"What happened in January was not easy" - Antonio Conte fumes over Tottenham Hotspur transfer activity

Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte is not happy with the Premier League side's transfer dealings in January, claiming they weakened the squad.

Four players departed Tottenham Hotspur in January, with Dele Alli, Tanguy Ndombele, Bryan Gil and Giovani Lo Celso all leaving the London outfit. The two players brought in were Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur, who both joined the club from Serie A giants Juventus for a combined €70 million fee.

Conte has slammed the transfer operations of Spurs, telling Sky Sport Italia:

“What happened in January was not easy. We lost four players in January. Four important players for Tottenham, and we brought in only two."

Conte went on to mention the damage the window has done to Spurs' squad, saying:

“So even just in terms of numbers, rather than reinforce the squad, we on paper weakened it. Bentancur and Kulusevski are ideal prospects for Tottenham, because Tottenham are seeking young players they can develop and grow, not players who are ready. That is the issue."

Conte particularly highlighted the club's reluctance to sign experienced players, which should concern Tottenham Hotspur fans. He added that the vision of the club does not match his, saying:

“This is the vision and the philosophy of the club. It is inevitable that if you want to grow quicker and if you want to be competitive more rapidly, you need players with a lot of experience, because they also raise the experience level of the overall team. But I repeat, I have realised now that this is the vision of the club.”

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Antonio Conte and Tottenham Hotspur on a collision course?

Conte, who joined Tottenham Hotspur as manager in November last year, taking over from Nuno Espirito Santo, enjoyed a fine start to life in north London.

However, a recent drop in form, with their 3-2 home defeat to Southampton in the Premier League, has highlighted problems at the club. For the first time in 12 years, Conte lost consecutive league games at home.

Following the game against the Saints, the Italian manager tore into his team. Winger Lucas Moura revealed the anger the former Juventus manager showed. The Brazilian was quoted by Daily Mail as saying:

"He was very, very angry! Very, very disappointed."

Moura continued:

"We need to be ready to listen to him and to accept. He sees the smallest detail, and wants us to be almost perfect.'

The signs point towards Conte having issues with the Spurs management. During his previous stints at Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan, he was afforded funds and given projects that matched his vision of immediate success. That does not seem to be the case at Spurs as Conte realises the magnitude of the challenge at hand.