Journalist claims Tottenham did not fulfil Conte’s transfer wish in January

Daily Star journalist Paul Brown has claimed that Antonio Conte wanted Tottenham to sign a dominant central defender during the January transfer window.

Spurs let four players leave the club last month, with Dele Alli completing a move to Everton while Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso and Bryan Gil were loaned out to Lyon, Villareal and Valencia respectively.

Fabio Paratici raided his former club for two signings in Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski, who arrived from Juventus on transfer deadline day.

Both Bentancur and Kulusevski have made promising starts to life in North London, with the Swede having scored twice in three Premier League starts for the club.

According to reports (Fabrizio Romano), Conte has demanded that the Spurs hierarchy already start planning for their potential signings in the summer.

However, if Brown is to be believed, Tottenham were unable to fulfil the demands of Conte last month, with the 52-year-old allegedly wanting a new spine for the side.

Brown told GiveMeSport: “I was told he wanted to bring a new spine in: a defender, a dominant central midfielder and a centre-forward who could either compete with or possibly one day replace Harry Kane.”

Of course, Tottenham did not sign either a defender or a centre-forward in the winter window, opting instead for one centre-mid and a winger.

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I do not think a centre-back would have been as much of a priority for Conte as a midfielder or a forward, given that it was apparent last month that Romero was very close to returning to action.

Perhaps, Spurs would have considered letting Tanganga and Rodon leave last month if they were able to bring in a centre-back. A left-sided centre-back will likely be one of the priorities in the summer along with a right wing-back.

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