Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Football London
Football London
Sport
Emma de Duve

Antonio Conte admission providing Tottenham boost after Fabio Paratici January transfer business

In the January transfer window, Tottenham left most of their business to deadline day, where they saw four outgoings and two incomings.

Giovani Lo Celso, Tanguy Ndombele and Bryan Gil all went out on loan to Villarreal, Lyon and Valencia respectively, whilst Dele Alli made the permanent move to Everton.

The final day of the winter window also saw Spurs sign Juventus duo, Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski, and both have already made an impact on Antonio Conte's side.

The Lilywhites now sit seventh in the Premier League, seven points off fourth placed Man United but with three games in hand.

The new arrivals have both already made four appearances for Tottenham, with Kulusevski also already scoring a goal and registering an assist.

The Swedish internationals goal contributions both came in Spurs' thrilling 3-2 victory over Man City as he gave his new side the lead inside the first five minutes of the game and then assisted Harry Kane's winning goal 90 minutes later.

Bentancur played alongside Pierre Emile Hojbjerg in the tie against Pep Guardiola's side and made three tackles, two clearances and produced two accurate long balls.

In his handful of appearances so far, the Uruguyan international has shown his composure and quality on the ball, helping his side both defensively and offensively.

During the fixture, both of the new arrivals produced some impressive statistics with the distance they covered during the game, with Bentancur covering 13.074km of the pitch and Kulusevski's stats just behind (13.005km).

Dejan Kulusevski scored in the first five minutes on his Premier League debut for Tottenham. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)

Ahead of the clash at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, Conte spoke about what the January transfer window business means for his squad.

"We lost four players and I said (raises his voice) important players for Tottenham, because these players that we sent away on loan, Tottenham paid a lot of money," the Italian admitted.

"If I had 20 players and now I have 18 players numerically, you can be a bit weaker...numerically.

"Then I said also with Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur, as a squad we are more complete. I think I was very, very clear," he added.

With Oliver Skipp and Japhet Tanganga remaining out of the squad in Manchester due to injury and Sergio Reguilon being unavailable with Covid, it yet again left room for Harvey White and Dane Scarlett to take up the remaining spots on the bench.

Due to only two players making the move to Spurs during in the January transfer window, as Conte admits, it leaves them numerically weaker.

However the Italian describes his squad as more "complete" with the arrival of the duo and there is also an argument for the fact Tottenham could now be a stronger squad, due to the window's departures.

Out of the four January exits, only Dele made more than nine league appearances and out of a total of 37 league features the departures had made before they left, only two goals had been scored and one assist registered.

Gil and Lo Celso were both unavailable in some league fixtures with injuries and Covid but none of the four January departures made a 90 minute appearance in the league after Conte replaced Nuno Espirito Santo.

In their first month at the club, the former Juventus duo have both already surpassed this and Bentancur has played the full game in Spurs' last two ties.

Ndombele was often criticised for his lack of match fitness and it bodes the question of which provides more of a boost for Tottenham - having two signings that can make an impact or four players who can add some quality but aren't consistent?

It is still very early days for the new arrivals and they can yet improve various aspects of their game, but have made an immediate impact in just their first few weeks in the capital, which is a very positive start.

The four departures all have qualities which can add strength to the Tottenham squad but were all failing to impress enough to get regular match minutes and when they were given the opportunity, they struggled to keep consistency in their performances.

Gil, Lo Celso and Ndombele are all on loan until the end of the season so may benefit from their temporary move to then come back with added strength and make a case to Conte as to why they should be selected.

However if the new arrivals continue to develop and build on the potential they have already shown, it won't be an easy task for the returnees to break back into the regular starting XI.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.