Tottenham’s hierarchy are said to have been surprised by manager Antonio Conte’s claims that his squad had been weakened over the January transfer window.
The boss spoke to Italian media about his confusion at seeing four first-team regulars – Dele Alli, Tanguy Ndombele, Bryan Gil and Giovani Lo Celso – all leave the club, with just Juventus duo Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski coming in in their places.
According to the Daily Mail, Spurs chiefs were left confused by Conte’s claims, with some believing that the boss knew there would not be a lot of money available in January as the focus was on clearing out high-earning fringe players with the club priority is summer transfer dealings.
According, to the Italian journalist Romano Fabrizio, Tottenham are ready to give full backing to their manager in the summer transfer market.
🥇| The real important market for #Tottenham will be in the summer. Tottenham will change the strategy, they will go together with Antonio Conte on the market. @FabrizioRomano
Spurs expect Conte to see out the season despite his public outburst but there are internal concerns that the club’s summer recruitment will have a major influence on the head coach’s future ahead of next season.
For now, however, unless there is a drastic change of direction in the short-term there is a confidence at Spurs that Conte has no immediate intention of leaving before the club start the summer.