Antonio Conte's land of the giants: How the Tottenham boss beefed up his squad to muscle in on the title race...
[article]Ledley King has spent the summer watching Tottenham grow. And grow. And grow. And as the new Spurs crushed Southampton in their Premier League opener, they sent a warning about their imposing new identity.
'When I look at the squad, one of the first things that strikes me is the size of them,' says King, a former Spurs captain and England centre back who stands tall at 6ft 2in.
'It's a very physical squad and that excites me. Being a somewhat physical defender back in my day, to see a team full of big, strong athletes is great.
'It definitely makes a difference when you're standing in the tunnel before a game and look across and see a team of strong athletes who can run all day.'
Boss Antonio Conte has signed eight players — with a ninth, Destiny Udogie from Udinese, soon to be confirmed for £15million — since his arrival at Tottenham last November, all of them over 6ft tall.
Among those discarded have been Harry Winks, Giovani Lo Celso and Sergio Reguillon, all around 5ft 10in. Tanguy Ndombele is taller but falls well short of the level of intensity required and there appears to be little future at the club for Bryan Gil, who is 5ft 9in.
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