Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy says the club is not frightened by the spending power of its Premier League rival and is unafraid to sell Christian Eriksen to an English team.
New boss Jose Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino last month and has guided Spurs back up into fifth place in the league and into the last 16 of the Champions League.
Victory at home against Chelsea on Sunday would lift Spurs above its London rival into the Champions League qualifying spots.
With the January transfer window about to open, Spurs fans will be hoping for more squad investment following the 2019 summer arrivals of Ryan Sessegnon and Tanguy Ndombele.
But Levy said Tottenham, constrained by its repayment financing schedule following its move into a new stadium, would not just spend for the sake of it.
“The problem is it is also about squad size, English versus non-English, because we have the home-grown rule in the Premier League,” Levy told London's Evening Standard .
“There are lots of circumstances why sometimes you don't do a transaction. It wasn't a case that we didn't have money.
“We have to get rid of this obsession in England of spending money. It just doesn't happen overseas.”
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Levy said the club had allocated an amount to spend each year on the team.
“If you compare us to certain other clubs, they will have more money to spend. It doesn't frighten us,” he said.
In the wide-ranging interview, Levy was asked about the possibility of selling players to another Premier League side.
Eriksen, 27, is out of contract at the end of the season and has been linked with a January move, with Manchester United reportedly interested in the Danish midfielder.
“We are honestly not scared to trade with our rivals,” Levy said.
“My view is really simple. For a player to sign a new contract, not only have the conditions got to be right, but the player has got to want to do it.
“It is up to those players whether they want to stay at Tottenham and we'll see.
“I don't want to comment on individual players too much. I actually think it is unfair. Every circumstance is different.”
Levy said Mourinho's emphasis would be to improve the current squad, rather than look for wholesale changes in January.
“He's made it clear he is not looking for new players in January. He is happy with what he's got and that's why he said that,” the Spurs chairman added.
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