Tottenham ‘holds fruitful talks’ with Inter boss to succeed Mourinho
Tottenham’s search for a new manager has seen them approach Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte, with reports in Italy claiming ‘fruitful talks’ have already taken place between the parties.
The north Londoners parted company with Jose Mourinho two weeks ago and are having to cast their net wide in the hunt for a replacement, with top target Julian Nagelsmann already having been snapped up by Bayern Munich and Brendan Rodgers happy to remain at Leicester.
Spurs hope to announce their new coach before the end of the season, giving the new man plenty of time to assess his squad and install his philosophy during pre-season.
The likes of Brighton boss Graham Potter, German coaching giant Ralf Rangnick and even England manager Gareth Southgate have all been linked with the job.
But now a new name has emerged in the form of Conte, with Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport claiming Spurs have approached the former Chelsea boss and even discussed potential transfer targets.
The 51-year-old is still celebrating Inter’s title win, which was secured over the weekend, but there are doubts over his long-term future in Milan.
Conte’s current deal expires in just one year’s time and he has a rather precarious relationship with Inter’s hierarchy, slamming them at the start of the year, while transfer funds will be very limited with the club struggling financially.
That may have created an opening for Spurs, with CDS saying they held tentative talks with Conte over whether he would be interested in returning to London.
The Italian enjoyed his time at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea and would love to return to the Premier League, while he also gave an assessment of Tottenham’s current squad and what would be required to strengthen it.
Tottenham Hotspur have held 'fruitful and interesting' talks with Antonio Conte over becoming their new manager. The Inter Milan boss believes Spurs would be a 'stimulating challenge' with talks temporarily paused until 'the picture becomes clearer'. [Corriere dello Sport] #THFC pic.twitter.com/2oGctdvEWM
— Talking THFC (@TalkingTHFC) May 5, 2021
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But, he is loyal to Inter and will hold talks with the club’s president Steven Zhang in the coming days to discuss his future as well as the club’s summer spending plans – and those discussions will be decisive in determining what happens next.
For now, Spurs and Conte have agreed to pause talks until his position at Inter is clearer, but the discussions were described as ‘fruitful and interesting’ and the door has been left ajar for the Italian to move to north London.