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Conte: Spence not my signing
Tottenham boss Antonio Conte admitted it was not his decision to sign £20million man Djed Spence.
The 21-year-old became Spurs’ sixth signing of the summer after his move from Middlesbrough was finally confirmed.
He will compete for the starting berth with Matt Doherty and Emerson Royal in the right wing-back position next term.
But while the Italian boss gave it the green light, he has revealed it was a move the club was pushing for rather than himself.
Conte said: “Spence is an investment of the club. The club wanted to do it.
“I said ‘OK, this player is young but he showed he can become a good, important player for us’. The club decided to buy him.”
Arteta offers fringe stars a lifeline
Mikel Arteta says Arsenal’s pre-season tour of America is a clean slate for players facing an uncertain future at the club.
The Gunners have taken a 33-man squad Stateside for their games against Orlando and Chelsea in Florida, many of whom could still depart this summer.
The likes of Hector Bellerin, Pablo Mari, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Lucas Torreira all spent last season out on loan and are seemingly out of the first-team picture for the 2022-23 campaign.
Meanwhile, the Londoners have boosted their ranks with four new signings, while Oleksandr Zinchenko is also set to join from Manchester City in the coming days.
Yet squad depth is still an area Arteta wants to address, leading him to offer a lifeline to a number of fringe players.
The Spaniard said: “Every player that is contracted by the club is treated in the same way, and everybody said on day one that this is a clean sheet to start to build what they want to build at this football club.
“Then we have to make decisions in relation to their needs and the levels that they show.”
Guardiola: Absentees a big problem
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says Phil Foden, John Stones and Ilkay Gundogan’s absence from their pre-season tour of the USA presents “incredible problems” for his side.
The Citizens are in Houston to face Club America this evening before travelling to Green Bay for a friendly with Bayern Munich on Saturday.
The trio are not with the squad after failing to meet entry requirements to the US and have instead been training with the club’s Under-23s in Croatia.
Guardiola said: “The second season here [2017/18], when we finished with 100 points, that was the only pre-season when we were all together from day one.
“Since then it’s always four players arrive, then after a few weeks some other ones and we start the season with incredible problems. That’s why we drop every season at the beginning many, many points.
“This season I thought, ‘maybe we will be all together’, but due to personal situations with these three players, and other situations with some other ones, we cannot be together.
“We are delayed but it is what it is. We are going to move forward and today you have to adapt.
“Before, every pre-season was three, four, five weeks all together. Now it’s over, with the World Cup, European Championship — many competitions.
“The players need rest after a tough, tough season. But they are fit, they are training with the U-23s in Croatia, and when they come back they will be fine.”
