Tottenham got off to a good start, in their first pre-season match, beating Team K League 6-3 on Wednesday. Antonio Conte got to see a large chunk of his squad play, in the first friendly in South Korea.
This was a good chance for the Italian to see a mix of returning players, youngsters and one new arrival, in Richarlison, in action. The Lilywhites have already had to undergo tough training sessions, ahead of the fixture and have just a couple of days to prepare for their next game.
Although a solid performance was produced by a number of the Tottenham squad, given it was just the first game, Conte admitted there is still room for improvement. Meanwhile, players from across the world are still being linked with moves to N17, as the transfer window continues.
READ MORE: Every word Antonio Conte said on Bissouma and Forster Covid tests, Richarlison and Son decision
Spurs have had a successful transfer window so far, seeing five new arrivals make the move and two head out the door. The new additions in Fraser Forster, Ivan Perisic, Yves Bissouma, Richarlison and Clement Lenglet add quality and cover a wide range of areas that were in need of improvement.
The new signings also add depth to Conte's squad and increase the size of it, which is needed for the busy fixture schedule next season and five substitution rule. Earlier this week, the 52-year-old explained what he wanted from the rest of the transfer window.
"I think the club worked very well in this window. For every coach to have the players quickly is very important because you can work with them and try to put them into our idea of football. In the past....I think it was good to sign five players quickly," he admitted.
"Now we’ll see what happens. We are always looking to strengthen the squad if there is the opportunity. We want to improve numerically the squad. I repeat to play four competitions is difficult. You need a really good squad, with the numerical aspect and the quality aspect. It will be a tough, really demanding season for us but I'm sure that we want to enjoy this season to play four competitions and try to be competitive in every competition that we are going to play. Then we’ll see what happens. In two months if there’s the possibility to strengthen the squad we’ll do it."
This indicates that if the right players and offers come along, Conte won't turn down further signings this summer. Most Tottenham fans seem to be happy with how the summer window has gone so far but when speaking to Horseracing.net, Steve McManaman still thinks Spurs need more.
"I can see them being a lot better than they were. Of course that is easy to say. When you look at these players individually; we know Perisic has got experience but he’s now 33; Djed Spence is untried but looks talented; with Bissouma I don’t know whether Conte will play with two midfielders in there. Again, they’ll have to improve a fair bit more," he explained.
"I think they’re going to need a little bit more than what they’ve got. These players will solidify their squad, but there’s nothing there that makes me go ‘Wow’. When I look at Tottenham Hotspur, even after mentioning all of their new signings, I still think Harry Kane and Son Heung-min will drive the team forward. It’ll be down to them.
"They’ve still got a collective of players in and around the areas of the players they’ve brought in, and if they’ve done the business, you’ll see an exodus of players there - you have to see an exodus of players there, because once their loan deals start coming back into Tottenham, they’re going to have to get rid of about five or six to keep everybody happy, because they’ve bulked up their squad really, really well. I just don’t know whether they’ve added that real piece of quality, to go alongside [Harry] Kane and Son [Heung-min]," Mcmanaman added.
The former Liverpool man's Kane and Son admission is not wrong, the duo will definitely still be a key part of Conte's squad next season. However the Italian is trying to build on the quality Spurs already had.
Despite some doubters, Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur made the move to N17 in January and made an immediate impact. In Wednesday's game, Richarlison showed a glimpse of his potential and the influence he can have on a game.
Therefore the signings Conte makes may not be the biggest names and make people go 'wow' straight away, but it is about how they are integrated into the team and the impact they can have that is more important. This was seen with both January arrivals and there is no reason the same can't be repeated with the five new additions so far this summer.
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