Over the last few years Spurs have been telling us how they’re going to break into the top four in the Premier League, buying enough new players each pre-season to fill a Renault Espace, only for May to come round and we see them fail to live up to the dream again.

Last season was an absolute disaster as they finished 11th in the league, a massive 30 points behind fourth-placed Liverpool. Their consolation was they won the Carling Cup, to at least get them into the UEFA Cup next season - quite lucky for a team who far from deserved it based on their league form.

So another pre-season is under way and, surprise, surprise, new players are already filling up the White Hart Lane-bound Espace before the new campaign starts on August 16.

Croatian midfielder Luka Modric has already signed up for the Spurs top four dream, as has Mexican youngster Giovani Dos Santos from Barcelona. And Spurs boss Juande Ramos has been linked with just about every second-rate player who is possibly available, along with a few top-class players as well.

Will it make a difference? Not next season. There’s no chance of Spurs breaking into the top four yet, and a couple of decent foreign players aren’t going to change that. The top six is a maybe.

Yes, Modric played well for Croatia in Euro 2008 and does appear to be the kind of player that Spurs need in the heart of their midfield. But one player doesn’t win you the title – not even Cristiano Ronaldo.

Modric's only domestic football has been played in the Prva HNL in Croatia and the Premijer Liga BiH in Bosnia and Herzegovina, hardly up there with the cream of Europe. A six-year deal with a transfer fee of £16.5m means he must be damn good or Spurs have been robbed again, as they were with a similar price for Darren Bent last pre-season.

Who is Dos Santos, though? He’s a left-winger with great pace and a bit of skill about him who was a member of Barcelona’s first team squad last season despite only being 19.

A talent perhaps, but Barcelona feel he’s not good enough to compete with Lionel Messi and Bojan Krkic. He made 38 appearances in his first year in the Barca first team squad after impressing in the Juvenil A team that won the national title, and he has impressed in the Mexican youth teams in competition, scoring some spectacular goals along the way.

While he might have played well at youth level, Spurs have splashed out £4.7m on a guy with very little top-flight experience, and while that fee could increase to in excess of £8m depending on appearances, it’s a bit of a gamble on a player who is still relatively unknown.

So far it is more players with potential, with Ramos hoping that they will be able to come straight into the Premier League and drive them to a top-four finish the way Fernando Torres did for Liverpool last season.

Well, I have news for you Snr. Ramos. It isn’t going to happen this season, even if you were to buy David Villa from Valencia and anybody else who takes your fancy from Euro 2008.

Your defence has more holes than Mission Hills Golf Club; that will be your downfall, and expensive foreign imports will not be enough to buy your club's dream into a reality.

Best start planning for 2009/10.