The coaching carousel continues spinning- yesterday saw Carlo Ancelotti reach agreeement to replace Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid, today, Antonio Conte is in frame to succeed Jose Mourinho at Tottenham Hotspur.
It is not finalized yet, far from it actually, but the Conte camp is reportedly in talks, some outlets have said “advanced talks” with the north London club. Last month, Conte resigned at Inter Milan having just led the club to the Serie A title.
Tottenham have contacted Antonio Conte as candidate for Spurs job – not done but talks ongoing about potential project, contract and salary. ?? #Spurs #THFC
Conte is one of the options in #THFC list – as PSG are still on the same position about Pochettino. @SkySport @aalciato
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 2, 2021
However, the Italian was simply not interested in having to deal with a rebuilding project, as the club was set to slash payrolls and axe players in another cost cutting initiative. Rather than deal with a stripped down squad, Conte hit the open market, and now he’s the leading candidate for the open Spurs job.
This according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano (see tweet above) and Sky Sports (see tweet below). Also, the Daily Mail “understands Conte has held discussions about taking over at Spurs having already seen a number of potential candidates fall by the wayside in their search for a permanent manager.”
Antonio Conte-#Tottenham
Talks ongoing.
?? #THFC @SkySport— Angelo Mangiante (@angelomangiante) June 2, 2021
Yesterday brought reports that Spurs were interested in bringing Mauricio Pochettino back, but his current employer, Paris Saint-Germain, are reportedly not interested in letting the Argentine out of his current contract.
Pochettino still has two years left on his PSG deal. Jose Mourinho was sacked on the Monday following the European Super League announcement, April 18, with Ryan Mason taking charge of the side, on an interim basis, for the rest of the term.
Conte would be a great get for Spurs, so they should try to lock him down while he’s available.
Conte succeeded Mourinho’s second stint in west London, so it would really be something to see him succeed The Special One again in north London. But that’s really the essence of the manager market in the European big five leagues- retreading rules.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.