A very intriguing claim has emerged behind the scenes at Tottenham Hotspur this week…
What’s the word?
According to reliable football.london reporter Alasdair Gold, chairman Daniel Levy has been delivered some home truths by manager Antonio Conte in recent weeks.
“Spurs maybe just took for granted a little bit of what they had in Poch [Mauricio Pochettino], rather than seeing that everything needed to continuously improve around him,” he revealed to his YouTube channel.
“And hopefully, this is what Conte’s kind of ramming down everyone’s throats, and it might not be the worst thing for Tottenham and a bit of a wake-up call.
“Because like I say, I think Daniel Levy, from my understanding from people within the club, has been hearing some things that maybe he’s just not used to hearing – and Conte’s a man you listen to, hopefully.”
Times changing?
This relationship could either be a recipe for disaster, with the Telegraph’s Matt Law recently describing it as a ‘ticking timebomb’, or a huge success, given the Italian’s trophy record.
That still very much remains to be seen as Conte will be hoping for substantial financial backing during the summer and even then, it may take another window or two to fully transform the playing squad into the sort of team he wants.
Some early measures have been taken, which saw the likes of club-record flop Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso depart on loan, both of whom have options to buy at their new clubs, whilst they did sign two new players, albeit both familiar from sporting director Fabio Paratici’s former club Juventus.
It’s thought that Conte asked for four new additions. Well, he only got half that in Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur – the latter being perhaps the only one he ‘truly’ needed.
There are still gaps to plug at right wing-back, left centre-back and up front.
In the past, Conte has shown that he isn’t afraid to walk away from a project if things don’t go his way. He left Inter Milan in the summer after clinching the Serie A title over differences with the board and there were some fears he may do the same at Spurs this winter, according to reports.
But ultimately, Spurs have long needed a figure like this – someone who is going to tell it like it is – so that should provide supporters with plenty of encouragement. Whether Levy decides to listen and act is another story but time will soon tell if Conte is going to be a success in N17.
AND in other news, Imagine him and Cristian Romero: Conte could secure dream Spurs duo with £54m-rated “Rolls-Royce”…