Talks continuing between Antonio Conte and Tottenham Hotspur

Those of you who were hoping to wake up to an announcement from Tottenham Hotspur that they have appointed Antonio Conte as their new manager were most likely disappointed. I know I was.

However, there’s still good news in the pipeline. Multiple sources are reporting that positive talks are progressing between Daniel Levy and Conte, and that everything seems to be proceeding to an agreement that will see the Italian succeed Jose Mourinho on the sidelines. ESPN states that Harry Kane is a hot topic in negotiations, as you might expect, with Daniel Levy assuring Conte that the club will either keep ahold of Kane or ensure that there is sufficient money available to adequately replace him should a large bid come in for him from Manchester City. La Repubblica, meanwhile, suggests that should Kane leave Conte would strongly consider making a move for Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku, a former Chelsea player who played extremely well for Conte in Milan’s Scudetto-winning campaign last season.

London journalist Alasdair Gold, who was on vacation this week, nevertheless also posted a positive update on Twitter concerning Conte’s appointment yesterday afternoon.

The appointment of Fabio Paratici as Spurs’ new Director of Football has also not been formally announced, but that also appears to be one that continues to be negotiated. La Repubblica also reports that Paratici has agreed to join Tottenham even before formal negotiations have ended, and that his first call was to Conte to persuade him to join Paratici in north London.

So there’s no really new news to report on this front, but everything’s looking positive. Expect some dribs and drabs to emerge over the course of the day, and if we’re fortunate we may have an official tweet before the end of the week.