Antonio Conte has claimed that Tottenham might have weakened their squad instead of strengthening it in the January transfer window.
In an interview with Sky Sport Italia, Antonio Conte has opened up about his thoughts about the business conducted by Tottenham Hotspur in the January transfer window. The Italian tactician opined that Spurs might have weakened their squad instead of strengthening it last month.
Antonio Conte took up a challenging job when he agreed to replace Nuno Espirito Santo at the helm at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in November 2021. While results and performances have improved to some extent, the fact that Spurs have won just over half of the 19 games he has managed will bother the Italian tactician.
So the January transfer window came as an opportunity for Tottenham to bolster the first-team setup sufficiently to clinch a top-four finish in the season. But the north Londoners dragged their business until deadline day to make major changes to the squad. And Conte has now had his say about the changes to the Tottenham roster.
“Should you find something like this, it is always difficult to make comparisons, but surely when you take the job in a team that hasn’t won for a long time it is inevitable that you will lack confidence. I glimpsed situations that could have developed, then when you enter the situation you understand that something… what happened in January is not easy.”
Antonio Conte on Spurs signing young and not experienced players: "This is the vision of the club, yes. If you want to be competitive more quickly, I think you need players with a lot of experience. But again, the vision of the club is this – I understand", he told Sky. ⚪️ #THFC pic.twitter.com/IC7ZdCpcXu
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 17, 2022
“Four players left in January. Four important players for Tottenham, two have arrived. So even numerically instead of strengthening yourself you may have, on paper, weakened. Bentancur and Kulusevski are the ideal prospect for Tottenham. Because Tottenham is looking for young players, players to be developed, not ready players. That’s the point.”
“The vision, the philosophy of the club is this. It is inevitable that if you want to grow faster and if you want to be competitive faster you need players with a lot of experience because then they lead to increase the experience also in your team. But then again, the vision of the club I understand is this.”
Tottenham signed two players on deadline day in Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur. On the flip side, players like Giovani Lo Celso, Bryan Gil and Tanguy Ndombele departed the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
While Bentancur and Kulusevski could be long-term solutions, they are unlikely to make a major impact this season unless things change drastically. So Conte might not be far off in his assessment of Tottenham’s January transfer business. But the Italian manager will hope his team can turn things around and finish in the top four in the coming months.
