Antonio Conte’s concerns at Tottenham Hotspur have been revealed after a pretty disappointing January transfer window in north London…
What’s the word?
As claimed by the Telegraph’s Matt Law on social media this week, the Lilywhites “continue to live in hope rather than expectation” which is “something Antonio Conte has made it clear he doesn’t like.”
In an accompanying column for the newspaper, the reliable reporter went onto suggest that ‘Conte hoped for a sign that Spurs share his winning ambition in the January transfer window, but there has been no real proof’ after they sealed a double swoop for Juventus duo Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski.
‘Chairman Daniel Levy and managing director Fabio Paratici are unlikely to have done enough to put supporters’ minds at rest that the 52-year will at least see out his contract that runs to the end of next season,’ he also claimed.
The Italian head coach wanted three signings. He got two. And they also missed out on two key targets in Adama Traore and Luis Diaz.
Ticking timebomb
That said, the club did well to move on figures that simply had no part to play in the remainder of the season in the likes of Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso and Dele Alli, for whom the writing had been very much on the wall since Conte’s arrival.
Often, under Levy, Spurs have kept hold of players way past their sell-by date, whilst there are certainly question marks over Paratici, whose first managerial appointment – Nuno Santo – faced the axe within months, whilst one of his own summer signings – Bryan Gil – departed on loan, too.
There are very much questions marks to be had surrounding the relationship of the three integral protagonists in Spurs’ quest to return to their former glory. It almost seems like this is a ticking timebomb waiting to explode and you’d imagine that failure to back Conte in the summer would be the trigger.
Paratici signing players he’s very familiar with already isn’t the best of looks either. It seems like the cheap way out after a completely disastrous pursuit of Traore, who they had been tracking since the summer – only for the player to have doubts over his role in north London.
Kulusevski and Bentancur are hardly inspiring names, nor are they going to pull up any trees at Hotspur Way but they are solid enough to keep Conte happy for the time being, especially as they are more likely to sign up to his methods than any of the departed trio mentioned above.
This claim from Law is hardly going to alleviate any of the fears that fans may have as the season rumbles on. You can’t help but feel as if we’re all expecting the Italian to not see out his contract and that’ll be on the hands of Levy and Paratici, the two who heavily chased him back in November.
Will Conte last the next six months, let alone the next 18? Only time will tell.
AND in other news, Conte could unearth his next Cesc Fabregas at Spurs in “aggressive” £22.5m-rated beast…