Daniel Levy has opened talks with Antonio Conte about becoming the next Tottenham Hotspur manager and is prepared to tell him that the club will keep star striker Harry Kane.
And Tottenham could pair Conte with former Juventus sporting director Fabio Paratici, who is expected to move to London with the former Chelsea head coach if a deal can be agreed.
Conte is interested in a return to London at Spurs to work with Paratici, having last managed in England for Chelsea, where he won the Premier League title and the FA Cup.
Contact has been made between Tottenham and Conte, and negotiations could accelerate quickly with Levy seemingly ready to make a firm offer to Conte after making the Italian his preferred candidate in response to Paris Saint-Germain’s tough stance on Mauricio Pochettino.
It remains to be seen whether or not Conte’s wage demands or budgetary requirements for the transfer market will put off Levy, with reports from Italy claiming the two parties are still some distance apart over what he would be paid.
But the 51-year-old is keen on a return to England and Spurs represents his best opportunity of coming back to the Premier League with a club that he could make competitive.
Conte will want assurances that he will be given the money to sign new players and re-shape a squad that has been in need of surgery for well over a year.
And he will also want to know what Levy’s plan is for Kane, who has told Tottenham he wants to move this summer after Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea all expressed an interest in signing him.
But Telegraph Sport understands that Levy is ready to tell Conte that he can keep Kane unless he believes he can make Tottenham better by selling the England captain and reinvesting the cash.
Conte is highly unlikely to want to lose Kane, given he described the 27-year-old as his “dream striker” after winning the title with Chelsea in 2017.
“Tottenham is a really good squad if they are able to keep all the players of their squad,” said Conte four years ago. “For me, Kane, now, is one of the best strikers in the world.
“If I had to buy one striker I would go to Kane. He is a complete striker. He is strong physically, with the ball, without the ball, he fights and he’s strong in the air and acrobatic on the right and the left. He’s a complete player. He’s one of the top strikers in the world.
“If you go to buy Kane now it would be at least £100million. At least. For me, if I see this price for a striker I know for sure he’s a big striker.
“Dele Alli is another top player, young. Tottenham is a really good team if they are able to keep the same squad as last season.”
Conte has visited Tottenham’s training ground and new stadium in the past and believes the facilities are among the best in the world, but he has previously questioned the ambition of the club.
In the same interview in which he expressed his admiration for Kane four years ago, Conte said: “My question is this: what are Tottenham’s expectations? If they don’t win the title, it’s not a tragedy. If they don’t arrive in the Champions League, it’s not a tragedy.
“If they go out in the first round of the Champions League it’s not a tragedy. If they go out after the first game that they play in the Europa League and go down against Gent, it is not a tragedy.
“Maybe for Chelsea, Arsenal, City, United and – I don’t know – Liverpool, it is a tragedy. You must understand this.
“I think Tottenham were very good and I think Pochettino is a very good manager and the club is a very good club. But in this season, you built something important. You never won.”
An approach to Conte was delayed while Tottenham chairman Levy attempted to find out whether or not a move to reappoint Pochettino was realistic.
But with PSG digging their heels in and extending Pochettino’s contract by a year, Levy looks to have turned to Conte.
Levy is desperate to see Tottenham win silverware and Conte has proved himself an expert in that department, winning Serie A titles at Juventus and his last club Inter Milan, as well as winning the Premier League and FA Cup with Chelsea.
It is unclear what the arrival of Paratici with Conte would mean for director of technical performance Steve Hitchen, but it could be a move aimed at attempting to deal with the former Inter Milan manager’s combustible personality.
Paratici, who worked with Conte at Juventus, would operate between Levy and the Italian as part of Tottenham’s football committee, which is currently only made up of Levy, Hitchen and Rebecca Capelhorn.milan