Conte issues subtle threat to Tottenham ahead Man City match 

Italian manager Antonio Conte has suggested that Tottenham Hotspur would regret seeing him leave, claiming that all of his previous clubs have.

Just under a year ago Conte masterminded a victory away to Manchester City that was one of the defining moments of Spurs’ season.

It was the catalyst for their push into the Champions League places, which acted as leverage for Conte in the transfer market.

There are parallels as they return to the Etihad tonight: poor form; a need for new signings, and a manager playing down expectations.

The difference, however, is that Conte must share some of the blame, with his team’s playing style under question and his refusal to commit to the club beyond the summer not helping.

Conte regardless believes that Spurs would be wrong to look to move on from him now. “You could tell me I could not be a good coach but about the commitment and what I give the club, no club was unhappy about this,” the 53-year-old said. “Usually when I left the club they regret [that] a lot because they knew the way that I work.”

That may not be wholly true. After Conte left Juventus in 2014 they won six straight titles, although there has been a mooted return this summer after three seasons of struggle. Chelsea have not won the title since Conte’s first season there in 2017, but they have won the Champions League and have not finished outside of the top four. Inter Milan only narrowly missed out on defending the title Conte won with them in 2021.

Under Conte, Tottenham also beat Arsenal and drew at Anfield towards the end of last season. This season they have played five games against “big six” sides and lost every one, bar the late draw at Chelsea, and they face City twice in under three weeks.

 “In this type of game, it’s not important to give extra motivation to your players, because they know the importance of the game and they have the motivation in themselves, because they know they are going to play against top players,” Conte said.

“We are going to face the best team in the world. If my team is going to play with a team at the bottom of the table or in first, I put the same pressure, because for me the pressure is a positive to give 100 per cent.”

Conte also reflected on the emotional strain caused by the death of three of his friends this season. He lost Gian Piero Ventrone, Tottenham’s popular fitness coach, in October and the former players Sinisa Mihajlovic last month and Gianluca Vialli two weeks ago.

“For sure this season is making me have an important reflection on my future,” he said. “You have important reflections because many times we think and we give a lot of importance to our work and we forget family and that we need to have more time for us.

“This season is a difficult season for me personally. But this [football] is our passion and for the passion we lost a lot of things.”

He was asked whether the losses had prompted him to consider changes to his lifestyle — his family have been living in Italy because he did not want to change his daughter’s school.

 “To have my family in Italy is not good,” he said. “But if every two seasons you have to bring your kids to change their environment, I don’t want to affect the life of my family.

“When this situation happens you start to think that maybe sometimes it is also good to give more time to your family and friends and also to yourself. The work is not everything in life.”