The £150m of transfer spending the Tottenham hierarchy coughed up to sweeten the request obviously attracted the initial attention but it has been clear that the funds are being spent on strengthening the club and not just in a bid for instant glory.
At the same time Antonio Conte has been mindful of the young players at the club with Troy Parrott expected to pass a medical in order to continue his development on loan to Preston this season.
So while Conte - with the help of managing director Fabio Paratici - is seeking out opportunities wherever they arise, he has not lost sight of the needs of the club further down the line.
Inter playing fair over Milan Skriniar
Conte made a strong centre-back his No.1 priority and even before that Jose Mourinho had targeted Inter’s Milan Skriniar. In the past, though, he has been resolutely not for sale - although reports in Italy suggest the club still need to raise £55m before the end of the window to meet UEFA’s FFP requirements.
They would hope to get slightly more for the Slovakia international than that. Skriniar played in all but a handful of Inter’s games in the 2020-21 season when they won the Scudetto and the Spurs boss wants another solid figure to compete with Eric Dier and Cristian Romero in the heart of his defence.
However, even though his move could be perfect financially, fellow centre-back Alessandro Bastoni - also previously on Tottenham ’s radar - has begged him to stay for football reasons. “He embodies the Inter spirit,” Bastoni told il Gazetto della Sport. “It would really be a shame to leave us right now, I hope he stays. I think we’ll still do a lot of great things together.”
Harvey White exit
Troy Parrott is not the only one off on loan; Harvey White is being linked with a move to Swansea in what could be a make of break season for his career. The midfielder featured a couple of times in the Spurs first team in 2020-21 and was a regular on the bench towards the end of last season under Conte.
But with his current contract due to expire in 2024, he needs to convince Spurs to offer him a new one realistically within the next 12 months - and that requires more regular football. Spurs main problem is to persuade the Championship side to take him on loan when Russell Martin is more keen on a permanent signing.
Lo Celso's convoluted exit path
One of the big worries for Conte is that a bloated squad could be harmful for team spirit with senior players forced to kick their heels on the sidelines. Shipping out unwanted stars is proving difficult, but there may be a way out of the maze for Lo Celso - providing West Ham play ball.
Napoli are said to be interested in signing the Argentinian for the £42m asking price, but only if West Ham create a space by signing £34m-rated Piotr Zielinski.
Unfortunately, according to Corriere dello Sport, West Ham at the moment are only prepared to offer half that for the 28-year-old.
