Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte will continue to look to sign some of his former players during the upcoming January transfer window, according to Tam McManus.
The Lowdown: Conte's track record
Since becoming Spurs' manager last November, the Italian has signed players from his former clubs such as Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur from Juventus and Ivan Perisic from Inter Milan.
The north London outfit have previously been linked with other players from those two clubs such as Juventus' Weston McKennie and Inter's defensive trio of Stefan de Vrij, Milan Skriniar and Alessandro Bastoni.
Looking ahead to the upcoming January transfer window, it seems as though Conte has been backed to continue his track record of bringing in players who he has experience of managing.
The Latest: Conte's transfer plan
Speaking to Football Insider, McManus was discussing potential incomings at Spurs in January.
He said: "Conte hasn’t been at Spurs that long, really. It’s not his squad yet. It’s a bit unfamiliar. Maybe some players he has worked with before coming in could help him and the club.
"We have seen it with Perisic, he has come in and been a revelation. He’s got seven assists already I think. He’s doing some of the heavy lifting going forward and at the back.
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"He is a slightly older player who a lot of Premier League teams would have looked at and maybe thought he was past it. Clearly, Conte knows better than that. He knows these guys.
"So if either of the guys from Inter come in then you would have to back them to improve the side. And let’s face it, that defence needs improving."
The Verdict: Faith in Conte
Given how prominent the likes of Bentancur (14) and Perisic (15) have been in Conte's side this season in terms of the number of Premier League appearances they've made, it's clear that when the Italian signs one of his former players, he knows that they are good enough to improve his current team.
Bearing in mind how Spurs (21) have conceded more goals this season than 10 other teams in the top flight, it's easy to see why they've been linked with almost every defender that Inter have in their squad, and why McManus thinks this should be an area that they look to strengthen in January.
With January in mind, we think the Spurs board should put faith in Conte's knowledge when it comes to his former players and do all that they can to bring in any new figure that he wants in the squad.