Spurs must look at selling £40m Conte signing who’s now on borrowed time

It would be fair to say that for much of this season, there has been very little for Tottenham Hotspur fans to celebrate.

Ange Postecoglou’s side have struggled for the majority of the domestic campaign, languishing in the second half of the Premier League table and already being out of both cups.

However, they’ve started to see a number of injured players return and, against Ipswich Town, picked up their third league win on the bounce.

Moreover, one of the surprise stars of this season could now replace one of Antonio Conte’s signings, who has struggled this year.

Conte’s most important Spurs signings

Before we get onto the Conte signing, who could see himself replaced in the coming weeks, it’s worth looking at a few of the Italian’s Spurs signings who are still key members of the first team.

The first player who comes to mind is undoubtedly Dejan Kulusevski, who completed his 18-month loan move to N17 in January 2022.

While he has endured ups and downs in the capital, he is now arguably one of the most talented players in the entire squad and is frankly undroppable.

For example, in just 41 appearances, totalling 3030 minutes, the “world-class” dynamo, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, has scored ten goals and provided ten assists, which comes to a goal involvement every 2.05 games, or every 151.5 minutes, and makes him the most productive player in the squad.

During his time in the hot seat, the former Chelsea manager welcomed Rodrigo Bentancur, who joined alongside the Swede, and Yves Bissouma, who joined the club from Brighton & Hove Albion for around £25m in June 2022.

Now, while neither one has been as effective as Kulusevski, they’ve still played prominent roles within the first team this season, with the Uruguayan making 28 appearances thus far and the Malian 32.

Finally, a player who is arguably just as important to the starting lineup but has barely played this season thanks to injury is Cristian Romero, as even though he completed his loan move to the club under Nuno Espírito Santo, it was under Conte’s management that he made his move permanent.

However, there are still two more signings made by the serial winner who are still in the first team picture, although one looks like he could be set to replace the other.

The Conte signings in competition at Spurs

In terms of surprise packages for Spurs this season, the first name that probably should come to mind is Djed Spence, who has fought his way back from being left out of the Europa League squad to being one of the most critical players in the team.

In fact, the Englishman, signed under Conte’s tenure for around £20m in July 2022, has been so impressive this term in attack and defence that he looks ready to replace another of the Italian’s signings at right-back: Pedro Porro.

In fact, with Destiny Udogie back at left-back on the weekend, that is what happened, as the former Middlesbrough player started off the right of the back four, while the £40m former Sporting CP star started on the bench.

Now, the Spanish full-back is most certainly a brilliant outlet going forward, as shown by his nine-goal involvements this season, but he has been something of a liability in defence at times, with his performance against Ipswich in the reverse fixture earlier this season earning him particular ire from journalist Mitch Fretton, who described him and Radu Dragusin as “absolute horror shows” at the back.

There have also been a few occasions this season in which he has been shown up by opposition attackers, such as in the FA Cup game against Aston Villa and by Leandro Trossard away to Arsenal.

Moreover, when we compare the 25-year-old’s underlying defensive numbers to the Englishman’s, it becomes increasingly apparent who the more reliable defender is.

For example, the “unbelievable” 24-year-old ace, as dubbed by the iconic Ian Wright, comes out on top for tackles and tackles won, all blocks, shots blocked, passes blocked, aerial duels won and more, all per 90.

Ultimately, it’s hard not to look at Spence as the better full-back at the moment, as while he might be slightly less effective going forward, he can do his primary job to a much higher standard.

So, with stories touting Porro with an exit in the past, it might be time for Daniel Levy to stick with the Englishman and cash in on the Spaniard.