Antonio Conte has blasted the vision behind the January business of Tottenham Hotspur and bemoaned the weakened state it has left his squad in.
Spurs brought in Juventus duo Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski on deadline day, but also saw the departures of some big names including Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso, Dele Alli, and Bryan Gil across the window.
The net loss of two players in his squad has not gone down very well with the Italian, who also elaborated on the club’s transfer strategy.
The former Inter Milan and Chelsea boss explained Spurs wanted to buy players who could be cultivated as opposed to players who were already the finished product.
However, in an interview with Sky Sports Italia, he argued developing players would develop faster alongside experienced players. This vision is a real cause of frustration for him at Spurs, particularly coming off the back of three Premier League defeats on the spin.
He said: “What happened in January is not easy. Four players left in January. Four important players for Tottenham, two have arrived. So even numerically instead of strengthening you 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.
“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.”
Conte has been very vocal about his need to upgrade his squad in order to compete higher up the table, with this task being left for Chairman Daniel Levy and Managing Director Fabio Paratici.
The full interview between Sky Sports Italy and Conte will air on Thursday.