Tottenham have been preparing for their first pre-season friendly, where they will face Team K League on Wednesday, in South Korea. The trip abroad has already shown a glimpse of Antonio Conte's tough pre-season, where Spurs have been put through their paces in the heat.
Just before their travels, the Lilywhites got their fifth new addition to the squad, welcoming Clement Lenglet on a season-long loan from Barcelona. The defender couldn't get a visa in time to travel, so will have to wait to link-up with his new teammates.
Joe Rodon also missed out on the trip due to illness. Meanwhile Giovani Lo Celso, Sergio Reguilon, Harry Winks and Tanguy Ndombele all didn't travel, which seems to indicate that they may not be in Conte's plans for next season.
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The Italian has previously explained what he believes a squad needs to have, for it to be complete. "I think that especially in this league, because the level is very high and you have to play a lot of games, if you want to have ambition, to be competitive, to fight for something important, you have to have 20 [outfield] players. Two players in every role," he admitted, earlier this year.
The problem of a lack of squad depth was clear to see last season and it meant that Conte had to stick with mostly the same starting XI every week. The 52-year-old wants his side to get out of this mentality, ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.
Spurs also need a larger squad to cope with not just the amount of games they are going to have to play, but also the five substitution rule. This is why the five outgoings and two incomings have been a good start to Tottenham's transfer window business.
If you look at the squad Conte currently has, he now seems to have his two players in every role.
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris and Fraser Forster
Back three: Cristian Romero and Japhet Tanganga, Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez, Ben Davies and Clement Lenglet
Wing-backs: Matt Doherty and Emerson Royal, Ivan Perisic and Ryan Sessegnon
Central midfield: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Oliver Skipp, Rodrigo Bentancur, Yves Bissouma
Front three: Dejan Kulusevski and Lucas Moura, Harry Kane and Richarlison, Son Heung-min and Bryan Gil
Excluding Lenglet, this leaves the five players left at Hotspur Way, out of Conte's supposed complete squad. On Tuesday, the Italian spoke about the transfer business the club had managed to secure so far.
"Yeah, we signed five players and when the ideas are very clear it’s more simple to go into the transfer window and sign the players. Our plan was very clear about the positions and the roles in which we needed to improve and we did it," 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," Conte added.
Therefore it seems as though the Italian could still be open to welcoming some new players to his side, if he believes they can give Spurs added strength. However he now needs to get some more out the door, to ensure everyone in his squad, he sees as part of his plans.
According to CIES, Rodon (£5.9million), Winks (£12.7million) and Reguilon (£25.4million) could earn Spurs up to £44million. Ndombele (£27million) and Lo Celso (£19.8million) can add to that money raised and could take the total up to £90.8million, according to the duo's Transfermarkt valuations.
This would be a major boost for Tottenham. It could either be money that balances out what has been spent on incomings. Or if Conte sees fit, the money could be used on more new additions to the squad, ahead of a big season.
Winks, Rodon and the Spaniard all struggled for regular game time last season. This was also the case for the two other midfielders, which led to them going out on loan in January.
With Conte working with his squad in South Korea and helping most of his new arrivals settle in, this won't be helping any of those players chances of finding regular opportunities, during the upcoming season. All five players have been linked with moves away, both to other Premier League teams and abroad.
If it works best, some may only make the temporary move away this summer. Either way, if Spurs can get the players out the door that would benefit from moving on, it would be beneficial to all parties.
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