Conte insists Spurs midfielder has potential to become ‘top, top’ player

Antonio Conte has spoken in glowing terms about Rodrigo Bentancur’s talent and insisted that the midfielder can evolve into one of the best in the world in his position.

When Tottenham snapped up Bentancur from Juventus in January of this year, it is fair to say that his signing was not met with much enthusiasm from the Spurs fan base, given that the Uruguayan was struggling for regular game time at the Allianz Stadium at the time.

However, the 25-year-old proved his metal straight away and quickly became undroppable, forming a formidable partnership in the middle of the park with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

Bentancur has taken his game to even greater heights this season and has arguably been the Lilywhites’ most consistent performer so far.

Conte has now praised the former Juve man for his displays this season but the Italian explained that he keeps pushing the midfielder as he feels he can become even better.

When asked about Bentnacur’s improvement since arriving at Tottenham, the 53-year-old told Football.London: “Rodrigo has only one problem in my opinion. He has the real possibility to be really, really top, top, but you know that to become a top player you need to will it and to decide this.

“In the last period I think that Rodrigo has been playing in an outstanding way, and he’s a player that is giving us a lot on the pitch, outside the pitch, and we are talking about a player that is showing the possibility to be one of the top, top midfielders, one of the best midfielders in the world.

“But you know to be a good player and then the top that is the difficulty. When you are medium to become good is not so difficult. The difference is to be good to top.

“I think he has everything and has the great potential to be a top, top midfielder. For this reason, I push him. I push him every day, during the training sessions because he has this quality to become. Also Pierre Hojbjerg, he is making great progress if you compare last season and this season.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Bentancur does not seem to have any obvious weakness in his game. The Uruguayan has an unbelievable engine, great tactical and positional awareness, the technical quality to handle the ball in tight situations and a decent passing range. So, there is no reason why he cannot evolve into one of the best midfielders in the world.

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