The Tottenham Hotspur hierarchy will tell Antonio Conte in the coming days that they intend to fully back him this summer if he stays at the club, The Athletic understands. Chairman Daniel Levy is expected to offer Conte a clutch of new signings, including established, experienced players.
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The
Tottenham Hotspur hierarchy will tell Antonio Conte in the coming days that they intend to fully back him this summer if he stays at the club,
The Athletic understands. Chairman Daniel Levy is expected to offer Conte a clutch of new signings, including established, experienced players.
Conte’s contract expires at the end of next season but he has repeatedly refused to commit his future to the club beyond this summer, including when asked on Sunday after
Spurs qualified for the Champions League with a 5-0 win over Norwich City.
Instead, Conte has maintained that he will speak to Levy and managing director of football Fabio Paratici about his future once the season finishes.
With the campaign over, Conte is enjoying a holiday in Italy and will speak to Levy and Paratici in the coming days. The latter is expected to fly to Italy for the discussions.
Conte will be informed of the fact that Spurs are willing to make half a dozen signings this summer to ensure Spurs can be competitive in the
Champions League next season.
The Italian has
repeatedly stated that Tottenham need to substantially invest if they are to be able to compete domestically with the likes of
Manchester City and
Liverpool, and with Europe’s elite clubs. He has also repeatedly pointed to the introduction of the five-substitutes rule in the
Premier League next season as further reason for the need for Spurs to strengthen.
Levy and Paratici will tell Conte that they are in agreement with this position, and that the new signings will include experienced heads who can add know-how and more of a winning mentality to the dressing room, as well as younger players who have more sell-on value.
This would be a departure from last summer when Paratici’s policy was to focus almost exclusively on youngsters, many of whom it was known would take a little while to settle in the Premier League.
Already in January, following Conte’s urgings, Spurs’ focus was on players who could instantly be ready for the first team.
Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski arrived from Juventus, and within weeks had established themselves as automatic starters for the first team.
Levy and Paratici will be able to point to that window as evidence that they will back the head coach, as Spurs’ substantial investment in January was more than any of their Premier League rivals.
Conte has repeatedly asked for his employers to match his ambition, and that is precisely the case they will be making this week.
