THE gulf between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur wasn’t just evident in Sunday’s 2-0 scoreline, but in the quality of the players the two London rivals fielded. While Thomas Tuchel had the likes of N’Golo Kante, Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic as options on the bench, Antonio Conte started Matt Doherty and Ryan Sessegnon in his midfield.

Of course, Conte had other options. While Spurs struggled to control possession at Stamford Bridge, Dele Alli, Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele watched the match from home with all three midfielders currently ostracised from the first team. This is a confusing situation given Tottenham’s clear weakness in the centre of the pitch.

Conte’s continued exile of Alli, Lo Celso and Ndombele, all highly-rated at one stage or another of their respective careers, begs the question – what exactly does the Italian coach want from his Tottenham midfield? What is it he requires from his central operators that these three players can’t give him?

At Inter, Conte’s midfield unit was a fine-tuned machine. They provided structure in and out of possession. While Inter played with a strong defensive basis, they were also quick to construct an attack and much of this depended on the quick decision-making of Nicolo Barella, Marcelo Brozovic and Roberto Gagliardini. Without them, the Nerazzurri would have been a very different outfit.

Barella and Gagliardini in particular are two-way midfielders in that they offer plenty on both sides of the ball. This is possibly where Dele, Lo Celso and Ndombele don’t meet Conte’s criteria and could explain why the new Tottenham manager reportedly wants Franck Kessie to make the move to North London as his new midfield lynchpin.

Kessie is expected to leave AC Milan as a free agent at the end of the season. Nonetheless, his addition would be a genuine coup for Spurs with the Ivory Coast international one of the most accomplished all-action central midfielders around. There aren’t many elite level teams Kessie wouldn’t improve.

Georginio Wijnaldum is another midfielder who would tick a lot of boxes for Conte with the former Liverpool man reportedly on Tottenham’s radar. Wijnaldum has struggled to force his way into the Paris Saint-Germain first team this season and could be landed by Spurs in a loan deal that sends Ndombele in the opposite direction.

Wijnaldum’s adaptability surely appeals to Conte. The Dutchman was primarily used as a deep-lying anchor during his time at Liverpool, but operated in a more advanced role for Netherlands at Euro 2020. Much like Kessie, Wijnaldum is a two-way midfielder who would give Tottenham another dimension through the centre of the pitch.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Harry Winks give Spurs structure, but as the insipid performance against Chelsea demonstrated how they don’t have the forward-thinking instincts to give their team a platform in the opposition half. Almost every Tottenham attack came through a counter attack. They rarely constructed a sustained passing move beyond the halfway line.

In Conte’s own words, it might take “years” for the Italian to mould Tottenham Hotspur in his own image. Signs of tentative progress have been evident since Conte’s appointment in November with Spurs back in the race to finish in the Premier League’s top four, but there is a limit to what he can achieve with the group of players he inherited.

At Conte’s last two clubs, he found himself frustrated by what he perceived to be a lack of backing in the transfer market. However, Conte still achieved success at Chelsea and Inter despite this. Tottenham’s squad might not allow him to go so far, though, and how Conte reshapes their midfield will be a barometer for his tenure in North London as a whole.

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