Tim Sherwood, speaking on Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports, has questioned Son Heung-min and Harry Kane extending their contracts at Tottenham.
He claimed that the Spurs duo will not sign new contracts if Antonio Conte does not extend his stay at the club. The Italian only has less than 12 months left in his contract, and with multiple reports linking him to a return to Juventus, Spurs will be hoping to sort out his new contract soon.
Di Marzio had reported last week that the Italian is keen on staying at Spurs but will only sign a new contract if he is convinced that his and the clubs’ ambitions are aligned. Conte is a serial winner who has won trophies at every club he has managed and will be hoping to do the same at Spurs but will he will require Daniel Levy and co to fully back him.
The club is happy with Conte and wants to offer him a new contract. Football Insider reported that the club is ‘working’ on it with talks ‘set to intensify’ during the World Cup break.
Conte’s contract extension is expected to start a domino effect with Harry Kane said to be monitoring the Italian’s situation before signing a new contract of his own.
And former Spurs manager Tim Sherwood feels that if the Italian does not win a trophy this season then he might leave the club which would also result in Kane and Son leaving. He said (via HITC):
“Let’s face it, he (Conte) only has until the end of the season,”
“I mean he’s not signed a new contract. You are asking Harry Kane and Son to extend their contracts, why would you extend your contract?
“If you believe in this manager if your manager is going to be there until the end of the season. You have to make a decision on him, soon.
“There is speculation of him going back to Italy. He is lauded in Italy for the style of how he wants to play. This year he has to win, if he doesn’t win this year, then he will leave.”
So far this season Spurs have managed to grind out wins against the teams below them but it is the top guns that he has had trouble with. They have faced Arsenal and Manchester United so far and lost both of them rather convincingly.
Conte’s style of play has come under heavy criticism this season. The Spurs team lacks the spark and creativity and perhaps it is not Conte’s fault that the club failed to sign him the attacking midfielder in the summer.
This is perhaps what he is waiting to be convinced about – full backing and say in the transfers so he can build a team that can compete for trophies.
