Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte has been detailing the honest conversation he's had with chairman about the state of his squad, claiming "I don’t like to tell a good lie to keep a good relationship".
Conte arrived in north London in the autumn after a few months out of the game, following his exit from Inter Milan. The Italian was in line for the Tottenham managerial position in the summer before Nuno Espirito Santo was appointed to the role, reportedly because of the demands he made to overhaul the team.
Now, it seems as if the new manager is singing from the same hymn sheet as the directors. Tottenham endured a difficult first half the season and sacked Santo after a disastrous defeat at home to Manchester United. The Lilywhites have struggled all season and their lack of depth was again shown up in their defeat to Chelsea.
With Spurs allegedly targeting the likes of Adama Traore, Gianluca Scamacca and Jesse Lingard, reports and rumours have recently circulated that big spending could be on the horizon in the summer – and it seems like Conte agrees that it is needed.
“With Paratici I have the possibility to speak every day… but to speak with our owner [Levy], it was important,” Conte said of the pair's conversation. “Also because I like to be honest and always tell the truth.
“You know that I don’t like to tell a good lie to keep a good relationship or show myself to be very soft or too polite. It was good to tell the truth and it was a good meeting.
“I’d asked the club for time to make my evaluation. They asked me after one month to have a meeting but I said: ‘No. I prefer to have another month to make the right evaluation.’ To show me who deserves to stay here. Now the situation is very clear and I was satisfied to have this conversation with the owner.
“Now I have only one way – it’s on the pitch and the training sessions every day… to improve the level of my players. Then, the club know the situation and, if they want to help me another way, I appreciate it.”
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