Antonio Conte wasted no time at all in stamping his mark on his Tottenham team following his appointment as head coach in November 2021. Tasting success with both Chelsea and Inter Milan playing a 3-4-3 system, the Italian immediately went with a three-man defence and wing-backs in his first Spurs game.
Despite having Matt Doherty and Ryan Sessegnon who were made for the wing-back positions due to their attacking qualities, Conte's first seven months in charge didn't bring about the required numbers from the wide areas. Wanting his wing-backs to create chances as well as getting themselves into the box to score, the struggles on either flank meant that is was always going to be a transfer priority for Fabio Paratici come the summer.
Moving early to sign Ivan Perisic on a free transfer from Inter Milan, Spurs also struck an agreement with Middlesbrough to sign exciting right wing-back Djed Spence after an outstanding season in which he helped Nottingham Forest return to the Premier League. Tottenham weren't quite done in the market just there as they wrapped up the signing of highly-rated Udinese ace Destiny Udogie before loaning him back to the Serie A club for the campaign.
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Appearing to be transfer deals that would see Conte's Spurs system click into place and for him to get the numbers he craved from both flanks, things just unfortunately didn't go to plan. While Perisic has contributed with one goal and 12 assists in his debut campaign for the Lilywhites, Spurs fans have always expected more from a player of his quality in the final third as Tottenham have not seen the Perisic of Inter Milan or Bayer Munich going forward despite his impressive tally of assists.
Whereas the Croat has featured regularly for Tottenham, Spence exited the club on loan in January to link up with Rennes after only making six appearances under Conte. Admitting that Spence was a "club" signing rather than one of his own, the Italian refused to turn to the England Under-21s international despite the struggles of others in the position and that was something that didn't sit well with the fanbase.
Still not managing to address their right wing-back issues, Paratici and Tottenham moved for Pedro Porro in January after the Spain international had excelled in the role for Sporting CP. Showing glimpses of his quality so far, notably with his goals against Southampton and Manchester United, the 23-year-old's struggles at the back have been highlighted in the recent games at Newcastle United and Liverpool.
Porro looked far from comfortable operating as a full-back in the opening 20 minutes at Newcastle and that forced Cristian Stellini into making a formation change with the Magpies already four goals to the good and looking set to score whenever they embarked upfield. Now having a number of wing-backs on the books following Paratici's transfer business for Conte, the issue for Tottenham heading into next season is that Conte is no longer there and the next manager's football philosophy may not even include wing-backs.
If that is indeed the case then that will leave the new man at the helm with quite the predicament on his hands. The example of Emerson Royal struggling to adapt to a wing-back role having played as a full-back since making his professional debut highlights that changing from full-back to wing-back or vice versa is not as straightforward as it may seem.
While Perisic, providing he is still at the club come August, would quite easily become another option on the left or right wing as that's where he has spent the vast majority of his career, Spence, Porro and Udogie may not have a natural role in the team unless they are turned into full-backs or are played further forward. That will all depend on the new manager coming in and his system, however.
Needing a new manager, new managing director of football and new signings this summer, there's plenty to sort out at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. If the next head coach is to play with a flat back four then working and transforming the wing-backs will need to be added to the list.
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