Antonio Conte has admitted that he is happy with the way things are shaping up at Tottenham and hinted that he could stay at the club longer than he has at his previous jobs.
Conte signed an 18-month contract at Spurs last November, with an option of a one-year extension.
The relatively short length of the contract did not come as a surprise, given that the Italian has never been at any club for more than three years, and spent just two years in his last two jobs at Chelsea and Inter Milan.
Even at the end of last season, the 52-year-old even seemed unwilling to confirm that he would be at the club for the 2022/23 season, insisting that he wanted to have a conversation with the hierarchy about their vision (Football.London).
Conte has now explained that the decision to stick around at Tottenham was a simple one once he spoke to Daniel Levy.
When asked why he decided to remain at Spurs, he told Football.London: “Honestly when I spoke [to the chairman] it was very simple because at the start of the conversation the club was very clear with me and said we reached an important achievement and maybe it was very difficult to think since November when I arrived to go into the Champions League but now we want to continue to grow, to grow together with ambition.
“Also, for the club, it’s not simple to go into the transfer market and sign players free like Perisic and Forster and sign players on loan like Lenglet, and to sign players with money like Richarlison and Bissouma and Spence.”
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Conte also seemed to suggest that a long-term stay at Spurs is possible, adding that he and the club are pulling in the same direction at the moment.
When asked if he could stick around at Tottenham for three or four years, the Italian responded: “You know, football is always very strange, but in this moment I’m very happy to stay at Tottenham, I’m very happy to work with this group of players, to work with the club.
“We don’t have a problem and we are trying to create a great group also outside of the pitch with the club. In this moment, we have only one target: to go together in the same direction. I think we are doing well with Daniel and with Fabio.”
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Conte is clearly happy with the structure at Spurs and his involvement in the club’s decision-making. If Tottenham continue to show the same ambition over the coming windows, there is no reason why the Italian might not want to stay long-term.
However, there is an argument to be made that the players tend to run out of steam over the long-term, given the Italian’s intense methods, and that his ideas are most effective over a two to three-year period.
Spurs fans will not mind if it is a short-term project as long as he delivers silverware over the next couple of seasons, which the 52-year-old has a great track record of doing.
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