Tottenham confident of appointing Antonio Conte as new head coach

Tottenham managing director Fabio Paratici is confident of appointing Antonio Conte as the club's new head coach, following the sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo on Monday morning.

Conte was among several candidates Spurs were interested in during the summer, before eventually settling on former Wolves boss Nuno.

But the Spurs hierarchy have already removed the Portuguese from his position after just four months in charge, after the 3-0 defeat to Manchester United on Saturday made it five defeats in the club's opening 10 Premier League games.

Attention has swiftly turned back to Conte, who remains available after not taking another job since leaving Inter at the end of last season.

90min understands that Conte has agreed to talk to Spurs, and the catalyst for the swift approach has been Paratici - who worked in the hierarchy above Conte at Juventus a decade ago.

He talked with the former Chelsea boss before the decision was made to dismiss Nuno, and informed chairman Daniel Levy of his belief that a deal can be agreed with Conte before Spurs face Everton in their next Premier League game.

Negotiations with the Italian have progressed quickly and sources close to the situation have confirmed that an announcement could come as early as Monday evening, although finalising the last details of Conte's 18-month contract could throw up some routine delays and see the confirmation come on Tuesday.

The deal is understood to include a handful of options and break clauses, with Conte keen to ensure he is free to leave if promises made by Levy are not fulfilled, as he did with Inter during the summer.

On Spurs' side, they are happy to accept but hope that Conte would agree to sign a new contract in the summer if things go in the right direction, such as sealing a spot in the top four or at least making some noticeable progress on the field.

If all goes according to plan, Conte could be in charge for Thursday's Europa Conference League tie against Vitesse on Thursday, although responsibility could still be left to Ryan Mason while Conte gets to grips with the squad.

Recently, Conte has been strongly linked taking over at Manchester United, but the Red Devils are yet to pull the trigger on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - who eased the pressure on his shoulders by overcoming Spurs in what proved to be Nuno's final game.

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