Antonio Conte laughs off ‘disrespectful’ Juventus links

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Antonio Conte has played down suggestions that he could return to Juventus in the near future.

90min reported recently that out-of-form Juventus would target a reunion with Conte if they parted ways with current boss Massimiliano Allegri, but that such a chain of events is unlikely due to the club’s perilous financial issues – they recently posted annual losses of nearly €250m.

Italian media have since claimed that Conte would be keen on returning to Turin after over eight years away, and he was quizzed about these links ahead of Spurs’ trip to Arsenal in the north London derby this weekend.

“This is incredible,” Conte laughed. “I think this is disrespectful for the coach that works in Juventus and disrespectful to me because I am working for Tottenham.

“Many times I have spoken about this topic and I’ve always said I’m happy and enjoying my time with Tottenham. We have the whole season to find the best solution for the club and for me. For sure I’m enjoying my time at Tottenham.

“I have a great relationship with the owner [chairman Daniel Levy] and [Fabio] Paratici. I don’t see any problems at the moment in the future. We both signed the contract. I don’t want to listen to someone speaking about this [Juventus links].”

Conte’s current Tottenham contract expires at the end of the season, but the club retain an option to extend the deal by a further 12 months which can be activated at any time.