Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy is reportedly ‘privately fuming’ at Antonio Conte after the manager claimed that he has not been backed enough.
Conte has regularly butted heads with the Premier League club’s hierarchy since he took over during the opening half of the 2021/22 campaign.
The Italian worked wonders last term as he helped Spurs pip Arsenal to finish fourth in the Premier League.
But he has come under fire this season as Tottenham supporters are becoming irritated by his negative approach to games.
The negative feeling around Tottenham has increased in recent weeks after they were eliminated from the FA Cup and Champions League in dismal fashion against Sheffield United and AC Milan. They were earlier dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Nottingham Forest.
Football Insider are now reporting that Levy ‘privately fumed’ at Conte. Spurs are said to be ‘unhappy’ with the head coach ‘over his jibes about insufficient backing in the transfer market’.
The report notes that Conte has ‘hinted at struggles with club chief Levy’, with his thoughts on potential solutions for Tottenham via the transfer market being made ‘very clear’.
Tottenham’s hierarchy are ‘fuming with the comments’ given that they have spent over £17om on new players this season.
A separate report from Football Insider adds that Spurs are ‘expected to mutually agree’ Conte’s exit after ‘new talks’.
His contract is up this summer but Tottenham do have the option to extend his deal by a further year until 2023.
But they are ‘not expected’ to trigger this clause and ‘whispers are growing at Tottenham that Conte is “leaving” and his loveless reign is now in its final months’.
The report adds that Spurs are ‘already planning for life without Conte and are drawing up a shortlist of potential replacements’.
Mauricio Pochettino and Luis Enrique are on the club’s ‘radar’, while former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel is ‘another potential candidate’.
“It’s not on me to tell if the atmosphere is good or not good,” Conte said.
“I continue to tell you that here the patience has finished for the fans. The fans want to win a trophy.
“The patience of the fans has finished and we feel this. I feel this, the players feel this. For sure, this has not helped the situation.
“I said the club knows very well the situation. The situation is not simple. It’s not easy. I repeat because the environment wants to win and in this moment we are not close to do it, in my opinion, OK, yes? This is the reality.
“There is no patience. I ask for time and patience but I see that the patience has finished. Maybe the fans are right, but you don’t build the win in one day, in two days.
“It’s difficult for me to realise this situation. It’s difficult because I am putting everything, me and the staff, to help the club, to try to build something, but at the same time I understand that maybe it’s not enough.”
