Tottenham Hotspur showed signs of how deadly they can be and how strong they have become under Antonio Conte last season after a remarkable turnaround in the second half of the campaign brought them a top four finish and a return to UEFA Champions League football.
Spurs have since spent almost £100 million in the summer transfer window on Yves Bissouma, Richarlison and Djed Spence, while Ivan Perisic, Fraser Forster and Clement Lenglet have also arrived in north London.
But although Conte believes Tottenham are moving in the “right direction”, he has warned fans that they should take a look at how Manchester United performed last season after a big summer spend if they are hoping for a title charge.
When asked if Spurs can close the gap on the Premier League ’s top two in Thursday’s pre-match press conference, the Italian said: "You forgot Chelsea and this is a big, big mistake. You are talking about a team that two seasons ago won the Champions League. It is a really big squad. Last season they won the World Cup for clubs.
“Why is Chelsea not in this group of top teams? For me, Chelsea is in this group. They want to stay there and deserve to be considered in this position. And then there is United. Football is not one, more one, [equals] two. United, last season, finish sixth despite a transfer market of [Jadon] Sancho, Cristiano Ronaldo and [Raphael] Varane. Two seasons ago they finished second.
"They did this transfer market to try to win the league and they finished sixth. You have to pay attention in my opinion to all of these situations. We know that in England it is difficult to fight to win but we want to try to be competitive, to try to improve on last season and this is our target.”
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United are a prime example that spending millions on world class players does not mean that you will finish anywhere near top spot, with around £125 million spent on Sancho, Varane and Ronaldo, and Conte is keen for expectations not to rise to this level due to how badly things can go.
In their six new signings, Spurs have made some great additions to their squad, yet Conte warns that the club's fans should not get their hopes up over a title charge.
However, there is certainly reason to believe that Spurs can push on from their fourth-placed finish last season and challenge for third, and potentially even the top two, if the likes of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min continue producing to the very best of their abilities under Conte.
Nonetheless, the manager himself knows that they still have a long way to go if they are to reach the heights of Manchester City and Liverpool this season. He said: "If you ask me about City, about Liverpool, my answer is that we are talking about two of the best clubs in the world, they are working with the same coach for seven years.
"Now they are in my opinion in a position that is very difficult for the others to close the gap but we have to do this. Also because [to catch] a City and Liverpool, you have to spend £100m for six players, they go and spend that for one player or two players £100m and this is the difference.
"You have to run behind and they stay in front of you but you know very well they deserve to stay there because they work very well to have the same coach and to back the coach, [Jurgen] Klopp, [Pep] Guardiola and [Thomas] Tuchel and they deserve this. To become a strong team you need to have stability and a vision. The idea has to be very clear and then you will see you go step by step and try to reduce this gap."
