Tottenham are reportedly planning to let Antonio Conte leave in the summer and should consider picking up his compatriot Maurizio Sarri to replace him, Apollo Heyes suggests.
Transfer market expert Gianluca Di Marzio is seemingly certain that Spurs will not renew the Italian coach’s contract in the coming months, ready to let him leave at the end of the season. Things have started to collapse for Conte this season and the tension between the coach and the club’s management seems palpable.
Conte leaving puts Tottenham in a difficult position; the North London side have now failed to pick up a trophy with two proven winners at the helm and need to find the right coach to produce that spark of magic, something that has seemed non-existent this season despite the goalscoring efforts of talismanic striker Harry Kane.
One man who could take Spurs to the next level is Sarri, who is currently fighting for a top four finish with Lazio. The former Napoli coach has started to build an interesting project in the Italian capital, but repeated clashes with sporting director Igli Tare and a lack of backing from president Claudio Lotito could push him to look for an exit at the end of the season.
Roman newspaper Il Messaggero reported today that both Tottenham and Atletico Madrid have started keeping a close eye on the 63-year-old coach, something that could lead him to start considering his options.
Sarri has already replaced Conte once before in his career, coming in after the Italian’s departure at Chelsea in July 2018. In his only season with the Blues, the team showed glimpses of his typical Sarrismo style and he managed to guide them to the Europa League title, beating Arsenal in the final.
The 63-year-old Italian coach then left for Juventus in the summer of 2019, where he won a league title and showed a slightly more pragmatic style, flexibility that Tottenham might appreciate.
Chelsea fans were unhappy with the slow and difficult implementation of Sarri’s system in West London, but his recent experiences in Turin and Rome have shown that his teams can click quicker than they have in the past.
The appointment of Sarri may also help convince star striker Kane to pen a new long-term contract with the North London club. In the Italian coach’s first season with Napoli, his system saw Gonzalo Higuain net 36 goals in 35 Serie A games, and the English striker would certainly be the focal point of Sarri’s Spurs, giving him the chance to drive the team to silverware.