Antonio Conte reportedly waited until the last minute to see whether Manchester United would relieve Ole Gunnar Solskjaer of his duties before taking the job at Tottenham, according to TuttoMercatoWeb.
The 52-year-old was appointed as the new face in the Spurs dugout on Tuesday after Nuno Espirito Santo was sacked the day before.
However, Conte was linked with a move to United after Solskjaer’s position became increasingly vulnerable following the Red Devils’ humiliating 5-0 defeat at home to Liverpool.
United previously reiterated their faith in the Norwegian coach, who later relaxed the tension by ironically beating Spurs 3-0 last weekend – a result that all but confirmed Nuno’s time in North London would come to an end.
TuttoMercatoWeb report that Conte had been keeping tabs on the goings-on at Old Trafford ahead of a potential managerial opening, and he waited until the last minute to see whether there would be any movement before filling the Spurs vacancy.
Italian journalist Roberto Gotta said: “I understand that there was a wait until the last moment; Manchester United have a better squad and more decisive players.
“However, Manchester United have never publicly lacked confidence in Solskjaer. Perhaps even to reassure him…
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“Conte in Manchester should have won immediately, while in Tottenham, he should have prepared the team for next season.
“I think he did the right thing, or else he risked not doing half of it.”
Spurs Web Opinion
United had been linked to Conte for a while, but we are lucky that we managed to act quicker, while they are clearly stuck with an inferior manager. Now it’s time for him to knuckle down and focus on Spurs in the hope of turning the club’s fortunes around.
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