How long until he quits? Furious Conte on brink of Spurs meltdown
Robin Bairner
- 17 Feb 2022 08:09 CST
- 3 min read
Antonio Conte’s stay at Tottenham may prove to be as brief as feared when he first arrived at the club to take command from Nuno Espirito Santo in October.
Conte had first been offered the job at Spurs last summer but ended up turning it down over fears that the club were not ambitious enough for him in the transfer market.
Since taking command, these worries have been realised – and Conte has not been shy about putting his point across.
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In an interview with Sky Sport Italia, he slammed the club’s transfer policy for the January window.
“What happened in January was not easy. We lost four players. Four important players for Tottenham, and we brought in only two. So, even just in terms of numbers, rather than reinforce the squad, we on paper weakened it,” he complained.
“There are multiple reasons why certain choices were made. I would never expect to see four important players leave. This show how difficult it is.
“January is always very difficult. Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski are ideal prospects for Tottenham because Tottenham are seeking young players they can develop and grow, not players who are ready. That is the issue.”
Conte admitted that his situation is “very different in terms of perspective and ambition”, and though he spoke in the same interview about the need for patience, just how much of that attribute he will be willing to give Daniel Levy and the Tottenham board is questionable.
Conte's fiery history
Certainly, Conte has never previously hung about when he has felt the situation from above swing against him.
At Juventus, the pre-season of 2014 was just a day old when he departed over diverging views with the board over the club’s future.
Less than a year ago at Inter, meanwhile, he was left frustrated with the club’s transfer policy, which ultimately saw key players Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi depart without similar big-money signings arriving.
At Tottenham, meanwhile, he has arguably greater cause to leave than in either of these previous experiences.
January was a nightmare month for the manager, who has for a centre-back, a right wing-back, a central midfielder and a forward. Spurs missed out on his three main targets, Franck Kessie, Adama Traore and Luis Diaz, the latter two of whom moved to other clubs.
Meanwhile, the two players they did spend £70 million on arrived as squad players from the worst Juventus team in a decade.
Having taken the job on the promise of big investment to make Tottenham competitive, Conte has been let down by those around him, and history suggests that he is unlikely to suffer this humiliation for long.
