Speaking recently on the Football Writers Podcast, Adrian Clarke claimed that he could see Inter manager Antonio Conte becoming Tottenham Hotspur’s manager in the future.
Following a season in which the Italian took Inter to a Europa League final and guided them to the second place in the Serie A – just one point behind champions Juventus, there has been a surprising amount of uncertainty surrounding the future of Conte at Inter, with it being reported that he is set for a face to face meeting with club president Steven Zhang regarding his position as Inter’s manager.
However, Clarke appears to be of the belief that, should Conte indeed leave Inter this summer, he would be a great fit for Spurs.
He said: “He’s a gun for hire, isn’t he? He is a short, sharp, shock manager. I don’t think there are many better, actually, out there. I really rate Antonio Conte.
“But, a little bit like Jose Mourinho really, you can’t see him lasting too long in one place. He’s so intense that he just burns himself out, and players, as well, can only handle so much of Antonio Conte.
“Tell you where Conte might be really useful, Spurs. Spurs need a short, sharp, shock treatment, in my opinion. They need a bit of a reboot.
“If they decide that Jose isn’t the right one to light the fire under those players, Conte would. I think that over two years, he would bring about a big improvement, and then it would all blow up probably and he’d leave but I could see that happening.”
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From Clarke’s comments, he appears to be of the belief that Conte would be a good fit for Spurs, and would be more than capable of lighting the fire in the Spurs players – if the club were to decide that Mourinho is not the man to take them forward.
After a season in which the club finished sixth in the Premier League, their lowest league finish since the 2013/14 campaign, it could be argued that Mourinho will need to make a marked improvement next season if he is to hold on to his job.