Antonio Conte sends another transfer warning to Tottenham

Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte has again warned that he needs time to build a team capable of winning major honours.

Conte joined Spurs midway through the 2021/22 season and guided them to an unlikely top four finish in the Premier League, beating rivals Arsenal to the final Champions League spot.

But Tottenham have failed to kick on this term, currently sitting fourth in the standings and ten points behind the table-topping Gunners.

Speaking after Spurs' 2-2 draw at Brentford on Boxing Day, Conte insisted he is trying his best to change the mentality and ways of the club in order to become true winners.

"A winning team, you can't build in one year. Two years; you have to change mentality, you have to change also many situations, many aspects to become a winner," he said.

"For sure I have a group of players that show me great ability. I think last season we made a big achievement to finish in the top four.

"But I have just told them now that in this top four now, there isn't Chelsea, Liverpool and [Manchester] United. And for sure for the rest of the season, we are talking about big, big clubs with great possibility to go into the transfer market to spend money.

"For this reason we have to try to pay attention to the environment, but I can tell that I need to have patience, because you cannot just win, especially - I repeat - if you are not winning for many years."

Later speaking to Sky Sport Italia, Conte referenced last January's impact signings of Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur as the blueprint that Tottenham want to follow.

"We will try to do something, but we have to follow the club’s vision," Conte added.

"Tottenham want to invest on young players, as we did with Kulusevski and Bentancur. Talents but with accessible salaries. This is what we’ll try to do."

Conte remains in contract talks with Spurs with his current deal set to expire at the end of the season. The club can trigger a one-year extension at any time.