What a difference 12 months makes in the world of Tottenham Hotspur as Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici plan to take the club to the next level this summer and next season.
A year ago and Spurs delivered the farce that was their managerial search, which lasted 72 days and came off the back of two different shortlists due to Paratici's arrival halfway through the process and each list contained the names of very different profiles of manager. The club held talks with various candidates, including Conte, and somehow ended up with one who was not even on the original shortlist and was to be found down the list on the second.
Nuno Espirito Santo promised to make the Tottenham fans proud but instead he was gone after just 10 Premier League matches, having done anything but. The club had spent 72 days scouring Europe for managers and they ended up with that.
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Enter Conte from stage left. The Italian, somehow blending emotion and strategy, grabbed Spurs by the scruff of the neck and eventually swept the club up the table to four place in the Premier League and in doing so delivered Champions League football next season.
There were fears - not helped by his own words - that the head coach, despite having another season on his contract, may only last seven months in the role as he wants to win things, not just simply fight for fourth place.
This week those fears were put to rest. Allied to the Champions League football next season, Spurs' owners ENIC raised the funds to pump £150m into the club with the bulk of that set to go towards Conte's transfer requirements this summer, as well as any money raised through player sales.
Spurs knew Conte was happy with that and so chairman Daniel Levy was not required in what had been touted by Conte himself as a crunch meeting to decide the head coach's future. Instead it ended up being a transfer strategy meeting on Friday between Paratici and Conte at the former's base in Turin.
After the meeting it only became clearer that Conte is happy with the Tottenham project and he will remain in charge next season, even if he is fully aware that it will take a lot of effort on his part as well as the club's to build a squad that can challenge in both the Premier League and Champions League.
There's a real sense of excitement now around the club, from the players to the staff and also the fans, who have watched the past few years unfold with disbelief at some of the decisions made by the club's hierarchy.
Now there is only optimism. Take Harry Kane for example. The England captain was looking for a way out last summer, disappointed by what he saw as a lack of direction and ambition at the club.
Fast forward 12 months and Kane, who has been in New York this week appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, is genuinely excited about what Conte can do for his career. The 28-year-old is fitter than he has ever been and he believes that if the club do back Conte in this coming transfer window then he can achieve what he has always dreamed of - win trophies with Tottenham Hotspur.
football.london reported earlier this week that Kane is so enthused by the changes within Spurs that if the ambitious plans do unfold as expected this summer then he would be open to signing a new deal at the club in the months ahead.
The transfer window will be key to keeping Conte and Kane happy. The former Inter Milan and Chelsea boss has never been shy about making sudden decisions if he does not feel he is being backed. He left Juventus, where he had won titles galore, just a couple of weeks into pre-season because of differences over transfers and finances for them. Again he left Inter Milan last summer because the money was no longer in place post-pandemic to continue what he wanted to do.
So if Spurs do not carry out the plans he and Paratici agreed on a hot Friday in Turin then it's clear what could still happen, but that pressure on Tottenham may not be such a bad thing for a club that has often taken its time over transfers in the past, notoriously often waiting until the final day of the window to get the best prices possible.
They cannot afford to wait this summer. Conte wants at least six new signings, with targets across defence, midfield and attack, and he wants as many as possible through the door before the club fly out on July 9 to South Korea for two pre-season friendlies.
While some transfers of course will be influenced by events at other clubs and late opportunities may arise, Spurs' transfer policy is likely to shift this summer.
Not only must they go in strong with their increased funds and buy players earlier in the window, they must also deliver Conte at least a couple of older, ready-made players which the Italian wants to aid the team's mentality in the crunch moments. Inter Milan's Ivan Perisic is a key example of that with Conte keen on the 33-year-old if he does not agree to a new deal at his old club.
For a club that has a transfer profile of young players that maintain or increase their value, this will be a very different way of operating.
In Paratici Spurs have the perfect man to sate Conte's appetite. He knows how the head coach works and what he demands and the managing director of football's contacts book and relationship with agents and clubs across the world will also help him bring in free transfers to bolster the bigger fee signings. The free agent market has been one previously that Tottenham have not always competed in particularly well.
There will also have to be big signings. Conte has made it clear that signing "important players" is needed for any club looking to challenge at the top of the Premier League. Both Conte and Paratici want Inter Milan's 23-year-old Alessandro Bastoni and the Italian club are not believed to be willing to accept less than £51m for him. Will Spurs make that record defensive transfer fee happen as a show of their backing in their head coach?
It's going to be a summer full of speculation. Paratici's habit of negotiating terms with agents for up to 10 different players for every position he wants to fill, so he can pull the trigger whenever he agrees a deal with a club, will ensure names of various stars will be linked to Tottenham.
Add to that the fact that clubs and the media know Spurs have this extra money to spend and it's going to be a frenzy of speculation. Paratici will have to use that to his advantage by keeping clubs on their toes with his interest in alternative players elsewhere.
The aim at the end of it all is to build a team that the Tottenham fans can be truly proud of. They have challenged for the Premier League title in previous years, Mauricio Pochettino's team pushing Leicester and Conte's Chelsea all the way, but with the Italian Tottenham believe they have someone who can take the next step and bring the silverware that the club has so desperately craved over the years.
First though the summer must go to plan and then Conte will take over. The expectation and excitement of the fans has never been higher.
