Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy will be thinking about Antonio Conte's contract situation as he enters the final 12 months of his current deal...
What's the word?
According to The Athletic's Jack Pitt-Brooke, it will be the "number one thing" on Levy's mind, having done all he could to lure the Premier League champion to the club back in November.
Speaking during a recent appearance on The Last Word On Spurs YouTube channel, the reliable reporter said:
"At the moment, I haven't heard anything to say that this is ongoing or this is imminent. That said, clearly, this will be the number one thing on Daniel Levy's mind because you know, Daniel Levy moved heaven and earth to get Conte to the club.
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"He's desperate to make Conte a success. He has found all this extra money for Conte that suddenly. He's delivered in his players. So of course, Levy will be thinking about this all the time.
"The question is really and you know if Conte wants another big deal on [a] good salary I'm sure Levy would give it to him because Tottenham have got the money, and it's so important to Levy to have Conte here as manager. I guess the question really is, does Conte want to be tied to Tottenham for the next few years?"
Tie him down
This will come as encouraging news to the Lilywhites faithful as Pitt-Brooke claims that Levy would be open to tying the Italian down for the long term, and given the sizeable investment this summer, it would be a wise thing to do.
Conte has got a lot of the players that he wanted - six in fact, particularly in defence, where he has signed his former player in Ivan Perisic, a right wing-back solution in Djed Spence and finally, a left-footed centre-back in Clement Lenglet.
The 52-year-old has also seen his squad bolstered by the £60m arrival of Richarlison from Everton and Yves Bissouma from Brighton, which will allow him to rotate for their midweek adventures in the Champions League, as well as remaining competitive in the Premier League, too.
It would make little sense for Levy to splash the cash as he has done, only to bring in a different manager at the end of the season as he'll be left with the bulk of Conte's expensive squad.
The Spurs supremo must also be aware that he will probably struggle to recruit a manager of this calibre again, given the likes of Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola are holding down the fort at their Premier League rivals.
Conte is already on a whopping £15m-per-year, which is the third highest in the top-flight, so it would certainly be another bold move from Levy and co but ultimately, if they want to transition into a trophy-winning outfit, then their best chance is likely to be with Conte.
Those around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium should be rather excited by this claim.
AND in other news, Paratici now given green light to seal "amazing" signing as Spurs eye £50m "genius"...