Fears are growing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as to whether Antonio Conte could walk away from the club if he is not well backed.
The Italian is one of Spurs’ most important impressive appointments in recent years and seen as the man who could guide the club back into the hunt for silverware
It has been a long and frustrating week so far for the Tottenham fans having seen their club missed out on both Adama Traore and Luiz Diaz.
FC Porto have received Liverpool official bid for Luís Diaz. €40m guaranteed fee plus €25m bonuses. Deal entering in final stages between clubs. 🔴🇨🇴 #LFC
Diaz is currently in South America with Colombia – Liverpool want to be plan and be prepared for potential medical there.
– Romano Fabrizio
Daniel Levy and #ENICOut were trending on Twitter after the club missed out on Wolves star Adama Traore who has been a long-standing target but could now be on his way to Barcelona instead and also Luiz Diaz who’s on his way to fellow rival Liverpool.
Spurs chairman Levy is under mounting pressure from fans who are demanding silverware and, after landing an elite manager, Conte is expecting the club to match his ambition.
Spurs boss Conte who signed only a 20-month contract when he succeeded Nuno Espírito Santo in November,has made it clear he wants reinforcements this month – and they have yet to land a big signing which has led to an underlying fear among fans that the combative Italian could quit unless he gets new players.
Tottenham transfer news : Antonio Conte holds transfer meeting
Speaking to the interview after the Carabao Cup exit in the hands of Chelsea. Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte said:
It was a difficult game, difficult from the start, Chelsea showed to be much better than us.
( Getty Images)
“The first half, we struggled a lot from the start but we know that we are talking about one of the best teams in Europe, in the world, last season they won the Champions League.
“If you compare the two teams there is not a comparison. We are talking about a team ready to win – today we have seen the difference between the two teams.
But, I know the situation, it is very clear in this moment there is an important gap. We have to try to fight to stay in the league in a good position, but if we think we are close, I think we are not in the right way.”
However, Spurs have failed so far to bring any addition to the squad and unable to get anyone out which has lead to unrest among the Tottenham’s fans including former Tottenham defender Vega
Ex-Swiss international Vega said: “I can see the frustration in the fans and I’m part of that because we’ve got a potentially good manager, some good players in the squad but you need to add onto that to make that extra play to be in the top four
The fans can see that, anyone can see that, it’s obvious. But this has been building for three or four years. Now they are in a situation where they have to get rid of players, move them out, to get players in.
Spurs’s recruitment has been underwhelming since 2016-17 – the season when Conte first came to England to manage Chelsea – and, of their purchases who have cost more than £10m, perhaps only Lucas Moura and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg have been successes, although hopes remain high for Cristian Romero.
The Spurs chairman Levy is renowned for keeping the chequebook firmly shut until he deems a move is truly worth doing and has never been the type to splash the club’s cash in reckless fashion, however It is hard to believe Conte would have taken the Spurs job without some sort of guarantees.
It feels unlikely that when Conte was persuaded to take the role, he was led to expect a squad overhaul in January. He sidestepped a question on this, saying that because he had not yet lived through a transfer window with Spurs, he could not comment on what they had to spend.
Conte is certainly one to walk if he feels he is not being supported.
But, there is no suggestion that Conte would be ready to walk out in February if he did not get what he wanted
“I did not sign for Tottenham because the chairman or the general director told me something about the transfer market or about the money the club is going to spend, honestly,” Conte said.
“I accepted because I felt that Tottenham could be a fantastic situation for me to work, to try to bring my idea of football, to try to create something important for this club.
“For sure they said to me that ‘we want to improve and we would like to work with you’. I said OK, yes, and now we have to try to improve and to bring the team to an important level.
However, the summer window could be a different story as we have seen over and over in the past.
With vast resources behind him and a club fully committed to his methods, he has proven time and time again that he is a serial winner – just ask the Chelsea faithful.