In the latest Tottenham transfer news, Antonio Conte has given an insight into the plans for the January transfer window, including why Harry Winks will remain at the club, whether Hugo Lloris will sign a new contract and those players that may need to start thinking of a future away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Tottenham Transfer News
Evaluation of Players Complete
Two months into his job as the manager of Tottenham Hotspur, Antonio Conte told reporters that he has now made his assessments of his squad and his evaluations are complete. Conte told Football London reporter Alasdair Gold: “I made the evaluation after two months of work with my players. For sure now the situation is more clear than before.”
One player that has struggled to live up to his billing at Spurs is Tanguy Ndombele and Conte’s response when asked what the midfielder’s role in his plans was cutting: “He is a midfielder. I think…he is a midfielder.”
Conte expects hard work from his players and Ndombele has proven to be a luxury under Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espírito Santo and Conte. And, with Oliver Skipp and Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg being mainstays of the Spurs midfield, it is hard to see where he will fit into Conte’s team.
Harry Winks
Winks has come in for criticism from Spurs fans in recent seasons, but, under Conte, he has started to show the talent that first came to fruition under former manager Mauricio Pochettino. And the Italian has been impressed with the midfielder – referring to him as someone he can trust, something he didn’t say about Ndombele:
“Winksy is playing well and Winks has showed to be a reliable player. And for this reason, Winksy will stay here. I find players that are reliable, and then I can count on them and Winksy showed me that I can count on him.”
The line about being reliable and being able to count on players really stood out from Conte and, whilst for Winks it will have been music to his ears, for other players it may well have cut to the core.
The Future of Hugo Lloris
World Cup winner and club Captain Hugo Lloris is nearing the end of his contract at Spurs but Conte is keen for him to stay and expects a solution to be found: “For sure, he will talk with the club, to try to find a solution. I think Hugo wants to stay in this club, he loves this club, he stays well in Tottenham. I think this could be his opinion.”
New Players Needed
Conte is open about the fact that he needs new players to improve the squad but also asked for patience as the gap between Spurs and the top teams is still a large one to bridge right now:“Now we’re in the middle and we have to think to build something important. For this reason, I ask for patience and time because now the gap is very large and we need to work a lot, and also try to build. And also improve the quality of the squad.”
Assessing Conte’s Tottenham Transfer News
Conte is a straight talking manager and at times often says more when he says little as was seen with his comment about Ndombele. Whilst we may see one player set to leave Spurs, it is also evident that Conte has come into the club and given everyone a new chance to show what they can do. And Winks is one winner from that approach.
Those that may well be looking over their shoulders will be Dele Alli ,who performed well against Liverpool, but was then anonymous against Southampton, Matt Doherty, who has never excelled at Spurs, and Joe Rodon, who has not been in-favour under either Mourinho or Conte and his dream move from Swansea looks to have turned sour.
Whilst Conte will not mention players he is going after, it is clear that he wants new blood to build the squad up. He sees this season as an opportunity to finish as high as possible in the league and use the next summer to close the gap between Spurs and the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool. It will be no easy task, but Conte is a winner and he looks a manager ready to ensure Tottenham lose their soft underbelly and start turning potential into trophies.
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