Antonio Conte has admitted that he wants to build an important project at Tottenham to ensure the club are able to compete for major honours over the coming years.
When Conte initially signed for Tottenham during November of last year, it was suggested by some pundits that the Italian was bound to fall out with Daniel Levy sooner or later, given how demanding the former Inter Milan boss can be (talkSPORT).
However, reports over recent days have suggested that the 52-year-old is extremely pleased with how things are shaping up at Spurs ahead of his first full season in charge of the club (Dean Jones on The Done Deal Show).
Conte has now said that he is under no illusions about the difficulty of competing in the Premier League but the Italian insisted the club are moving in the right direction at the moment.
He told Football.London: “I signed a two-year contract for Tottenham, and then when I spoke with the club and we understood that we wanted to build something important.
“We have to know for sure it’s not simple because in England in this moment there are three teams that in the previous season finished in front of us.
“Chelsea, but especially Liverpool and Manchester City with 20 and more points higher than us, and United last season was a bad season.
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“We overcame Arsenal in the last three games and you have to know that in England the situation is not simple, but at the same time we are working to improve the squad, because I think last season we worked very hard for the big achievement of the Champions League.
“Now we want to improve and I think it was very important to sign players like Bentancur and Kulusevski in January because in January four players went on loan and then we signed two players.
“Now we move at the right time to try to improve the team and the quality aspect, and also the numerical aspect because we have four competitions – the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup – and if we want to be competitive we have to have a good squad but we have to know that we have just started this path.
“I see that other teams they are signing important players and they’ve spent a lot of money (laughs), but it’s normal in England because the level is very high and the others have the same idea.”
Conte admitted that completing the signings early was crucial this summer, and while the Spurs boss revealed he is aiming extremely high, he stressed the need for time and patience for the club to reach its goals.
He added: “We improved. For sure we improved, that’s normal. When you go into the transfer market you try not to waste money, but if you decide to invest money and I think, up until now, we invested the right money.
“Many people said to me they were surprised by the timing, but when the vision is clear I feel confident and then I go to train and try to improve the team and the squad.
“Fabio [Paratici] is helping a lot in this situation. We are working very well but it’s important to know we need a bit of patience.
“If, then, in only one year and seven months we are able to do something very special, I am the first to be very happy.
“I will push my players from the start until the end of the season to have ambition and be competitive in every game and every competition we are going to play.”
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As Conte stresses, it looks like all of the ‘big six’ would have improved their squad considerably by the end of the transfer window. So, we might be set for an extremely competitive season. Squad depth could come in crucial, given that the World Cup is set to be played in the middle of the campaign.
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