How satisfied with the club's transfer business in January were you?
About the transfer market, I think the club tried to do their best and you know very well that in January it’s not easy or simple. And I think the club tried to do the best. I repeat, it’s not simple.
To sign players you need the availability of the players and you don’t have a lot of options. That’s it.
Steve Hitchen has resigned this week, what impact does that have on you?
With Steve, I had a good relationship. For sure. It’s a pity when a good person, a good man decides to resign. And then, at the same time, it’s important to respect the decision of every single person.
For me, it was good and I enjoy the time we spent together with Steve. He worked a long time for this club and for this reason it’s right to tell him thanks. And now, personally, I wish him good luck for his career and his future.
Why did you let Dele Alli leave?
About Dele, it was a good decision for both sides, for the club and for the player. I think Dele needed another experience, another challenge in his life.
He’s a good guy and for sure I want to tell him thanks for the time we worked together but I think it was good for the player and also for the club to take this decision. Good luck to Dele and the other players that went on loan to other teams.
Are you happy with the new players coming in and the players heading out?
Yeah but we signed two new players, Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski. I think these two players are the right prospect for Tottenham’s philosophy, young players to develop and improve. I make them important players for the future but you know very well you need time to do this. But I think for the philosophy of Tottenham, these are two good signings for us.
About the players that went on loan, they need to play more games. I think it was right for both sides, the club and the players. These players needed to play more games.
For sure, it was strange. It was strange to send on loan, and sell one player, in the January transfer window. It was strange because it means something went wrong in the past. It was strange, I repeat in January to send four on loan, and sell one player.
It means maybe in the past, you have to see what you did, and maybe to understand that there were some mistakes in the past. Because usually you have to buy players to reinforce your team. But if you send away players on loan you bought in the last two or three years, it means maybe you did something wrong in the past.
Were you expecting to lose that many players?
Honestly, before arriving at Tottenham, to read the list of players you have in the squad, I considered all the players are important players, no? Because Ndombele we paid a lot for and it was the same for Lo Celso and Gil.
Then only when you’re in the situation, you understand very well which is the best solution for the club and for the players in this moment.
For sure to lose four players in January, I repeat is not normal. We shared the decision with the club and the players, but I repeat, it means something wrong happened in the past. Usually you buy players to reinforce your team, you don't lose players after one, two or three years.
For this reason, we have to pay more attention in the future when we go in the market about the choice of the players. It becomes of fundamental importance if we want to reinforce the quality of the team. Otherwise, when you go reinforce the quality of your team, you drop the quality of your team.
Do you believe your squad is better now and what's the aim for this team?
For sure, the squad is more complete because before if we had an injury, I was in great difficult, I was in trouble. For sure, the squad is now more complete. We tried to fill the right role with one midfielder in Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski can play as a number 10 and also he can play as a wing-back.
Now we’re more complete than before. Now it's time to work very hard to try to improve. We know very well there are many teams ahead of us. To catch up with them we need time and patience to work hard. Especially in the transfer market, we have to make not big mistakes. Because now – I repeat – there are many teams who started before us and they stay ahead of us.
If we want to reduce this gap, the mistakes must be minimum in every aspect. On the pitch, outside the pitch. This is my vision, my thoughts.
Are Betancur and Kulusevski ready to start tomorrow if you need them to and in what role do you see Kulusevski playing for you the most?
The players are fit and for this reason tomorrow they are available for sure. To start the game I think is not right because they need to work with the team for a period.
For sure they can come in because I repeat, these two players can help us a lot.
About Kulusevski, he is a good player, he’s very young. I think he’s a great talent. He can play like a number 10 if you want to play with two players behind the striker.
At the same time, he has the potential to play also as a wing-back on the right. He has good quality. He likes to attack, he’s good in one vs ones, to create chances for his teammates. I think a good signing for us.
Bryan Gil was a big signing just six months ago, did you agree to loan him out because you felt he wasn't physically ready for regular Premier League minutes?
You know that I like to tell the truth and for sure we’re talking about a really good player in Gil, because he has good quality and he understands football quickly.
In this moment, for sure this league is very tough. This league is different. If you compare this league with other leagues, you play another sport here.
For this reason when you go to sign a new player, you have to consider many aspects. Not only one aspect, if he shoots well or makes an assist, you have to consider a lot of situations because this league is very difficult.
You can be good with quality. You can be a creative player, but at the same time you have to be strong physically. You have to run a lot, to be resilient.
The impact of this league is not simple. It's not simple. For this reason, the market, before signing a player, you have to check many aspects and not going on emotional things.
This is very important and I hope I transferred my thoughts to my club because I repeat, I have my vision. I'm here to try to help my club to improve.
In my experiences in the past, I have built good structure, good teams that have lasted over time. Also without me, also without me.
It means maybe if I tell something and have a vision, I see the situation. Here we need to build, we need to build a good structure and create a good foundation.
It will be very important to not make mistakes in the future, because in this moment many teams are higher than us and for this reason, to catch up with them, we have to reduce the mistakes. We have to reduce them, have a vision and follow this line.
