Spurs may finally have a path to signing player who said he would ‘die for Conte’ – Our View

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Historically, Tottenham Hotspur don’t do business with Chelsea.

Spurs and Chelsea may not be the biggest rivals in world football, but Daniel Levy and Roman Abramovich did not get on to say the least.

The former Chelsea owner point-blank refused to do any sort of business with Tottenham during his 18 years in charge at Stamford Bridge. The last player to sign directly for Spurs from Chelsea or vice versa was Gus Poyet in 2001, but that may be about to change.

Indeed, now that Chelsea are under new ownership, relations between the two clubs are set to thaw – and Sky Sports’ Lyall Thomas has claimed that all of the issues between Spurs and Chelsea in the past are now water under the bridge.

“There has been a bit of a reset with Chelsea now they’re under new ownership, so any bad blood between Tottenham and Chelsea in the past is water under the bridge now in terms of the clubs because so many have moved on from Chelsea and it’s a new club in many ways,” Thomas said on Last Word on Spurs.

So, if transfers between Spurs and Chelsea are back on the table, who could be making this move?

Well, in our view, there’s one prime candidate – Romelu Lukaku.

To say that Lukaku is out of favour at Chelsea would be an understatement – he’s been shipped out on loan this season, and upon his return next summer, a permanent move could be on the cards.

The Belgian has been linked to Spurs on numerous occasions in the past, and the pull at Tottenham is quite obvious.

Indeed, Antonio Conte and Lukaku have a great relationship from their time together at Inter, and with Harry Kane entering the final year of his Spurs contract this summer, signing a new elite striker may be on Tottenham’s agenda.

Lukaku played his very best football under Conte, and he absolutely loves the man, stating in the past that he would die for him.

“I would die for Conte,” Lukaku said.

“I wasn’t able to join him at Chelsea (in 2017), but I’d always said I’d played for him as soon as I left Manchester United. Conte told me very directly: ‘If you don’t work in training you won’t play, it’s essential that you know how to play with your back to goal. It’s important to meet people who tell you the absolute truth to help you improve.”

Spurs may need a striker in the summer, and now that they’re back in Chelsea’s good books, they could have a genuine route to bringing Lukaku to north London.