There are less than three weeks to go before the start of the new season and for Tottenham head coach Juande Ramos, his masterplan to take on the top four appears to be in jeopardy.

The departure of Robbie Keane to Liverpool has not only left Spurs without one of their most consistent strikers but also an effective captain, as club skipper Ledley King has spent most of the past two years in the treatment room.

Ramos and the club have ambitions to challenge the elite, yet no-one at White Hart Lane is even sure who will start up front for the first game of the campaign at Middlesbrough on 16 August.

The future of Dimitar Berbatov, who was noticeably left on the bench as Spurs won 5-1 at Norwich last night, continues to provide an unwelcome distraction.

His move to Manchester United has temporarily stalled with the champions' manager Sir Alex Ferguson and Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy not on the best of terms at the moment, but it has reached the stage where the Bulgarian needs to go for the good of the club as it is not beneficial to keep an unhappy player.

That leaves Darren Bent. He looked sharp last night in scoring four goals, but he failed to impress in his first season at White Hart Lane after joining from Charlton for £16.5million - and he is wanted by Everton.

Tottenham have registered their interest in a number of strikers across Europe and will have the funds to buy some of them, but time is running out.

As far as Ramos is concerned, it is already four weeks too late. He wanted his new first-team squad in place for the beginning of preseason training.

Spurs have secured the signings of Luka Modric, Heurelho Gomes, Giovanni dos Santos and John Bostock, but they need new out-and-out strikers and have very little time to bed them in to the team's style of play.

Former striker Jermain Defoe thinks Keane's departure has given Ramos a major problem.

Defoe, now with Portsmouth, said: "It's strange. I have left and if they want to get rid of Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane as well, then it's going to be difficult for them. It's obviously a tough time for Spurs.

"I still speak to a lot of the players there. They are all my friends. I enjoyed my time there but you know for each player there is a time when you need to move on.

"The fans were good to me and, no matter what, I will still have a piece of that club inside me." It is a remarkable turnaround at Tottenham, having arguably boasted the strongest set of strikers in the country 12 months ago.

Talk of the top four increased after Bent joined a forward line consisting of Keane, Berbatov and Defoe, who eventually paid the price for the competition for places and was sold in January. Now they are down to half that number, with the other two not assured of staying either.

Keane's defection to Liverpool has angered many Tottenham fans.

He was happy to stay until Liverpool made their interest known and then he was very quick to hand in a transfer request.

Tottenham fans don't tend to forgive or forget - just ask Sol Campbell - and Keane may get a hostile reception when Liverpool visit White Hart Lane on 1 November.

If Spurs replace Keane with the undoubted talent of someone like Russian Euro 2008 star Andrei Arshavin, then they could look back on the Irish international's departure as a blessing in disguise.

However, at this moment, there are too many questions and not enough answers for the club to have realistic ambitions to take on the might of Manchester United and compete for a place in the Champions League right now.