Odds on championship: 50-1. Odds on relegation: 100-1
Manager: Juande Ramos (since October 2007). Odds on first out the job: 19-1
Last season: 11th, 46 points; UEFA Cup last 16; FA Cup fourth round; Carling Cup winners
Ins: Luka Modric (Dinamo Zagreb, £15.8m), David Bentley (Blackburn, £15m), Giovani dos Santos (Barcelona, £4.7m), John Bostock (Crystal Palace, £700,000), Jake Livermore (Crewe, loan), Heurelho Gomes (PSV Eindhoven, undisclosed).
Outs: Robbie Keane (Liverpool, £20.3m). Pascal Chimbonda (Sunderland, undisclosed), Paul Robinson (Blackburn, £3.5m), Teemu Tainio (Sunderland, undisclosed), Joe Martin (Blackpool, undisclosed), Anthony Gardner (Hull City, loan), Steed Malbranque (Sunderland, undisclosed).
On Monday September 15, Tottenham Hotspur play Aston Villa at White Hart Lane. On Saturday September 13, Manchester United play Liverpool at Anfield. Which of these matches will Dimitar Berbatov be playing in? At this distance you can only guess, which makes assessing Spurs' state of mind and chances for the coming season very difficult indeed.
There has been a lot of transfer activity at White Hart Lane. Luka Modric's arrival is arguably the signing of the summer to date and almost as much has been spent on David Bentley, a fine player if not yet quite as good as he thinks he is. Some personnel Juande Ramos is not keen on has been shipped out. But one player he is very keen on could be on his way too - or maybe not.
Spurs complained to the Premier League about Liverpool tapping up Robbie Keane - then sold him anyway, collecting £20m, an apology and a donation to charity. A United fan suggested to me that the complaints about Keane and Berbatov may be a way of appeasing Tottenham supporters and that will be the conclusion many will reach should the Bulgarian follow the Irishman out of White Hart Lane.
Dean Ashton - even if they can sign him - is not Berbatov. Keane's sale can be looked upon as good business, especially if the money is spent wisely. Losing their star player, too, to another of the Big Four, would be a painful surrender.
A couple of years ago Spurs were close to capitalising on Arsenal's weakest seasons in years, but despite the subsequent arrival of Berbatov, Martin Jol stumbled and fell. In his first, incomplete season Ramos secured the Carling Cup - Spurs won more trophies than three of the Big Four last season - but the team slipped further back in the league with some embarrassing performances after the Wembley win.
Ramos is cleaning house and a new Spurs will take shape this term. In Spain, the Sevilla manager shook up the old order. But there you have only a Big Two and still four Champions League places, making things far more open for the chasing teams. Here he needs every advantage he can get if he is to challenge the leading quartet and that means keeping his star striker.
Spurs kick off, with or without Berbatov, at Middlesbrough. With their second away game at Stamford Bridge - after the visit of Sunderland - a result at the Riverside would be useful. September includes matches against Villa and Portsmouth, two more sides in the league's second bracket now. That's where Spurs will stay if Berbatov is sold.
Philip Cornwall