Conte suggests Spurs were ´weakened´ by January window

Antonio Conte does not appear overly impressed with Tottenham’s business in a January transfer window that saw only two signings.

Conte had made clear his desire to shake up a squad chasing a top-four finish in the Premier League.

The anticipated outgoing deals came to pass, as each of Tanguy Ndombele, Bryan Gil and Giovani Lo Celso were loaned out while Dele Alli left permanently.

But in place of four first-team players only two arrived in Juventus pair Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur.

Spurs were widely linked with moves for Adama Traore and Luis Diaz, but they instead signed for Barcelona and Liverpool respectively.

And Conte, appointed in November, hinted at his discontent in an interview with Sky Sport.

“What happened in January is not easy,” he said. “Four players left in January; four important players for Tottenham. Two have arrived.

“So even numerically, instead of strengthening, you may have, on paper, weakened.”

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Conte, who has won five league titles across spells with Juventus, Chelsea and Inter, also highlighted the profile of the two new men.

Kulusevski is 21 and had started only five Serie A matches this season, while Bentancur, at 24, was slightly more involved at Juve with his 13 starts.

“Bentancur and Kulusevski are the ideal prospects for Tottenham,” Conte said, “because Tottenham are looking for young players, players to be developed, not ready players.”

Asked for his thoughts on this approach, the coach added: “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.”