Antonio Conte has suffered another blow at Tottenham Hotspur after transfer mastermind Steve Hitchen quit his role.
As the club's director of technical performance, Hitchen becomes the last member of the footballing hierarchy which helped Spurs to reach the Champions League final in 2019 under Mauricio Pochettino to leave.
The ex- Macclesfield Town defender was highly thought of in north London, not least by manager Conte.
But, as reported by the Telegraph, he grew frustrated due to his reduced role in players recruitment over the past two transfer windows following the arrival of Fabio Paratici as managing director of football.
And while Paratici and Conte's working relationship dates back to their days at Juventus, the departure of Hitchen - confirmed by the club on Wednesday evening - hints at more discontent behind the scenes.
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Hitchen was the man who negotiated deals to sign Bruno Fernandes, Paulo Dybala and Jack Grealish before Tottenham pulled out, while Jose Mourinho was delighted that all four of his targets - Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Sergio Reguilon, Matt Doherty and Gareth Bale - were signed in the summer of 2020, further cementing his credentials.
The Salford-born supremo is now set to take his expertise elsewhere, with Frank Lampard 's Everton keen to hire him for their vacant director of football position, and Leicester City and Newcastle United also interested.
News of Hitchen's exit comes after a number of his signings, including club-record arrival Tanguy Ndombele, were shipped out during the January transfer window.
But Paratici was unable to sign Conte's two priority targets in January: Adama Traore and Luis Diaz, who opted to sign for Barcelona and Liverpool respectively.
Although the deadline-day arrivals of Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevki from Juventus were positives, fears remain that Conte - who was only appointed in November - could follow Hitchen out of the door and potentially leave chairman Daniel Levy looking for a fifth manager in three seasons.
The Italian boss has already expressed his displeasure at Spurs' predicament, admitting that the squad is at least a few years behind London rivals Chelsea 's following their recent 2-0 defeat to the Blues in the Premier League.
"Last season Chelsea won the Champions League and this is enough to explain the difference between us and them," Conte stated.
"We need time, so much time, to retrieve the situation. You cannot do this in only six months or one year. They were much stronger than us. I do not see a solution in this transfer window.
"It was a difficult game, difficult from the start, Chelsea were much better but we are talking about one of the best teams in Europe, in the world. If you compare the two teams there is not a comparison.
"I know the situation, it is very clear in this moment there is an important gap. If we think we are close [to Chelsea] we are not in the right way."
