Antonio Conte is a step closer towards leaving Tottenham once his contract expires at the end of the season. While Spurs hold the option to extend the Italian's stay in north London by a further year, it appears increasingly likely that the two parties go their separate ways.
It's difficult to see a future in which Conte is the head coach of the Lilywhites next season, football.london understands. With the current mood around the club, it's just as unlikely that any existing relationship between the 53-year-old and the Tottenham higher-ups will last beyond the end of this term.
Following the defeat to AC Milan in the Champions League, Conte claimed on Italian TV that he could be sacked. The Spurs boss said: "My contract expires in June. We will see - they might sack me even before the end of the season, who knows, maybe they are disappointed."
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Then, when probed further on his future in the post-match press conference, Conte, was coy and insisted that he and the club will have a meeting in the summer. He said: "This is not right day to speak about future but my future.
"I have a contract with Tottenham and then Tottenham know very well which is my thoughts and at the end of season we will meet and then we'll make a decision."
Speaking on BT Sport after the game, Rio Ferdinand and Glenn Hoddle suggested that it would be too risky to sack Conte before the end of the season. The former Manchester United defender said: "I think the powers that be at the club will sit there at the moment and say well we’re in pole position.
"Teams have got games in hand around them, yes, but they’ve got the points on the board and they’re sitting in fourth so I think it’d be a bit too early to say, 'right, we’re going to give him the sack'.
"But also who’s out there? Who’s gettable? There’s quite a few people out of work at the moment - Thomas Tuchel’s out of work at the moment, would he be a consideration? I don’t know, coming from Chelsea, they’ve done it in the past. All those factors have to be taken into consideration."
Hoddle agreed: "I think it would be a slight risk now but everyone’s got to sit down together, perhaps they’ve already done it, perhaps they know that maybe Conte isn’t going to stay so they’ve said stay until the season and get us in that top four.
"Obviously they wanted to go through tonight, that might slightly change now but it’s about communication at the level. You’re right, who’s out there?
"There’s talk about Pochettino coming back. That [Pochettino being linked with a return] will happen tonight, won’t it, but it’s when the dust settles you’ve got to look at the bigger picture really."
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