Lautaro Martinez is desperate for Antonio Conte to stay at Inter Milan after Tottenham Hotspur opened talks with the newly crowned Serie A champions, speaking to Libero, via FC Inter News.
If there were any lingering doubts about Conte’s managerial abilities – and we have no idea why there would have been – they have surely been dispelled now.
When the icy-eyed general arrived at the San Siro in summer 2019, Inter had just finished fourth in Serie A, 21 points shy of Juventus.
Two years later, the Nerazzurri are celebrating their first Scudetto triumph since the days of Jose Mourinho, Wesley Sneijder and Samuel Eto’o, shattering Juve’s decade-long stranglehold on Italian football in the process.
Whether Conte will stick around to defend his crown, however, remains to be seen.
FC Inter News reported this week that, with Inter’s Chinese owners desperate to cut costs and ease a potentially perilous financial situation, the best-paid manager in Serie A history could be forced out of the Guiseppe Meazza stadium.
“We hope he will stay, in these two years we have all made great steps forward,” says Lautaro, the £100 million-rated Argentina international who has scored 39 goals in two seasons under Conte.
“There are never quarrels with him and he always tries to get the most out of everyone, even in training. He lives football in a special way, he called me after the Copa America (in 2019) and we immediately understood each other.
“He made me grow a lot.”
According to Corriere dello Sport, Tottenham have held talks with the 45-year-old Conte regarding a potential return to the Premier League for a man who guided Chelsea to domestic glory in 2017, either side of tenth and fifth-place finishes.
The negotiations apparently progressed smoothly too, with Spurs even discussing transfer targets with the former Italy boss.
A title winner with Juventus, Inter and Chelsea, Conte is arguably the greatest coach in European football today, a man who almost guarantees success wherever he goes. If there’s anyone who can turn Spurs from perennial bridesmaids into champions, it’s surely him.
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