Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte slams club’s January transfer dealings
Speaking to beIN Sports (h/t Daily Mail), Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte has criticised the club’s transfer business in January, saying that the club brought in inexperienced players when he needed stars who were ready to take on the challenge he was facing.
The winter transfer window saw several first-team stars depart the club on loan, while the Lilywhites roped in Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur from Juventus on deadline day to bolster their midfield options.
Conte however, was not happy with the club’s dealings last month, saying that the squad he had in place would possibly not help achieve Tottenham’s goal in qualifying for the Champions League next season.
The Italian said that while his usual job as a manager involved him having a 1% chance of winning the league, his challenge at Tottenham made him feel that there is probably only a 1% possibility to finish fourth.
Conte unhappy with club’s vision
The former Inter Milan manager is currently facing a terrible run of form in the league, dropping to his third consecutive defeat against Wolves last weekend. The head coach will need to come up with solutions fast if he is to help the club to a top-four spot by the end of the season.
Despite praising the players that the club had signed, Conte felt that the vision of the club did not match his own. While he wanted players who could help him climb up the table and finish strongly, Spurs wanted players who were young and they could develop for the future.
“Rather than reinforce the squad, we on paper weakened it. Bentancur and Kulusevski are ideal prospects for Tottenham, because Tottenham are seeking young players they can develop and grow, not players who are ready. That is the issue. I have realised now that this is the vision of the club.”
The club’s transfer strategy was far from perfect last month, heading to raid Juventus on deadline day for their midfielders after missing out on their transfer targets in Luis Diaz and Adama Traore. Their hesitation to give Conte the players he wanted will have frustrated the manager.
Conte has been demanding quality in the Spurs squad since he took over, and the club needs to back him adequately in the summer. The Italian is a proven winner, and Tottenham will only succeed with its vision of becoming an English heavyweight if the manager is given the right tools in the kind of players he wants to work with.
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Despite the unsatisfactory transfer business in January, Conte claimed that his team was ready for what awaits them and insisted Spurs need to have the desire to fight for their targets towards the end of the campaign.
Currently lagging behind in eighth place, the ex-Chelsea boss will be glad about having multiple games in hand as he tries to get the club out of their current rut and build a winning run in the coming weeks to claim fourth place in the league table.
