Antonio Conte offers strongest hint yet over long-term Tottenham future but wants ambition matched

Dan Kilpatrick @Dan_KP12 March 2022

Antonio Conte has offered the strongest indication yet that he is prepared to stay at Tottenham long-term, saying he wants to fight to win trophies with "my heart and soul" – provided the club matches his ambition.

Conte agreed an 18-month deal in November which runs until the end of next season and includes an option to extend.

The head coach has so far been non-committal over his future, warning of a long rebuild ahead and repeatedly refusing to offer assurances that he would still be at Spurs next season.

Last month, he suggested he may not be the right man for the job following a defeat at Burnley.

Conte, whose mood has tended to fluctuate with his side's results, has been more optimistic following Monday's 5-0 win over Everton and, ahead of Saturday's visit to Manchester United, he said he wanted to compete for titles with Spurs.

Asked if he would consider extending his deal to reassure everyone at the club, including prospective summer signings, Conte said: "At the moment there is only one truth: I am committed to this club for another year.

“The club wanted this situation and I accepted it because it was good to get to know each other. After four months I think the club have understood the way I want to work and I understand the club.

Antonio Conte is only contracted to Tottenham until the end of next season
Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images

"We have three more months until the end of the season to continue to improve our knowledge of each other and then to find the best solution for both.

"I can tell you that I am enjoying working for this club and I would like to fight for something important for this club.

"For sure, it is true that I would like this – to fight for the future, to fight to be competitive, to fight to win and not only to finish fourth in the league, because I repeat, that is not my ambition. My ambition is to be competitive and to fight to win [titles]. I want this and I know my heart, my soul, my mind wants these things. I hope myself and the club match each other in this situation."

Conte said Spurs must develop a "good vision" for the future and also called for the club to show "ambition with facts and not only words".

"If you have a good vision in football and you have a lot of hope, you can be successful," he said. "In January we showed that we have just started to try to improve the situation.

"To be competitive and become stronger and win the league and to fight to stay in the top four, we need a big, big improvement. We have started to do this with these players and in my opinion are improving a lot. But you need in the future to have other important steps and to have ambition. And it needs to be ambition with facts, not only with words."

In January, Conte described his side's level as "in the middle" but he believes Spurs have since improved, despite their up-and-down form this year.

Following the win over Everton, he challenged his players to beat tomorrow's opponents United, Arsenal and West Ham to a place in the Champions League next term and says he will not know the true level of his squad until the end of the season.

The Italian says he wants to fight to win trophies for Spurs with his “heart and soul”
Getty Images

"Honestly in this moment, I don’t know the way that we can finish the season," Conte said. "What I can tell you and I am sure about this, we are creating a really good team with a good idea of football.

"I don’t know if it will be enough to reach the top four in this season but I think we need to have this type of ambition. Since one month ago, we improved a lot, despite ups and downs. Now we are ready. We are ready to fight, we are ready to play our cards and to see what happens. It would be outstanding for us to win a Champions League [place] because don’t forget that this season for Tottenham was very difficult for many, many aspects."

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