Alasdair Gold has revealed that some people close to Antonio Conte have informed him there is no truth to reports linking Antonio Conte with the Paris Saint-Germain job – although such a response is always to be expected.
Le Parisien have reported recently that PSG are set to sack Mauricio Pochettino and Conte is one of the names on their shortlist to potentially replace the Argentine.
The publication further suggested that the Italian has ‘offered’ himself to the Ligue 1 giants and would be willing to commit to a two-year deal in the French capital.
Gold has revealed on his latest YouTube video (starting at 55:06) that he has spoken to a few people around Conte’s camp about the news and they told him that it is not true.
However, the journalist provided the caveat that they would deny such speculation even if there was some truth to it, given that Conte is employed by Spurs and PSG still have a manager in charge.
Gold went on to add that Conte and his camp might benefit from having this news out there as it would give them more leverage when making demands to the Spurs hierarchy.
Gold said: “I’ve spoken to a few people around Conte and they say it’s not true, as they would because let’s be honest you’re talking about one guy who’s currently employed by a club and you’re talking about a club who have another manager currently employed.
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“So yes, if I was around that manager, I would also be saying that. There’s a part of me, there’s a cynical side, probably the journalist side of me that thinks look it’s a little bit of information that, whether it’s right or wrong, it’s no bad thing I think for Conte’s camp to have out there.
“I think it puts more pressure on Levy. I don’t think it’s great for Tottenham Hotspur and it’s a version of the Harry Kane stuff that we had towards the end of last season.
“I don’t think it’s helpful in that respect but I think perhaps if I’m being cynical from Conte’s point of view it’s maybe not the worst thing.
“I think the timing is rubbish, you know maybe it’s the kind of thing that comes out just after the season, I don’t know.
“But yeah I don’t know where that info has come from but, like I say, I think there’s there’s an angle to it that I could see perhaps if not Conte then some of those around him seeing it as a good, applying a bit of pressure to Daniel Levy… which has always worked so well in the past.”
In a more recent article for Football London, Alasdair also addressed the rumours about Daniel Levy contacting Mauricio Pochettino. Get French Football News reported this week that Levy is trying to convince Mauricio Pochettino to return to Tottenham and they are in regular contact.
However, Gold said: ‘There have been reports in France that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has been calling Pochettino repeatedly about a return to N17. However, those within the Argentine’s camp have told football.london that is not the case, with relatively little contact between the two men in recent times other than the odd friendly message.
‘There of course is a certain irony to the prospect of PSG paying Levy compensation to prise away Conte and Spurs, in turn, bringing Pochettino back from Paris for nothing. If Conte were to depart then the Spurs chairman would likely see Pochettino as the one man to soften some of the backlash from the fanbase.
‘However, while Pochettino has often spoken about his desire to complete “unfinished business” at Tottenham and his love for the club, the north London outfit’s current structure is not one he is fond of. The Argentine is not the biggest fan of the sporting director set-up and has reportedly had a strained relationship with PSG’s Leonardo.
‘At Tottenham, Pochettino worked with both Paul Mitchell and Steve Hitchen, but both were friends of his before their appointments.
‘Even then the Argentine publicly complained in his final summer at the club that he had become more of a coach than a manager despite his title. What any potential return for Pochettino would mean with Paratici’s position at the club is unclear.’
However, Gold ended his article by clarifying no decisions would be made until the end of the current season, with all eyes on the Champions League race.
He said: ‘Conte will wait until the end of the campaign to hold that crunch meeting with Levy and Paratici before all parties decide what comes next.’
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The one thing to note is that none of the Italian publications or journalists, who have sources close to Conte, nor the likes of Gold and Dan Kilpatrick, who have sources inside Spurs, have reported this information regarding Conte’s interest in the PSG job.
The reports have only come from French sources which suggest that it is those inside PSG who are feeding it to the press. Spurs fans should not be panicking about this news just yet.
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