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Exclusive: Tottenham Hotspur to offer Antonio Conte six summer signings in plea for Italian to stay
Conte kept Spurs sweating on his future after the win over Norwich and reiterated the need for the squad to be significantly strengthened
Tottenham’s list of potential targets is understood to include Alessandro Bastoni
Didn’t the new owner promise £200m today.
Exclusive: Tottenham Hotspur to offer Antonio Conte six summer signings in plea for Italian to stay
Conte kept Spurs sweating on his future after the win over Norwich and reiterated the need for the squad to be significantly strengthened
ByMatt Law ; Mike McGrath and James Ducker23 May 2022 • 5:34pm
Antonio Conte is currently taking a break in his home country to clear his mind CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES
Fabio Paratici will fly to Italy to hold talks with Antonio Conte and is ready to promise Tottenham Hotspur’s head coach that the club will try to make at least six new signings in a bid to convince him to stay.
Conte is taking a break in his home country to clear his mind and consider his future after guiding Spurs to fourth place and Champions League qualification.
The 52-year-old kept Tottenham sweating on his future after the victory over Norwich that clinched fourth place and reiterated the need for the squad to be significantly strengthened this summer.
Paratici and chairman Daniel Levy are in the dark over Conte’s plans, but Tottenham’s managing director of football will fly to Italy to speak with his compatriot over the course of the next week after allowing him time and space to unwind.
Conte will spend some of his time in Italy speaking to his family about whether or not he should stay on at Tottenham. Since replacing Nuno Espirito Santo in November, he has lived in a central London hotel while his wife Elisabetta and daughter Vittoria have remained in Italy.
With only a year remaining on his Tottenham contract, it is unlikely Elisabetta and Vittoria would move to London next season which means Conte and his family must decide whether or not he can spend another nine months living away from them.
Other than his personal considerations, Conte will also want assurances that Spurs are ready to try to meet his ambitions and build a squad capable of competing in four competitions next season.
Conte wants six to eight new players and Paratici is ready to go some way to meeting his demand by telling him that Tottenham will target two new wing-backs, a left-sided centre-back, a midfielder and a forward who can also play out wide. Spurs will sign a new back-up goalkeeper, with Fraser Forster set to undergo a medical before completing a free transfer from Southampton.
Fabio Paratici is flying to Italy to hold talks with Antonio Conte CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES
But Conte will also want guarantees over the quality of players Tottenham will target and that the club will continue to follow his guidance, rather than making their own signings.
Tottenham’s list of potential targets is understood to include Alessandro Bastoni, Gleison Bremer, Djed Spence, who has spent the season on loan at Nottingham Forest from Middlesbrough, Christian Eriksen, James Ward-Prowse, Kalvin Phillips and Gabriel Jesus, who is also being chased by Arsenal.
Jesus’ agent Marcelo Pettinati has confirmed holding talks with Arsenal already, revealing the Brazilian is interested in the “project” under Mikel Arteta.
Pettinati also says there are six more clubs interested in the Brazil international, who will decide his future this summer. It is understood that he is aware of Spurs’ interest in a deal.
Following Manchester City’s signing of Erling Haaland, Jesus has been considering his future as he is not an automatic starter for the Premier League champions.
Given Tottenham already have Kane, Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski, it is unclear whether or not they could convince Jesus he would start significantly more games than he has this season.
Asked about his future by Brazilian media, Jesus said: “It’s still uncertain. I have a contract with Manchester City and I have already expressed my desire to the City people and to my agent. I have in my head very clear what I want. On vacation, I decide my future.”
Conte interested in Sterling, but could Spurs afford his wages?
Raheem Sterling is a player Conte would no doubt be interested in if he decided to leave City, although it is highly questionable whether or not Tottenham could afford his transfer fee and wages, while the 27-year-old would most likely set his sights higher than north London.
Sterling will carefully weigh his options on holiday next month in the wake of England’s Nations Cup games before returning for talks with City about his future.
The former Liverpool star is due to enter the final 12 months of his existing contract with the Premier League champions this summer.
Talks over his future were put on hold until the end of the season and Sterling is due to depart after England’s game against Hungary on June 14 for a two-week holiday, during which time he is expected to think long and hard about what he wants to do next.
City agreed to give him the time and space he needed and both player and club are expected to meet for talks once he is back from holiday.
The two most likely options at this stage would appear to be either Sterling signing a contract extension or him leaving the club this summer, given that City are unlikely to risk losing such a high-profile and valuable player for nothing at the end of next season.
Yeah, it’s not like he’d be a starter for his old manager…
But realistically, if the choice is Man City, Chelsea or Spurs, he'll probably choose one of them.
Yup. Less certain than in previous times but logically, you think it'd be more likely he'd go there
Previously I would have agreed with you 100% however I wouldn’t be so sure this summer.
