Soon after it was announced that Zinedine Zidane was walking away from the Real Madrid managerial job for the second time, a few names emerged as favourites to replace him.
RMC Sport in France, via their journalist Mohamed Bouhafsi, appeared to be the first to mention the name Antonio Conte, who had himself recently left Inter, and now that’s been confirmed all over.
AS in Spain and Sport Italia journalist Gianluigi Longari are reporting the news, which could have big implications in Tottenham’s attempts to find the right man to take over from Ryan Mason.
We say this because Gazzetta dello Sport reported earlier on Friday that Conte was ‘very tempted’ by a move to Spurs, clearly receiving an offer from Daniel Levy to take the reins of the London club.
The newspaper explained the English capital and the Premier League still held a special place in his heart following his spell at Chelsea, seemingly making Tottenham the favourites in that particular race.
That being said, Real Madrid will have something to say about it, as AS report they have contacted the Italian manager and enquired as to how his ‘idea fits with the plan to renew the squad’ at the La Liga side, as ‘it’s time to make difficult decisions’.
This is why ‘it’s essential to be on the same page as the new manager’, with Florentino Pérez seemingly decided to hire the right man for the job and not just a name to please the fans.
The contact was also reported by Longari, who took to social media to explain there had been ‘in-depth talks between Conte and Real Madrid’, and that he was now ‘in pole position to follow Zidane’ in that particular dugout.
The ball now appears to be in Daniel Levy’s court, and it’ll be up to him to ensure the former Inter manager’s head is fully fixated on London, and not Spain.
