Antonio Conte has agreed to take over as Tottenham’s manager on a contract to June 2023 and was on Monday night waiting to sign the deal subject to final details. He is poised to replace Nuno Espírito Santo, who was sacked after only four months and 17 matches in charge.
Negotiations between Conte and Tottenham broke down in the summer but he did not take another job and the club’s managing director of football, Fabio Paratici, made the former Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan manager his number one target. By Monday afternoon paperwork was being prepared by Spurs to confirm the appointment and Conte travelled to London with his representatives.
Conte is generally averse to taking a job midway through a season but let it be known he would make an exception for Manchester United if Ole Gunnar Solskjær were sacked and Spurs convinced him to take the same view of their offer. Conte has asked for guarantees regarding the next transfer windows to rebuild a squad that has lost five times in the Premier League this season.
Tottenham’s talks with Conte collapsed in June after the club thought they were close to a deal. At that point Paratici, who worked with the manager for three successful seasons at Juventus from 2011, had not been hired and his presence has been crucial. Initial contact was made on Saturday night and Conte has been assured he will get more say over transfers and the chance to mould the team in his image.
Conte, who has won top-flight league titles with Juve, Chelsea and Inter, left Inter in May over their plan to sell players. His spell at Juventus is the only time he has managed a team for more than two years and his Spurs contract is due to run for less than that.
Nuno has gone after a 3-0 home defeat by Manchester United on Saturday, during and after which he was barracked by supporters. Spurs turned to Nuno having failed to land a number of preferred candidates including Conte, Paulo Fonseca and Gennaro Gattuso. The former Wolves manager began with three straight Premier League wins, the first against Manchester City, and was named August’s manager of the month.
But comprehensive defeats by clubs such as Chelsea, Arsenal and United, coupled with an uninspiring style of play, have prompted his dismissal. Spurs have gone two hours and 16 minutes without a Premier League shot on target.
The chairman, Daniel Levy, also a target for fans’ anger on Saturday, and Paratici held talks after the United game before concluding a change was imperative. Tottenham are eighth in the Premier League and third in their Europa Conference League group, although they have reached the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.
Paratici said: “I know how much Nuno and his coaching staff wanted to succeed and I regret that we have had to take this decision. Nuno is a true gentleman and will always be welcome here. We should like to thank him and his coaching staff and wish them well for the future.”
The team have scored only nine goals in 10 Premier League games and Harry Kane, who had hoped to leave for City in the summer, has looked well below his best. Nuno succeeded José Mourinho after Ryan Mason had been placed in interim charge.
Spurs confirmed Nuno’s coaches Ian Cathro, Rui Barbosa and Antonio Dias had also departed. Nuno followed Christian Gross in losing five of his first 10 Premier League games in charge of the club. – Guardian
