Tottenham manager Antonio Conte has dropped a hint over the possibility of the club signing a forward in January, claiming it may have been easier if he had attacking options from the bench. It comes after the Lilywhites fell to a disappointing 2-0 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa.
Goals from Emi Buendia and Douglas Luiz meant that Spurs started their year in a less than ideal fashion, following a poor performance too. Boos rang around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at full-time, with the side in desperate need of some form in the race for the top four places.
The January transfer window could give them an ideal boost, but it would require some backing to let Conte reach where he wants with the squad. One area that may need addressing is the forward areas, something that became evident against Villa as Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski were absent.
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In their place was Bryan Gil, who was handed a first Premier League start of the season, with plenty of promise but a lack of game time so far at Spurs. There was some praise for the Spaniard at full-time, but it may not be enough as Conte hinted at a potential signing in January.
The manager told reporters: "The situation is clear and I think you can see our situation from the start of the season. We have up front we had Bryan Gil who played a good game but he’s a young player, and you need to give young players time to become stronger physically.
"I’m pleased from what I’ve seen from him today in the game. Then there is Kane, Son, Richarlison and Kulusevski. When it happened that two of these (are injured), and this season it happened a few times, with Richarlison and Kulusevski, you are in trouble.
"Also Sonny has to continue to improve and it becomes difficult this situation. Because if you ask me about the central defenders, they played a good game, the two midfielders played a good game, the wing-backs played a good game. And then we struggled a bit up front because we found a team defending really deep. If you have a solution on the bench to change the game, it’s easier because you change the cards during the game."
It remains to be seen if there will be a move made for a forward in the window, but it could be the difference between the side reaching their goals or missing out.
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