Antonio Conte believes that Newcastle United will be ready to compete directly with Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal for a Champions League place next season. The Magpies currently sit 14th in the Premier League but have significantly improved since spending almost £100million in the January transfer window following the sale of the club to Saudi-led owners. When asked about whether Newcastle be direct competition for Tottenham, Man United and Arsenal next season,
Antonio Conte said: “Yeah, for sure. We’re talking about a club that now wants to invest. I know very well these people decided to come into football not only to participate but because they want to win and to be competitive. For sure they want to invest money to bring Newcastle to another level. In England when I speak about a tough league, a league where the difficulty is very high. Every team wants to improve the team, not only Newcastle next season. There are many teams. Aston Villa wants to improve the team. This league is very difficult and for this reason you have to work very hard to build something important and then go season by season to improve the quality of your squad. You have to continue this idea to improve the quality of your squad. This is the only way to be competitive in England. Otherwise important clubs risk to slip in this league and slip in the relegation zone in England. When happens this, it’ll be good to fight for this target. It’s not easy.”