The Antonio Conte era at Tottenham Hotspur is coming to a predictably explosive end with The Athletic reporting that the club’s hierarchy have already drawn up a shortlist in the quest to find his successor.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Pedro Porro comes on as a substitute to replace Ivan Perisic© Provided by Football FanCast
With his contract expiring in late June and talks over an extension all but dead and buried, it seems rather likely that Spurs will have a new manager in the dugout next season.
That man could well be former Barcelona and Spain boss Luis Enrique, who has quickly emerged as a frontrunner to take over from the Italian, particularly because he is currently out of work, unlike some of the alternatives.
Aside from a last-gasp run at the top-four last season, beating arch-rivals Arsenal, Conte’s time in north London won’t be remembered for much, if anything at all.
He’ll leave behind an expensive mess of a squad, with players like £60m club-record signing Richarlison and £180k-per-week veteran Ivan Perisic failing to make the desired impact under the one-time Premier League winner.
How much does Ivan Perisic earn at Spurs?
The latter has been particularly shocking, considering his experience as a Serie A and Bundesliga champion, one that also has a Champions League and World Cup runners-up medal in his trophy cabinet too.
Tottenham’s exit from the UCL this week highlighted just how poor he has been, with 90min writer Sean Walsh claiming that the Croatian was “looking older by the week” after his half-time withdrawal against his old foes, AC Milan.
Whilst Perisic did not cost a penny in terms of a transfer fee during the summer, having been available on a free transfer, he did arrive at Hotspur Way on a pretty hefty contract, with only Harry Kane (£200k-per-week) and Heung-min Son (£190k-per-week) earning more amongst the current squad.
It means that chairman Daniel Levy and sporting director Fabio Paratici have already forked out nearly £6.5m on him alone and considering he remains under contract until the end of next season, they’ll have paid over double that by the time he’s off the books – at the very least.
That may not seem like a lot, especially as it’s around a fifth of what they paid to bring Richarlison to the club, it all adds up and such funds could have been invested elsewhere, such as finding a new no.10 or creative midfielder that is capable of pulling the strings to make Kane’s life easier up top.
Instead, Spurs have got themselves a player that ranks outside of Conte’s top ten performers in the Premier League this season, which to put into more context, sees him rank behind the calamitous exploits of Hugo Lloris and the departed Matt Doherty, via WhoScored.
Meanwhile, since the turn of the year, the 34-year-old has managed just one goal contribution in the top-flight, adding to the Lilywhites’ woes in the final third.
All in all, it’s fair to suggest that Perisic has been stealing a living during his time at Tottenham and if the opportunity arises to move him on in the summer, then whoever takes over from Conte must do exactly that to save himself a lot of money and frustration.
