Tottenham Hotspur are expected to agree Antonio Conte’s departure from the club this week.
Conte has flown back to Italy after the head coach criticised the Tottenham players following the 3-3 draw with Southampton in which Spurs threw away a 3-1 lead.
There was still no confirmation of his exit on Monday as Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy deliberated over his next move, but the situation is rated as pretty much irretrievable by a variety of sources involved.
Levy is understood to have been seeking the opinion of some of his closest confidants over the current situation and did not immediately react to Conte’s comments on Sunday.
Sources believe the most likely scenario will be that Conte’s departure will be agreed this week, with Ryan Mason most likely be put in temporary charge until the end of the season in time for Tottenham’s next game against Everton on April 3.
The other option for Levy is to use the international break to try to immediately hire an out-of-work manager such as Luis Enrqiue, Thomas Tuchel or Mauricio Pochettino but convincing any of those three men to take over before the summer could be difficult.
Conte spoke with Levy after hitting out at the mentality of the players and reiterated the fact his criticism was for the squad and not aimed at the Spurs chairman or the club. But Conte will not back down from his comments on the squad and insiders believe that makes it almost impossible for him to return to the Tottenham job for the remainder of the season.—AFP
