Journalist Darren Lewis now expects Antonio Conte to put pen to paper on an extended deal to secure his future with Tottenham Hotspur.
The editor for The Mirror was speaking on the Last Word On Spurs YouTube channel about the latest transfer news regarding the Lilywhites.
Conte’s time at Spurs has been full of highs and lows already, with certain points of his reign providing some concerns over whether he’d still be in the dugout come August.
However, his spell in north London has proven to be a huge success with the Italian guiding Spurs to a top-four finish as Champions League football is back on the menu this season and he has hinted at potentially extending his stay.
And with the 52-year-old’s transfer demands already met, Lewis believes Conte could well be looking to build something with the Lilywhites for years to come.
Asked whether he expects the club to enter negotations over extending Conte’s contract, Lewis replied: “In a word, yes. Because I think he’s asked to build his team and they’ve brought him the players that he’s been after.
“The ones they haven’t managed to get, well, it’s not really the club’s fault they haven’t managed to get them, those players have just decided that they didn’t want to come.
“No one’s going to tell Conte what to do or what a winning mentality looks like. And so yeah, I do think he will sign a new contract and I do think he’ll build something.”
TIF Thoughts on Lewis’ comments…
There will obviously be some people who are convinced that Conte has been brought in by Daniel Levy as a short-term path to success after the Nuno Espirito Santo disaster.
Do you expect Conte to sign a new deal?
Yes
No
After all, the Italian does not have a great track record of building long-term relationships with clubs, with the most games managed at a single club being 129 at Juventus – and even that was spread across two spells.
Going into the new campaign, Conte’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season, however, it is apparent Lewis feels there is a good chance the Spurs boss could look to stay a little longer.
And there are certainly some signs of optimism from his recent comments on how the players feel about the direction of the club: “They feel that we are building something important with the club,” said Conte.