Graeme Souness has suggested that a power struggle could be brewing at Tottenham between boss Antonio Conte and chairman Daniel Levy.
Conte has made a significant impact in north London since succeeding Nuno Espirito Santo just shy of 12 months ago and has even managed to guide Spurs back into the Champions League.
A top-four finish led saw Conte backed in the transfer market. But even though Tottenham were one of the Premier League's biggest spenders this year, there are still concerns over the Italian's long-term future. Conte only penned an 18-month deal last November, meaning that, as things stand, he could walk away from the club in the summer.
It has been suggested this week that Juventus have a strong interest in Conte, but Souness believes that there could be issues ahead for Levy even if he manages to convince the Spurs boss to commit to a new deal.
Speaking in his column for The Mail, Souness wrote: "I sense a power struggle looming at Tottenham over transfers between Antonio Conte and Daniel Levy and I know whose judgement I would back.
"Conte is a proven winner and a good manager. His record proves that. Levy on the other hand is a man who has run Tottenham for 21 years and won one League Cup. Tottenham are a really big football club and they have punched below their weight on Levy's watch. They should be challenging for the biggest honours on a regular basis.
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"People talk to me about the new stadium and it's the best anywhere in the world. But it would not be rocket science for a big London club to build a new stadium in the recent and current financial climate of the Premier League. It's the equivalent of taking a 25-year mortgage on a house. Even allowing for that they have under performed on a large scale. And what about the 18 years before they build the stadium?
"Do you think Tottenham fans want to go on holiday and meet someone in a bar somewhere and say: 'Cor, have you seen our amazing stadium?'. Of course they don't. They want to tell people about what a great team they have. I think Conte is the best chance they have of making that possible but Levy has got to trust him and try to give him what he wants."
Souness went on to highlight that Levy would have "known what he was getting" when hiring Conte. The Italian's relationship with the Stamford Bridge hierarchy became strained in the months leading to his exit as a result of disputes linked to recruitment.
And Souness is adamant that Conte is still after the same thing he wanted at Chelsea; a more substantial say in the club's transfer activity.
Conte has come under fire recently as a result of Tottenham's pragmatic approach in recent matches, but Souness believes that it would be grossly unfair to "judge" the former Juventus chief after just two transfer windows.
That was a point Conte himself stressed last month after an influx of summer signings. He insisted: "I see the other squads of the top teams and there is too much distance. To be competitive and to fight to be a title contender and to try to get a place in Champions League you need at least three transfer windows more to improve and to be in the same level as the other clubs."
He added: "We did the right things [in the summer], but we have just started, if someone thinks we have completed the situation, we are very far from this."
