CONTE CAN RAISE KANE
Italian is backed to lift Spurs ace out of slump
ANTONIO CONTE’S first task as Tottenham manager is crystal clear – get Harry Kane back in form.
The Spurs striker has been a shadow of his former self this season as his team slumped and eventually led to Nuno Esprito Santo being axed on Monday.
Conte was confirmed as Tottenham’s new man yesterday on an initial 18-month contract worth about £20million a year, including bonuses, with an option to extend.
He met his new squad yesterday and watched training in the afternoon.
Tottenham players were said to be excited by the Italian’s arrival and Conte slept at Spurs Lodge overnight on Monday after talks with the club so he was ready to begin work.
Conte said: “I’m extremely happy to return to coaching and to do so at a Premier League club that has the ambition to be a protagonist again.
“Tottenham has state-of-the-art facilities and one of the best stadiums in the world.
“I can’t wait to start working to convey to the team and the fans the passions, mentality and determination that have always distinguished me as a player and as a coach.
“Last summer our union did not happen because the end of my relationship with Inter was still too recent and emotionally too involved, so I felt that it wasn’t yet the right time to return to coaching.
“But the contagious enthusiasm and determination of Daniel Levy in wanting to entrust me with this task had already hit the mark. Now the opportunity has returned, I have chosen to take it with great conviction.”
Fabio Paratici, Tottenham’s managing director of football, who failed in his first attempt to land the Italian in the summer, said: “Antonio’s track record speaks for itself, with vast experience and trophies in Italy and England.
“I know first-hand the qualities Antonio can bring to us, having worked with him at Juventus, and look forward to seeing his work with our players.” Kane said he wanted to leave Tottenham in the summer, but the proposed move to Manchester City never materialised after Levy refused to sell.
Since then his form has slipped, with the England captain scoring only one league goal so far this campaign.
But Conte is happy that Tottenham showed they were determined to hang on to Kane, and is a fan of the striker, saying in 2018: “I consider him as one of the best players in the world. When you have a player who scores 30 goals every season, when you miss this type of player, you can feel this.”
The Italian has a reputation for improving players, though his intense methods cause problems with some.
He got 20 goals out of the fiery Diego Costa the year Chelsea won the title in 2017 but then fell out with the striker.
But Romelu Lukaku, who won the Serie A title at Inter with Conte in 2020-21, labelled the Italian “the best manager in the world”.
Former Juventus midfielder Andrea Pirlo said: “When Conte speaks, his words assault you.”
Antonio’s track record speaks for itself