Antonio Conte tells Daniel Levy he’s made transfer ‘mistakes’, resulting in a ‘very strange’ window of offloading Spurs’ expensive flop buys, as he demands ‘we MUST pay more attention’
- Tottenham signed two players in January but missed out on two other targets
- Dele Alli left for Everton while expensive signings left the club on loan
- Antonio Conte said the club needs to cut out mistakes in the transfer market
- The Tottenham boss described the January transfer window as ‘very strange’
- He did insist though that the Tottenham squad is more complete after January
Antonio Conte has told Tottenham’s hierarchy they need to listen when he speaks because he knows how to build successful teams, after claiming their ‘strange’ January window highlighted some of the mistakes they have made in the recent past.
Conte claimed his squad is more complete following the arrivals of Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski from Juventus.
But he could not ignore the significance of the loan exits of record signing Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso, Bryan Gil plus youngster Jack Clarke. Gil only arrived in the summer, while Ndombele, Lo Celso and Clarke signed in 2019.
Antonio Conte (L) has urged Daniel Levy’s (R) Spurs to be more careful in the transfer market
‘It was strange in January to send four on loan, and sell one player (Dele Alli),’ said Conte. ‘It means something wrong happened in the past.
‘You have to see what you did and maybe understand there were some mistakes in the past.
‘Ndombele (£54million) we paid a lot for and it was the same for Lo Celso (£28m) and Gil (£21.4m plus Erik Lamela).
‘Usually you buy players to reinforce your team, you don’t lose players after one, two or three years. We have to pay more attention about the choice of the players when we go in the market in the future.
The club’s £54m record signing Tanguy Ndombele returned to Lyon on loan in January
Dele Alli was the only sale in January leaving the club for Everton after six-and-a-half seasons
‘I hope I transferred my thoughts to my club because I have my vision. I’m here to try to help my club to improve.
‘In my experiences in the past, I have built good structure, good teams that have lasted over time. Also without me.
‘It means maybe if I tell something and have a vision, I see the situation. Maybe I have some knowledge that can help the club. I think the club wanted me also for this reason.’
Steve Hitchen quit his recruitment role this week after seeing his influence reduced following Fabio Paratici’s arrival as managing director of football last summer.
Giovani Lo Celso (left) joined the club for £27m but has been loaned out to LaLiga side Villarreal; Bryan Gil (right) signed last summer from Sevilla but is now on loan at Valencia
Conte passed up the chance to defend Paritici, who he worked with at Juventus, over the signing of Gil under his predecessor Nuno Espirito Santo, but described Bentancur and Kulusevski as two players who fit Spurs’ philosophy.
Ndombele, Lo Celso and Clarke, yet to play a league game since his £9m arrival from Leeds, were signed in the final window of Mauricio Pochettino’s reign.
Lo Celso initially joined on loan from Real Betis, becoming permanent under Jose Mourinho.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy would be ill-advised to ignore serial winner Conte, given not only his track record but also his determination to make Spurs a success.
Tottenham missed out on Colombian Luis Diaz after the deal was hijacked by Liverpool
Adama Traore also could have joined Tottenham but opted to return to Barcelona on loan
Conte said: ‘My first target is to try to create a foundation for this team and club. The results are later. If you don’t have that then we speak about (achieving) nothing. You can only hope.
‘We will do everything, from now until the end of the season, to reach the best result for Tottenham because the fans deserve this.
‘The path in front of us is long. I don’t like to ask this, but I ask the fans for their patience. I understand their disappointment of our fans because for many years we didn’t win.
‘But it’s important to create a unity, keep the right enthusiasm and try to build together something important for Tottenham. All the environment must have enthusiasm.
‘If I see enthusiasm and a want to stay together from the start until the end, then I’m ready to fight to bring Tottenham to the best position.’
Conte’s side, who host Brighton in the FA Cup tonight, are seventh in the Premier League but two points behind fourth-placed Manchester United with two games in hand.
