The Fiver | Antonio Conte’s lid hovering in mid-air on a constant jet of steam

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It sounds counter-intuitive on the face of it, but failing to sign all of your targets during the transfer window need not be a bad thing. Take Manchester City, for example, who are currently shoo-ins for the Premier League having already scored 55 goals, yet if they’d got what they wanted last summer, would now be lumbered up front with a slow, sour-faced, superannuated crosstown legend getting in the way of all the kids, and, even worse, five-goal spent force Harry Kane. Conversely, successfully getting your own way can end up backfiring. Yes, it’s Spurs and Harry Kane again, isn’t it.

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