Tottenham need to sign 'a Dimitri Payet or Riyad Mahrez' to compete for the title, insists David Bentley

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Sam Long30 March 2017

Tottenham need to sign a player who can produce 'something from nothing' to compete for the Premier League title next season, according to former Spurs midfielder David Bentley.

Mauricio Pochettino's side currently occupy second place in the table and still harbour faint hopes of catching pacesetters Chelsea during the run-in.

But the Blues boast a 10-point cushion over their rivals with just 11 games left to play and look increasingly unlikely to slip up.

Spurs have not won a top-flight title since 1961 and appear to be in good shape to launch another significant challenge for silverware next season, having tied down the majority of their squad to new long-term contracts.

However, Bentley is convinced Pochettino's frontline lacks an X factor, which the 32-year-old believes is required to propel Spurs towards silverware.

David Bentley, speaking exclusively to 888sport, said: “Spurs are solid all across the pitch.

"They’ve got good young players and with players like [Eric] Dier they have people who can grind it out and do the stuff the more talented players don’t want to do.

"They need someone else up front but they also still need that player who can do something different.

"You like to think that could be [Erik] Lamela but the jury is still out. They need someone who can do something from nothing, someone like [Dimitri] Payet or [Riyad] Mahrez.

"They already have the base of a great team and have the workers, now they need a player who can chip the keeper or just bang it in.

"[Christian] Eriksen is that type of player but I wouldn’t put him in that bracket," Bentley added.

Lamela has struggled to shake off a hip injury this season and it has now been confirmed the Argentine's campaign is over as he prepares to undergo surgery on the problem later this week.

Eriksen, meanwhile, has scored six goals in 27 top-flight appearances, with the majority of Tottenham's goal threat provided by Harry Kane and Dele Alli.

Meanwhile, the north Londoners travel to Burnley on Saturday afternoon and their ability to cope without the injured Kane up front is set to be given a stern test by Sean Dyche's side, who boast a impressive record on home turf.

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