LONDON -- Mauricio Pochettino wants to sign Tottenham a Lionel Messi or a Neymar and says he has no interest in spending big money on "normal" players.
Pochettino has described Harry Kane as Spurs' only "proper striker," and winger Nacer Chadli led the line in Wednesday's FA Cup victory at Leicester City.
But the Tottenham coach says he will only sign another forward with the "right profile" and revealed he would promote an academy player if Spurs fail to find a suitable striker this month.
One forward who fits the bill for Pochettino is Gareth Bale, and the Argentine says Spurs would be open to re-signing the forward after leaked documents revealed the club has first option to bring Bale back to the Premier League from Real Madrid.
"If we have the possibility, he [Bale] is a player who is welcome in the changing room because we know him. Or if we have the possibility to sign Messi or Neymar, it's impossible to say no," Pochettino told a news conference.
"The problem is when you bring a some player who is a normal player, who isn't a good man and you say: 'For what?' We need to bring a player with the right profile and enough quality to improve the squad."
In the same summer as Bale's world-record €101-million transfer to the Bernabeu, Spurs signed seven players, including Erik Lamela for £30 million and Roberto Soldado for £26 million.
With a new £400 million stadium to fund, Pochettino admits the club's strategy has changed since 2013 and revealed they would only spend big on a world-class player -- in the mould of Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi or Neymar.
"We are in a different project than a few years ago because we're in the process of building a new stadium. You know the difficult period another club had. For us, it's very important to get it right," Pochettino added.
"If we spend £25-30 million, we need to be sure that this type of player represents Bale or Cristiano for Real Madrid, or Messi or Neymar for Barcelona.
"We need to speak about a player that is our best player and need to help us to achieve a lot of things. It's impossible to sign a player for this amount who we need to wait to perform."
However, Pochettino conceded that Spurs were unlikely to spend that kind of money at present, adding: "It's not our project. It's not the case today. Maybe in the future."