Rivals can invest a lot of money, admits Conte

ANTONIO Conte believes Chelsea and Manchester United retain a “big advantage” over Tottenham due to their spending in the final days of the transfer window, but is happy with the progress Spurs have made this summer, writes George Sessions.

Conte signed seven players by July 19 to raise expectations in north London and are unbeaten after five Premier League games.

Fellow top-six rivals Chelsea and United have endured some earlyseason struggles but were active in the market this week.

Wesley Fofana moved to Stamford Bridge in a £70 million deal while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also signed for Thomas Tuchel’s men, and Brazil winger Antony joined United in an initial £82.1m switch on transfer deadline day, with Tottenham quiet.

Speaking ahead of today’s visit of Fulham, Conte said: “Honestly, if you sign a player for £100 million or £80 million on the last day, you have a big advantage because it means you are signing a top player. You can sign also a player for free or on loan and it is a different situation.

“I want to be very clear. I think we did what we could and in the right time because the vision was clear about the money to spend, to get the free players or on loan because then we spent money on two players, Richarlison and (Yves) Bissouma.

“The others were on loan or a free but for sure to have a vision and to anticipate and to give the coach the possibility to work from the start I think it means we work very well with a vision, very clear, and not wait until the last day for a player to come on loan or to sign a player with characteristics that are not good for our team. I repeat, we have to be realistic and understand that there are different clubs. Clubs who can invest a lot of money, other clubs who invest normal money.”