Antonio Conte has praised the impact that Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur have had since arriving at Tottenham Hotspur.
Tottenham’s signings of Kulusevski and Bentancur from Juventus were not among the most high profile moves of the January transfer window.
In fact, it is fair to say that even some Spurs fans were not overly inspired by the business, given that both players had struggled to get game time at Juve this season.
However, Bentancur has been near-flawless since arriving in North London and has formed a formidable partnership alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the middle of the park.
Meanwhile, Kulusevski has added a different dimension to the Tottenham attack alongside Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, with his ability to drift into half-spaces on the right and run with the ball.
Conte praised both players for the way they have adapted to the demands of the Premier League.
The Spurs boss told the club’s official website: “For sure, to come in in the way that they did, in a short period, was positive for us.
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“It’s important when you sign young players to understand that the Premier League is very difficult and before signing new players you have to check many qualities.
“Players have to be good technically, you can work and be good tactically and you can work to improve, but at the same time, they have to be strong physically, fast, with a good engine. In these two players, we found all the characteristics for this league.
The Italian also stressed that both players were at the infancy of their careers and had plenty of time to develop.
He added: “Then, they’re very young. Bentancur is only 24 years old but has already played 200 (career) games. Deki is in the starting 11 of his national team.
“Don’t forget they’re arriving from a club where the pressure is already very high. For this reason, they were ready to manage this situation.”
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While it is still early days for both Kulusevski and Bentancur, it is evident that both of them are going to be top players for us for many years to come. This is perhaps a lesson for some Spurs fans not to judge signings before they even kicked a ball.
While the likes of Lo Celso might have looked much better in a highlight reel than Bentancur, the latter has already done more in a Spurs shirt than the Argentine managed in two and a half years.
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