Antonio Conte's Tottenham contract expires at end of season with club having option to extend deal by another year; Spurs have offered him a new contract but Italian has put future on standby; Conte told Italian TV: "They might sack me even before the end of the season"
Thursday 9 March 2023 11:41, UK
Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte says he will discuss his future with the club at the end of the season and admits his team "don't have the foundation to win" after being knocked out of the Champions League.
Tottenham saw their hopes of lifting a trophy this season end as they were dumped out of the Champions League by AC Milan 1-0 on aggregate after a 0-0 draw in the second leg of the last-16 tie.
The full-time whistle was met by loud boos from the home supporters, who have not seen their side win a trophy for over 15 years and only have a top-four finish to play for this season.
Conte's contract expires on June 30 with Spurs having an option to extend it by another year.
Sky in Italy reported in January the club have already offered him a new deal, but the 53-year-old does not want to think about his future at the moment and has asked Spurs to put it on standby with no negotiations currently ongoing over a new contract.
Conte was appointed Tottenham boss in November 2021 and guided the club to a top-four finish last season ahead of Arsenal. But Spurs have endured an underwhelming season in the league so far as they sit fourth but have been wildly inconsistent with their performances.
After the defeat to AC Milan, he said: "This is not the right day to speak about my future. I have a contract with Tottenham and Tottenham know very well my thoughts. At the end of the season we meet and then make a decision.
"The situation is really clear. It's one year and two months since I started, I always say the same thing, we need time and patience. At this moment we don't have a solid foundation to be competitive and win. We try to work and get the right players to get the right foundation and try to find the solution in the transfer market for the right team.
"I have a great relationship with the chairman. I have a contract until June, I'm ready to work at Tottenham. At the end there will be a decision.
"I'm really sorry for the fans. We cannot invent the win or wait for a miracle one day for a trophy. You have to build and have patience. I understand the fans don't have patience because for a long time Tottenham have not been winning. What I can promise is my team will work really hard for this club and try to improve."
He also said on Italian TV: "My contract expires in June. We will see - they might sack me even before the end of the season, who knows, maybe they are disappointed."
Former Tottenham defender Danny Rose told Sky Sports News:
"You say Spurs have the best stadium, you can have the best house but if the furniture is not the best inside its irrelevant.
"Going at the hierarchy, I still like to go into the Spurs training ground I will have to be careful what I say there. Everybody has got to be held accountable.
"I heard something about Daniel Levy said something about the signings haven't been great, it's bizarre because I am sure I said something like that six years ago and was fined two weeks wages but here we are.
"It will be interesting to see where they go from here until the end of the season."
Richarlison has hit out at Tottenham over his lack of playing time this season and says he does not understand the treatment he has received.
"It was going well, in a good sequence, two wins against West Ham and Chelsea," he told TNT Sports Brazil. "Suddenly, he put me on the bench, against Wolverhampton he put me on for five minutes. I asked why, but they didn't tell me anything.
"And, yesterday, they asked me to take a test at the gym, that if I was good I would go to the game and, at the time of the game, they left me on the bench. These are things that it is not possible to understand.
"Let's see what he will say tomorrow, but there are no fools here either, I'm a professional, I work every day and I want to play."
