Antonio Conte rates Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur after their January move to Tottenham Hotspur
Antonio Conte has given his thoughts on how Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur have performed following their move to Tottenham Hotspur in the January transfer window. He spoke on this matter in the build-up to the Premier League match against Brighton and Hove Albion, which will take place later today.
Both Kulusevski and Bentancur joined Tottenham on the deadline day of January from Juventus. The former has done really well so far and has become a key player in a short period. That has seen his competitor, Lucas Moura, fall down the pecking order because of his excellent displays. As for the midfielder, he has been solid overall, even though he has not reached the same heights that he showcased in Italy and the Uruguay national team.
Speaking in an interview with the club’s media (h/t Tottenham Hotspur official website), Conte has given an assessment on the Spurs duo and their performances at N17 so far. The boss is happy with their displays but has mentioned they have a lot of room for improvements moving forward.
“I think it was two good signings for us, young players with talent, players with a lot of space for improvement. They are playing well, they are into our idea of football, I think that their performances are very good and they have to continue this way, to try to improve, in the same way, that my expectation is to see improvement of all my team.”
Good business from Spurs!
Technically, Kulusevski is currently on loan with the West London side, having paid £8.3million to Juventus for an 18-month temporary move. There is an obligatory option to make the transfer permanent for a fee of £29.2million if certain criteria are met in the future. That seems to be a great deal from our side for someone who is just 21 years of age and has lots of room left for improvement, as the Italian coach had conveyed.
The Swedish forward already has two goals and three assists to his name from nine appearances this season. The winger has done well for us, and let’s hope that he will continue to do so moving forward.
As for Bentancur, he has been solid for us but not up to the same level as Kulusevski. Despite that, there is a lot of time left for the central midfielder to make his case with us. We paid £21.5million in transfer fees to the Bianconeri for his signature. Even if he has had a mixed time, we certainly have seen glimpses of his quality here and there.
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That being said, the 24-year-old midfielder could be more dynamic with his game by getting rid of the hesitation to help with the attack. Should the Uruguayan international do that, we would have a great option in our hands which would greatly help us in the long term.
Now it is up to the Tottenham duo to continue to build towards a better future. Whether that will happen or not would only be known in due time.
