- Whether you call it soccer or football, there’s always drama when kicking a ball around…
Despite that 3-1 defeat in the North London Derby to local rivals Arsenal, it’s hard to really fault Tottenham Hotspur’s start to the 2022-23 Premier League season. That loss to the in-form Gunners was their first of the campaign and they are still sitting rather comfortably in the Champions League spots, occupying third ahead of Chelsea and Manchester United, while just four points behind the league leaders Arsenal.
Yet, the clear progression Spurs have made under Antonio Conte since he was finally convinced to take the job by Daniel Levy last November could be about to be unraveled by the fact his contract ends in the summer — albeit with an option to extend for a further year — while there are reports that his former club Juventus could come calling after their terrible start to the Serie A campaign.
The Old Lady have struggled to really get going this season, sitting eighth in the table and already trailing league leaders Napoli by 10 points, and there are reports that Massimiliano Allegri could be sacked if things don’t start to improve — potentially opening the door to a homecoming for Conte, who played for Juventus for 13 years before winning three successive Serie A titles as manager during a three-year stint in Turin between 2011 and 2014.
Juventus obviously has a place close to Levy’s heart, and it might be hard for him to say no to chairman Andrea Agnelli, should he come calling, despite their rifts while he was at Inter Milan. But Conte, who has helped make Spurs more favorable in the football bets, has poured cold water on a possible switch to the Juventus Stadium at this stage of his career — branding the talk ‘disrespectful’.
“We have just started the season, many times I spoke about this topic, I always say to you I’m happy and enjoying my time with Tottenham,” Conte said.
“We have the whole season to find a best solution for the club and for me. For sure I’m enjoying the time to work for Tottenham and with these players, I have a great relationship with the owner and Paratici, I don’t see problems now or for the future. Both parties agreed to sign this contract and I don’t see problems in this moment.
“This (talk) is disrespectful for other coaches and also for me.”
Indeed, it took some serious convincing from Levy to lure Conte to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as he’s a manager who tends to like quick wins and he initially wasn’t sold by the magnitude of the job and the project. But Spurs have come on leaps and bounds in the last 12 months and while Conte concedes there is still a lot of work to be done before they can truly challenge, he seems to be enjoying his time in north London.
It’s impossible to predict what will happen with Conte’s contract situation come the end of the season. However, he has a fantastic relationship with Levy and director of football Fabio Paratici, who is a fellow Italian, while he has instilled a winning mentality at Spurs that makes them more favorable in the football predictions. Therefore, it would come as a major shock if he were to walk out on the club at this stage.
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