Antonio Conte believes that Manchester United have not reaped the rewards of their transfers over the past few years.
Tottenham travel to Old Trafford on Wednesday evening as they look to keep pace with Arsenal and Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table. Interestingly, the match between Arsenal and Manchester City was postponed. Because of this, Spurs have a chance to go ahead of Manchester City and up to second with a win at Old Trafford.
Antonio Conte hailed Manchester United’s quality, and expressed a belief that Erik ten Hag will turn the fortunes of the club especially since he has a solid financial backing.
“This period is not a lucky period for United, if you compare to 10 years ago, but only two years ago, don’t forget, United fought for the Premier League and finished second behind City,” Antonio Conte said in his pre-match press conference.
“We are talking about a team that, if they don’t make big mistakes, they always stay in the top four, play [in the] Champions League and fight for the title and trophies. Manchester United always have the power. Even in the last 10 years, every season, they had the power to go into the transfer market and to invest big, big money.
“They did this two years ago, when they finished second. They went into the transfer market to sign Cristiano Ronaldo, [Jadon] Sancho and [Raphael] Varane from Real Madrid. This power never finished at Old Trafford.
“Maybe the results were not at the same level as the investment. But United for the present and the future will always be a monster that you have to go to fight. They have big, big potential from an economic aspect.”
Manchester United spent £120 million in the 2021 summer transfer window as they signed Ronaldo, Sancho and Varane. They followed it up in the 2022 summer transfer with £200 million splashed on Antony, Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia in hopes of returning to the UEFA Champions League next season.
Conte’s comments might be seen an surprising considering Spurs’ position. The London club splashed out £200m during the 2022 summer transfer window. They signed Richarlison, Yves Bissouma, Djed Spence, Ivan Perisic and Destiny Udogie and made Cristian Romero’s transfer permanent. Furthermore, Tottenham’s last major trophy was the 2008 League Cup.
