Sky Sports journalist Dharmesh Sheth has warned Antonio Conte that the Tottenham Hotspur board will not be happy with his 'thinly veiled' transfer messages.

What's the word?

If you read between the lines, the Spurs boss certainly hasn't tried to hide his hopes that the club will make notable investments in the January transfer market this winter.

For instance, he recently confirmed that Oliver Skipp and Pape Matar Sarr won't be going on loan because he has too many games to play and the squad depth isn't deep enough.

And so, while talking on the Transfer Talk Podcast, Sheth wondered if this was another message to the board and warned that Conte has to be careful with his comments.

He said: (43:14): I think it was the Crystal Palace game, when he was mentioning that Matar Sarr or Oliver Skipp were his only two options, we were thinking: 'Oh, is that another thinly veiled message to the board to say, I need more players?'

“Is everything he's saying another thinly veiled message to the board to say, I need more players?

"I mean, it can't continue like that because the board will not be pleased if Antonio Conte’s continually making these kinds of comments that indicate that he's not being backed.”

Bite your tongue

On top of those latest comments, Conte also complained to the press (via football.london) that Tottenham's squad is a 'little gun compared' to other teams who have a 'bazooka'.

In full, he said: "The level now is very, very high and the level improved because Manchester United invested a lot of money and they already had important players and then put other players. Chelsea did the same, Manchester City did the same and Arsenal did the same.

"You always see one following the others. Also if you invest £50m or £60m then the other arrives with a bazooka and you only have a little gun compared to their bazooka."

So it's easy to see why Sheth would be suspicious of the Italian's words then and it could be a concern if the board at Tottenham also interpret them as a bit of a transfer dig.

No doubt Conte wants big money spent this winter but it remains to be seen if there is any truth to the rumours linking them with players such as Jordan Pickford.