Tottenham close in on Antonio Conte after sacking Nuno Espirito Santo

Tottenham are closing in on appointing Antonio Conte as their new manager after sacking Nuno Espirito Santo.

The Portuguese and his coaching staff left Spurs on Monday morning after just four months at the club.

Spurs have already identified Conte as their first-choice replacement for Nuno after missing out on the Italian in the summer.

According to Gianluca Di Marzio, Spurs and Conte are now discussing the ‘final details’ of their agreement and the 52-year-old could travel to London on Monday in order to put the finishing touches on his move.

Meanwhile, The Guardian reports that Spurs’ managing director of football, Fabio Paratici, is ‘confident’ an agreement can be reached with the former Chelsea manager.

Paratici has already worked with Conte during their time together at Juventus.

Conte has been out of work since he left Inter three weeks after guiding the team to the Serie A title in May.

Spurs had made a move to appoint Conte as Jose Mourinho’s replacement but talks were halted at the start of June as they were concerned by his transfer budget demands.

Speaking in June, Conte stressed that he was not convinced by the project offered to him by Spurs.

‘The market sets the price, but had I been obsessed by money, I would have stayed where I was in the past. I would have accepted compromises and obtained new contracts,’ Conte told Gazzetta dello Sport.

‘I look for the projects instead and I am ready to stay at home if something is not convincing me. It has to do with vision, honesty and principles.

‘Generally, I like the challenges and I’ve accepted many of them during my career.

‘Even the top clubs I coached were never the favourites when I arrived. However, if there’s something that doesn’t convince me I prefer not to accept regardless of the money.’

Conte had also been on Manchester United’s radar last week as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s position at Old Trafford was under threat following his side’s 5-0 defeat at home to Liverpool.

But Solskjaer has alleviated some of that pressure by guiding United to a 3-0 win over Tottenham on Saturday – a result signalled the end of Nuno’s reign at Spurs.

In a brief statement after confirming Nuno’s exit, Paratici said: ‘I know how much Nuno and his coaching staff wanted to succeed and I regret that we have had to take this decision.

‘Nuno is a true gentleman and will always be welcome here. We should like to thank him and his coaching staff and wish them well for the future.’

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