Juventus 'want Tottenham Hotspur's Antonio Conte back as manager'

Juventus reportedly want Tottenham Hotspur's Antonio Conte to return to the club as their new head coach for next season.

The 53-year-old made over 400 appearances for the Turin-based outfit as a player before taking over as manager for three years between 2011 and 2014, winning three Serie A titles and two Supercoppa Italianas.

Conte has since managed the Italy national team, Chelsea, Inter Milan and now Tottenham, who he joined in November last year to succeed Nuno Espirito Santo.

Spurs were languishing in mid-table in the Premier League when Conte took the reins, but the Italian successfully guided the North London club back into the Champions League courtesy of a fourth-placed finish in 2021-22.

Conte has since been backed by the Spurs hierarchy in the transfer market, with seven players joining permanently over the summer for a combined fee of around £150m.

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However, Conte's long-term future at Tottenham is believed to be uncertain, with his current contract expiring at the end of the season.

A recent report claims that Spurs have an option to extend Conte's deal by a further 12 months, but the North Londoners are keen to discuss a new contract with the Italian next month.

Tottenham may have a fight on their hands to keep hold of their current head coach, though, as Gazzetta dello Sport, via The Mirror, claims that Juventus will look to bring Conte back to the club ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.

Massimiliano Allegri is in charge of the Serie A giants at present, but his position at the club has recently come under threat following a poor start to the season.

Juve have already been eliminated from the Champions League with one group game to spare after losing four of their five Group H fixtures, and they currently sit eighth in Serie A, 10 points behind leaders Napoli.

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The report adds that Juve will look to replace Allegri with Conte if the former fails to win a trophy and qualify for the Champions League this season.

Allegri insists that he will not stand down and the 55-year-old has the support of club president Andrea Agnelli, who stated earlier this month that the head coach is not the only person to blame for their disappointing start to the campaign.

"In a situation like this, it's not about one person. It's a matter to be dealt with by a whole group," Agnelli told Sky Sports Italia.

"We feel ashamed, we apologise to our fans, because we know they must feel ashamed to walk around at the moment. Allegri is the coach of Juventus and he will remain as the coach of Juventus."

Juventus will travel to Lecce in Serie A on Saturday before playing host to Paris Saint-Germain in their final Champions League group game next Wednesday.