Antonio Conte has admitted that he is “seeing a lot of desire” from new Tottenham signing Djed Spence. Joining from Middlesbrough after excelling on loan at Nottingham Forest last campaign, the right wing-back has only made the matchday squad in the league once since his summer switch.
Antonio Conte said: “I was very clear at the start when I said this signing is a really good prospect, he’s a young player. This signing, the club wanted to invest in this player,” explained the Italian ahead of the Nottingham Forest encounter. The difference is clear. To play in the Championship with Nottingham Forest and then with Tottenham, he needs time to adapt himself in many aspects, in the physical aspect and the tactical aspect because now he is working with another coach. I’m seeing a lot of desire, a lot of will, from this player to try to reduce this gap and to be ready. With a young player, it’s important to have patience, to work and then to improve. I’m sure Djed for the future will be an important player for Tottenham.”
One player who has been extremely important for the Lilywhites in recent years is Son Heung-min. The attacker has started in all three Premier League games this term but he has yet to find the back of the net. Scoring for fun last campaign as he won the Premier League Golden Boot, one goal may be all the player needs to go on another impressive scoring streak. With Son’s form a big talking point at present, Conte has admitted that he is not worried one bit about the South Korean’s dry run in front of goal.
Antonio Conte said: “No. I’m seeing the same player that I knew in November when I arrived in Tottenham. A good guy who has a great commitment and a great attitude. But if we have seven points and you are complaining about Sonny and when he is good, I think we can do good things. We have to try to understand and decide you want to see the situation, you understand? For me, Sonny is playing a good game. He’s not scoring, but it can happen. It happened last season with Harry Kane. Now Harry has scored twice and we are happy. It’s the same for Sonny and for the other strikers. The most important thing is the team and that the team is going to win. I understand that personal achievements are important but the team, the club is more important than me, than everybody. Sonny is enjoying his football every day. To think he is enjoying it more or less just because of one goal, it is ridiculous. We are trying to create a problem when the problem is not there. I am not worried, and if anybody is going to be worried, it is going to be the coach. It’s you lot who are worried.”
So is the player himself worried?
Antonio Conte added: “He is working well and in my opinion he is playing a good game. He has to continue to play that way. When he finds the goal, he is going to score and the situation will return to normal for everybody. But I am really surprised to be speaking about Sonny in a press conference.”
Harry Winks is one player who has been linked with a move away from Tottenham all summer and football.london understands the 26-year-old is moving closer to joining Italian side Sampdoria on loan, ahead of Thursday’s transfer deadline. Falling out of favour at Tottenham, the midfielder is not part of Antonio Conte’s plans going forward and has played no part for the team since returning for pre-season training in the summer.
Antonio Conte said: “Listen, I love Tottenham, I’ve always made that clear, but I want to play football. And I want to play regular football. The only way to play your best football, get momentum is when you’re playing regularly. Listen, I’m giving my all for the club, of course I am. They stuck by me, I stuck by them – and I want to play for Tottenham. But it is difficult when you get matches here and there, confidence is low and you don’t get that run of games. It is difficult.”
Things haven’t got any easier for the midfielder and Conte now has a strong quartet of Pierre Emile Hojbjerg, Rodrigo Bentancur, Oliver Skipp and Yves Bissouma to choose from. The Italian was asked on the latest on those players who have been tipped to leave the club, when he spoke to the media on Friday.
Antonio Conte said: “For sure if there are players that go out, then we need players to come in. The club know very well the importance for me to have a squad with a couple of players in every role. For sure we want to make happy every single player but at the same time we have to make the right evaluation for our club, for our team so we’ll see what happens. There are players that are in the plan and other players we want to try to give them the possibility to play more regularly and to take more time to play. I repeat, we are trying to find the best solution for both the club and the team, but also for the players.”
Winks’ next destination now looks to have been decided and Sampdoria currently sit 16th in the Italian top division, after drawing and losing their first two games. In the last few days, there have been claims that the midfielder wanted to take some time to think about his next destination, but his decision seems to have now been made.
