Tottenham has announced the appointment of Antonio Conte as the club’s manager to replace Nuno Espírito Santo who was sacked yesterday just after 4 months as head coach.
In 2017, Conte won the English Premier League with Chelsea with two matches to spare. As Chelsea manager, Conte set a new Premier League record for the most wins in a single season, with 30 league victories out of 38 league matches. He was sacked in 2018 by the Club.
He joined Inter Milan in 2019 but left in May this year reportedly due to disagreements with the club’s board over transfers for this season. He helped the club to win the Serie A title, ending Juventus’s run of nine consecutive titles.
Commenting on the appointment, Managing Director – Football, Fabio Paratici, said: “We are delighted to welcome Antonio to the Club. His track record speaks for itself, with vast experience and trophies in both Italy and England. I know first-hand the qualities Antonio can bring to us, having worked with him at Juventus, and look forward to seeing his work with our talented group of players.”
On his appointment, Conte revealed that he was the first choice before the club appointed Nuno on 30 June this year.
“I am extremely happy to return to coaching, and to do so at a Premier League club that has the ambition to be a protagonist again. Tottenham Hotspur has state-of-the-art facilities and one of the best stadiums in the world. I can’t wait to start working to convey to the team and the fans the passion, mentality and determination that have always distinguished me, as a player and as a coach” Conte has been quoted as saying in a club statement.
“Last summer our union did not happen because the end of my relationship with Inter was still too recent and emotionally too involved with the end of the season, so I felt that it wasn’t yet the right time to return to coaching. But the contagious enthusiasm and determination of Daniel Levy in wanting to entrust me with this task had already hit the mark. Now that the opportunity has returned, I have chosen to take it with great conviction”, he continued.
He has also coached Juventus and the Italian national team.
Born in Lecce, Antonio began his playing career at his home-town team (1985-1991) before achieving legendary status at Juventus (1991-2004). A midfielder, he won five Scudettos with La Vecchia Signora, the UEFA Cup in 1993 and Champions League in 1996. He earned 20 caps for Italy and was part of squads that achieved runners-up status in the 1994 World Cup and Euro 2000.
Antonio began his coaching career as an assistant in Siena in 2005 and had spells at Arezzo, Bari – where he won Serie B – and Atalanta before returning to Juventus in 2011. He won the title in his first season, 2011/12, completing the campaign unbeaten and equalling a club record 28-match unbeaten run set by Fabio Capello. He completed a hat-trick of titles with success in 2012/13 and 2013/14, when Juve amassed a Serie A record of 102 points.
Antonio took charge of the Italian national team in 2014 and led them to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016, topping their group and beating Belgium and Spain along the way.
