It was a busy Deadline Day for Spurs on Monday, with Tanguy Ndombele, Bryan Gil and Giovani Lo Celso all leaving on loan, while Dele Alli made a £40m move to Everton.

But Conte found the recently closed winter window an odd experience, and is hoping Tottenham will "pay more attention" to avoid a similar situation in the future.

In a press conference ahead of the weekend's FA Cup game against Brighton, the Tottenham boss said: "The players that went on loan, they needed to play more games. I think it was right for both sides, for the club and also for the players because these players needed to play more games.

"It was strange to send in January three players to go on loan and one player to sell. It means that maybe in the past, you have to see what you did and maybe to understand that there were some mistakes in the past.

"Usually, you buy players to reinforce the team, but in the last few years, if you send away players on loan who you bought in the last two or three years, it means maybe there were something wrong you did in the past.

"Honestly, before I arrived at Tottenham, to read the list of the players of the squad, you considered the players you have in the squad as important players. Ndombele played a lot and it was the same for Lo Celso and Gil.

"Only when you stay in the situation, you understand very well which is the best solution for the club, the players in this moment. To lose four players in January, it is not normal. We shared the decision with the club and the players, but it means that something wrong happened in the past.

"Usually you find a player to reinforce your team and not to lose the player after one or two years. For this reason, we have to play more attention in the future in the market about the choice of the players."

'Bentancur, Kulusevski fit Tottenham philosophy'

There were Tottenham incomings too – Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski both arriving from Conte's former side, Juventus. Bentancur has joined permanently, while Kulusevski signed an 18-month loan deal.