Tottenham boss Antonio Conte will not be present at Hotspur Way today (Tuesday) for training as his future at the club continues to look bleak. The Italian unleashed a ruthless barrage of criticism following Spurs' 3-3 Premier League draw against Southampton on Saturday, criticising the club, the ownership model and the players.
The Italian's brutal words resembled a man comfortable in the knowledge he will not be in north London next season, with his contract up in the summer. Spurs do hold a 12-month extension option but that being taken up now seems almost impossible.
According to a report from Daily Mail journalist Sami Mokbel, during talks on Saturday night, Conte explained to board members his comments were only aimed at the players and not the hierarchy. Despite this, the Italian and Spurs look set to part ways later this week.
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Following his explosive rant, Levy held talks regarding Conte's future on Monday with the decision made he will likely leave in the international break, as per the Daily Telegraph. Their report claims the situation is rated as pretty much irretrievable by a variety of sources involved.
Following the 3-3 draw against Southampton, where Spurs let a two-goal lead slip in the final 15 minutes, Conte did not speak to any of the players, as he usually chooses not to do after a disappointing result, but the start of this week will have been very different to previous instances.
With the international break beginning, several Spurs stars left St Mary's Stadium in cars to head straight onto international duty for their respective national teams. A debrief would usually be conducted at the start of the following week but only four fit first-team outfield players will be present at Hotspur Way this week.
Those players are Clement Lenglet, Japhet Tanganga, Arnaut Danjuma and Lucas Moura with goalkeepers Brandon Austin and Alfie Whiteman also joining the group. Richarlison and Ben Davies, who both came off against Southampton through injury will also be there, but the Spurs boss will not be present for the first few days of their training sessions as he flew back to Italy on Monday.
When it comes to international breaks, the 53-year-old usually returns later in the first week of the fortnight in order to start preparing for the time when there is a fuller squad of players to work with. However, this time round that may not be the case if the decision to relieve Conte of his duties at Tottenham is made.
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