Antonio Conte joined Tottenham and took them to a Champions League qualification finishing above a depleted Arsenal side after a run-in turnaround. Acquiring the Italian was seen as a massive coup, because it was.
The idea of Tottenham Hotspur getting hold of arguably one of the best three coaches in the world was a threatening prospect for the likes of Arsenal and low and behold those worries materialised. However, should the Gunners feel as though they chose the wrong direction by sticking with Mikel Arteta after the disappointment of 2020/22? No, certainly not after seeing where the club is now.
And definitely now rumours regarding the unsurprising impending departure of Antonio Conte from Spurs have begun. According to Italian journalist Paolo Bargiggia, Conte is not renewing his deal with Spurs so he can rejoin the Italian giants at the end of the season when his contract expires.
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He explained: "If the Juventus management manages to resist the temptation to kick [Massimiliano] Allegri out by keeping him until the end of the season, then he can go straight to Conte who can't wait to return and for this reason, he is not renewing with [Tottenham] .”
Juventus find themselves eighth in Serie A after six games with two wins and four draws. However, they have lost both their opening Champions League group matches, a 2-1 loss to PSG and 2-1 home defeat to Benfica.
Should Spurs lose Conte, they will again find themselves needing to find a coach and on paper, whoever they move for is not likely to be of the calibre of their coach who has a history of brief spells with sides. Mauricio Pochettino remains out of work and potentially the Argentine is eyeing his own return.
Arsenal, meanwhile, continue to progress along their own path with Arteta. Now into his third full season, the Gunners sit top of the Premier league after six games and have built an exciting squad.
Had they moved for Conte like Spurs, potentially they too would have seen a return to the Champions League come faster, however, the longer-term implications and uncertainty would arguably not have been worth it. Instead, having just signed a new contract, Arteta is looking to return the Gunners back to the top with Champions League qualification seen as purely a next step rather than a long-term objective.
An overhaul of the squad including personnel, age structure, wage bill, recruitment strategy and mentality has been enabled through the stability of having the Spaniard for the nearly three years he has been with the cub. Losing Conte after just over 18 months brings exactly the opposite for the Gunners’ neighbours.
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