‘We improved’: Antonio Conte suggests Tottenham now have a midfielder he thinks is better than Harry Winks

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Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte believes Yves Bissouma is an upgrade in midfield on Harry Winks.

As reported by Football London, Conte was asked about the options he had available to him in the squad. “I think in midfield we improved with (Yves) Bissouma and with (Harry) WInks, and then with (Clement) Lenglet behind.

“We signed players with common sense, to find players with right characteristics, to help us have the quality. To have reliable players, players ready to have a good impact.”

It’s an interesting piece of man management from Conte ahead of Tottenham’s first London derby of the season against Chelsea on Sunday.

It wil be a big boost to Bissouma’s confidence that his manager believes he’s going to improve his new side.

However, Spurs are trying to get rid of Winks this summer but have failed to find a suitable club for the Englishman, with Everton and Leeds no longer interested in signing him.

Conte publicly calling him out is unlikely to do him or his search for a new club many favours, but highlights just how far away from the first team squad he is right now.

Conte believes Bissouma is an upgrade on Winks

Bissouma’s new manager isn’t the only person showering praise on the Mali international.

Jamie Carragher believes the 25-year-old is the only new Tottenham signing who gets into their strongest team.

The former Brighton midfielder only made a brief cameo against Southampton last weekend, and managed to pick up a booking within two minutes of coming on.

If Conte does decide to go with Bissouma on Sunday, he’ll be facing one of his toughest challenges of the season, coming up against N’Golo Kante, who has been one of the world’s best midfielders in recent years.

Tottenham have a tough job on their hands, having failed to win any of their last six league meetings against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Belief will be high in the squad though as they go into the game top of the league, and Eric Dier admitted Conte used to wind the squad up last season about how much worse they were than Sunday’s opponents, which is sure to fire them up.