Conte talks about the impact Richarlison and squad depth can have at Spurs

Antonio Conte has said that Richarlison’s signing raises the quality of Tottenham’s squad, adding that the North London club now have attacking options on the bench to impact games on a regular basis.

Conte seemed reluctant to make too many substitutions in the second half of last season, with the squad seemingly down to its bare bones, especially after the likes of Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso and Bryan Gil were loaned out in January.

However, with the six signings that Tottenham have made so far this summer, the Italian now has at least two players for every position heading into the new campaign.

Richarlison, who has been Spurs’ most expensive capture of the summer, has been used across the front three in the club’s three pre-season games so far, and Conte admitted that the Brazilian will have a big part to play next season, with five substitutions being allowed.

When asked if we can see the former Everton man line up alongside Harry Kane and Son Heung-min next season, the 52-year-old told Football.London: “Richy for sure is a player that we signed to improve the quality of the squad.

“Also the possibility to make rotations with players that don’t drop the level.

“If you want to be competitive and become a strong team, the squad has to be with at least 16, 17, 18 players that has to keep the same level, not the level up and then the other level medium, otherwise you are not competitive.

“I think with the club we have started, but we have just started to do this improvement, to try to have the possibility during the game, with the five substitutions, and in between one game and another game with the Champions League to make rotations.

“The situation I think it’s too vital for me and especially if we want to have ambition. Then one game we’re going to play one player and another game another player, but they need to be able to play 90 minutes, 70 minutes, 30 minutes, the most important thing is that when they go on the pitch they are effective.

“The impact has to be terrific for the opponent, not for us. I think that we worked in this aspect with the club but you know that we have just started this process, to bring and to improve step by step the squad.”

Spurs Web Opinion

The five-substitution rule is certainly going to be a game changer as managers now have the option to change half of their outfield players in every match.

Given that most Premier League games are decided by small margins, having the option to bring on players who can change games, could easily contribute to 15 additional points over the course of the campaign.

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