Conte on way out at Spurs

ANTONIO CONTE arrived back in London yesterday amid growing expectation he will leave Tottenham before next season. The manager, who has been in Italy recovering from gallbladder surgery, returns for the Champions League last-16 clash with AC Milan on Wednesday, when Spurs will try to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg. Conte’s contract expires at the end of the season and there has been little progress on an extension.

Spurs have the option to extend Conte’s deal by a year, but there is no great appetite to trigger the clause at the moment. Indeed, there is a sense it is best for both parties to go their separate ways. Conte has suffered personal trauma recently. As well as his health problems, the former Italy boss was deeply affected by the deaths of his long-term fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone and former team-mates Sinisa Mihajlovic and Gianluca Vialli. It is thought the 53-year-old is keen for a return to Italy to be closer to his family.