First things started with a rumor, which HotspurHQ was quick to jump on. Now the rumor is becoming a shout with the report from Fabrizio Romano that Antonio Conte is no longer coach at Inter Milan. With a rumor of a connection and now a report of availability, it seems the stars are aligning for Tottenham to make Antonio Conte coach. However, the real question is not so much if Tottenham can afford Conte, it is if they can afford to back him in the transfer market.
Didn’t Tottenham just do this?
In the last decade, Antonio Conte has won 8 major trophies with three different clubs, including Serie A this season with Inter Milan. Having won both the Serie A with Juventus (3x) as well as Inter and the Premier League, with Chelsea in 2016/17 there is no doubt Conte knows how to lead a team to success.
However, it was now only about 20 months ago that Tottenham did this exact thing. They hired a serial winner in Jose Mourinho. While Antonio Conte is not Jose Mourinho, he is a serial winner. And while Antonio Conte is not Jose Mourinho, like Jose Mourinho, you are only going to find success with Antonio Conte by bringing in his players.
So exactly what kind of support has Conte gotten and might Conte need to have success at Tottenham?
Official. Antonio Conte leaves Inter with immediate effect, official statement confirms. ⚫️🔵🇮🇹 #Conte #Inter
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 26, 2021
Conte and the Transfer Market
While Juventus in the early 2010s was a different footballing universe from today, Conte’s work at both Chelsea and Inter show what he would need to do to find the success he has there. Basically, Conte needs his players and a lot of them.
Conte and Chelsea
In his 2 years leading Chelsea Antonio purchased a dozen senior players, not including any free transfers or loans. Some of those players formed both the core of that title-winning team as well as the team that is playing in the Champions League final this weekend. Players like Antonio Rudiger, Marcos Alonzo, and N’Golo Kante have been integral to Chelsea’s success.
However, some of his other purchases were not as successful, with Ross Barkley, Michy Batshuayi, and Alvaro Morata being a few of the bigger names that came in and found little success with the Blues. None were part of the team this season.
Those dozen players ranged in costs from $18.48 million (£13.09 million) for Barkley – on the low end – to $72.60 million (£51.43 million) for Morata. All told more than $430 million (£305 million) was spent according to transfermrkt.com. Now that is not the net transfer spend during that time, just the players brought in. Chelsea did have almost $330 million (£233 million) in outgoing transfers during that time as well but Chelsea’s ability to move players both in and out of the team versus Tottenham’s is quite different.
Bottom line, Chelsea backed Conte on two ends, selling the players he did not want including Oscar, Mo Salah, and Diego Costa; as well as bringing in the players he wanted. There was of course largely a similar situation at Inter.
Conte and Inter Milan
Despite finishing fourth the season before Conte arrived, Inter was a distant 21 points off Juventus. In Conte’s first season Inter Mian cut that gap to just one point. And of course, this past season Inter Milan won Serie A.
This success, very similar to what was seen at Chelsea, came from a similar approach, with a massive move out of players he did not want and a boatload of new signings. Over the course of two seasons, Inter Milan moved out a number of players to the tune of $163.62 million (£115.87 million) in outgoing transfers according to transfermrkt.com.
Of course, Conte spent all of that and more, with approximately $325 million (£230.15 million) in incoming transfer fees. That meant Conte and Inter spent nearly twice as much as they spent, with a net spend of $161.68 million (£114.49 million) over those two seasons.
The dividends were real, Inter won Serie A, the costs maybe even more as rumors come out about financial issues at the club, which has led to Conte being available. All of this leads us to the question, will Spurs back Conte?
For Conte to succeed at Tottenham
At this point, it should be pretty clear what Conte needs to be successful at Tottenham, a very open checkbook and a big willingness to both acquire and more importantly sell players. This second point the selling of players is part of what has gotten Tottenham in this position, to begin with.
Conte has been willing to make big calls, like sending Ivan Perisic on loan or selling Mauro Icardi. Yet in the end, he won. We saw the club’s reluctance to move Dele Alli in January, will the club really let Conte do what needs to be done on both ends?
If Conte cannot move the players he deems surplus to requirements, then the idea of getting his players in cannot even begin to be discussed. However, if Tottenham can sell off the deadwood and bring in some fresh timber, Conte can help lead teams to trophies. It is just a big IF for Tottenham.