Antonio Conte bites back at Tottenham board after ‘very strange’ January transfer window

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Tottenham manager Antonio Conte has struck out at the club’s board over what he termed a ‘very strange’ January transfer window. Spurs saw a number of players depart, including three recent signings, which has seen the boss given a smaller squad to work with between now and the end of the season. 

Spurs left it late to conduct business last month, with both of their arrivals confirmed on deadline day. 

Juventus duo Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur came in, the latter on a permanent transfer, the former on an initial 18-month loan deal. 

And although Conte is pleased with the new faces, he took his opportunity to highlight past mistakes during Friday’s press conference. 

Four loan departures and Dele Alli’s permanent exit were all sealed towards the end of the month, having failed to convince the Italian of their ability to slot into his plans. 

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“For the players who went out on loan, it was right,” admitted Conte.

“For sure, it was very strange to send out on loan four players and one transfer in January, it showed something went wrong in the past.

“Maybe there were some mistakes in the past.

“You have to buy players to reinforce your team but if you send away players that you bought in the last two or three years it means you did something wrong in the past.”

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Indeed, Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso both made way after failing to live up to the hefty price-tags that brought them to north London. 

Bryan Gil joined them, switching to Valencia on loan after failing to make an instant impact following a lucrative summer swap deal which saw Erik Lamela, plus cash, head to Sevilla. 

Saturday evening’s FA Cup tie with Brighton will give Conte and his new signings a chance to impress following a busy end to the January window. 

Although he admitted that it was a ‘strange’ one, and appeared to hit out at previous mistakes made by Spurs’ recruitment team, the former Inter Milan boss appears comfortable with the group of players currently at his disposal. 

“I think [the squad] is more complete,” he added.

“Now, it’s more complete and we tried to fill the right roles with a central midfielder, and Kulusevski.

“He can play as a number 10 or as a wing-back.

“We need to not make big mistakes in the transfer market.”

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