Antonio Conte has explained his thoughts on Tottenham's recent incomings and it may raise some questions for Fabio Paratici with his targets in the next transfer window.
In the January window Spurs saw eight departures and just two incomings, with most of their business being done on deadline day.
Conte had asked for a striker, right wing-back and and central midfielder but only got the latter, in the form of Rodrigo Bentancur.
As well as the departures of four academy players, Tottenham saw Dele Alli make a permanent move to Everton, whilst Giovani Lo Celso, Bryan Gil and Tanguy Ndombele all made temporary moves abroad.
Dejan Kulusevski was the other incoming Tottenham got from the January window and so there were some needed departures but perhaps not as many arrivals as some would've hoped.
The Lilywhites are just seven points off the top four and have three games in hand over Man United, who are currently occupying fourth spot.
However, Spurs' most recent two performances have ended in defeats to both Southampton and Wolves and the struggles seem to be ongoing, despite Conte's arrival.
There is a lot of work which still needs to be done at the north London club and there is hope that the Italian will be the man to make the required improvements.
In his most recent interview, Conte gave his honest verdict on the recent transfers.
"Four players left in January. Four important players for Tottenham, two have arrived. So even numerically instead of reinforcing yourself you may have, on paper, weakened," he admitted.
"Bentancur and Kulusevski are ideal prospects for Tottenham because the club is after young players who can improve and develop, rather than players who are the finished article. That's the story here. That's the link. That's the club's vision and philosophy.
"It's inevitable that if you want to improve faster and want to be competitive faster, you need more experienced players because they boost the experience levels among the team," the 52-year-old added.
Conte quite clearly states that the former Juventus duo who made the move to N17 in January are very much perfect for the "club's vision", suggesting they are potentially not perfect for his ideas.
The Spurs boss openly admits that you need players with experience to improve and the two new arrivals don't have this with Premier League football.
This is the same case with someone like Gil, as many were surprised when he was sent out on loan after being in the capital for just six months.
However the 21-year-old, who is on loan at Valencia until the end of the season, has already shown the quality he has in his opening two features in La Liga with his new side.
The Spaniard showed glimpses of potential in his 20 appearances for Tottenham, but clearly highlighted that he didn't quite have the physicality for the Premier League yet.
Conte gave his verdict on Gil before his departure.
"You know that I like to tell the truth and for sure we’re talking about a really good player in Gil, because he has good quality and he understands football quickly," Conte explained to football.london.
"You can be good with quality. You can be a creative player, but at the same time you have to be strong physically. You have to run a lot, to be resilient."
Therefore it would seem that the youngster needs some more experience and a chance to continue his development before breaking into the regular Tottenham team.
This also further reiterates Conte's point about experience of players and perhaps raises some questions over who Paratici should target in the summer.
Hugo Lloris also mentions the value of experience, when he spoke about his time under Mauricio Pochettino, in a recent interview.
"We had some great times at Spurs especially during the Mauricio Pochettino era when we were close, very close [to winning a trophy]," the skipper explained.
"When we had the team ready for competing for a trophy and we were at the perfect maturity, playing with each other for many, many years and we knew each other well, there was always a new challenge."
This time playing with each other is not something the whole current Spurs squad have and it is also not something you can buy with new arrivals.
However if the club want to back Conte in the way that they should, to help Tottenham find success, then Paratici may need to rethink the players he targets in the next transfer window.
