Tottenham Hotspur head coach Antonio Conte has admitted the club’s January transfer window was “not easy” as they saw four players exit and only two arrive.Conte added that Spurs “may have, on paper, weakened”, given his squad now have two players fewer.The January transfer window allowed Tottenham to bring in Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur from Juventus, but Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso, Bryan Gil and Dele Alli departed the club.Speaking to Sky Italia on Wednesday, Conte said: “What happened in January is not easy. Four players left in January. Four important players for Tottenham, two have arrived.“So even numerically instead of strengthening yourself, you may have, on paper, weakened.”Tottenham were also in talks over moves for Luis Diaz and Ollie Tanner but neither transfer materialised. Diaz opted to sign for Liverpool, while Tanner chose to remain with non-League Lewes.Conte added that “if you want to grow faster and if you want to be competitive faster you need players with a lot of experience” but stated he “understood” the “vision and philosophy” of Spurs was to sign younger players like 21-year-old Kulusevski and 24-year-old Bentancur.“Bentancur and Kulusevski are the ideal prospects for Tottenham,” Conte continued. “Because Tottenham is looking for young players, players to be developed, not ready players.”Three days after the January transfer window closed, Spurs director of performance Steve Hitchen resigned. It’s understood Hitchen was in talks with Everton over a move to the Merseyside club.The following day, Conte suggested that Tottenham’s flurry of deadline day exits showed that “something went wrong in the past” with the club’s transfer strategy.Tottenham lost their last Premier League match 2-0 at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers. They next face a trip to Manchester City on Saturday.(Photo: DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)
