Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte is again the subject of rumours linking him to the Juventus job.
The Italian will forever have a strong bond with the Old Lady, after winning the Champions League there in 1996 before making his name as one of the heavyweights of world management in a spell between 2011 and 2014 in which he landed three successive Scudettos.
The two-time European champions are struggling right now after defeat to Monza left them eighth in Serie A – and current manager Massimiliano Allegri is coming under increasing fire. Allegri replaced Conte in 2014 before being rehired in 2019 – and now, reports claiming that Conte could in turn succeed his successor at the Allianz Stadium have snowballed, following a sighting in Italy.
According to Italian outlet Il Bianconero, the Lilywhites head coach has been spotted in Turin in recent days. Tottenham played Brighton on Saturday evening and host Europa League holders Eintracht Frankfurt in north London tonight.
Despite the excitement from Juve fans, however, the likelihood of the 53-year-old serial winner actually departing the Premier League still feels wholly unlikely.
Conte has shut down speculation linking him with the job in recent weeks, telling reporters that he is happy in north London, while Juventus have backed their manager publicly, too. Juve chief Andrea Agnelli even went as far as telling Sky Italia that Allegri would remain in charge of the club after an embarrassing 2-0 defeat to Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League this week.
"In this kind of situation you can’t blame one single person, it’s the whole group," Agnelli said, with Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano simply tweeting, "Massimiliano Allegri, confirmed as Juventus manager" after the shock defeat.
Conte has even looked to the future to confirm that Spurs will be looking to sign loanee Dejan Kulusevski permanently – though one thing that Conte has claimed he misses about his homeland is Sky Italia, who he has worked with previously in a TV role.
Tottenham sit third in the league, with six wins from their opening nine games.
More Tottenham stories
Antonio Conte has told his Tottenham squad that there is no one "undroppable" this season.
New star Richarlison has told FFT exclusively that he joined Spurs because Everton "lacked ambition", while confirming that there was interest from Chelsea. Tottenham apparently want to sign Jan Oblak and are bracing themselves for Bayern Munich reviving interest in Harry Kane.
Conte has denied that he could return to Juventus, meanwhile, and hit out at refereeing in the Premier League.
