looms.
With the transfer window set to close on Thursday, Spurs is the only Premier League club yet to complete a deal since the end of the 2017-18 campaign.
Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish has been strongly linked with a move to the club but time is running out to get deals over the line.
And although Spurs has handed new long-term contracts to stars including England captain Harry Kane, Pochettino accepted the situation is a concern.
"No, I am not relaxed. I am a coach and when you are a coach you cannot be relaxed," he said on Friday.
"You need to be confident and trust in the people that you have, and the way we work.
"But, of course, football is always about adding more quality every season like different clubs, our contenders are doing.
"If we cannot do that we need to try to be creative and of course the help from the younger players would be amazing. They showed they can help us if we don't sign players.
"We are working so hard but still we are like we were on the first day of the transfer window, with no signings.
"I think I am not the person to explain this. Of course, people expect a manager to explain it. But in this situation for different reasons it has been difficult to add players who can help us.
"But you know in the last week can happen many things."
Grealish is reportedly a top target for Spurs but new investment at Villa has strengthened the Championship club's hand.
Manager Steve Bruce hoping to keep the 22-year-old and says Pochettino's side has yet to make anything like a suitable offer.
"There's been discussions, I don't think we've had a formal bid," Bruce told reporters.
"There've been discussions and that's been going on practically all summer. The one thing the owners have made pretty clear is that no one is for sale.
"We don't want to lose our best players. They're aware, though, that every player has got his price. The good thing the owners have been able to do is not let anybody go on the cheap.
"If anybody wants to come and buy our players, they're going to have to find a premium and make sure the owners are comfortable with it.
"Now, we all know what football is but at the moment Spurs haven't got anywhere near what the owners even want to consider.
"There's not a discussion to be had at the moment because they've got nowhere near the figure that they demand."
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