Tottenham: Conte 'wants push for title challenge' at Hotspur Way | OneFootball

Tottenham manager Antonio Conte has played down his side’s chances of challenging for the title but wants them to be “pushing” Manchester City and Liverpool, according to The Athletic reporter Charlie Eccleshare.

Conte led Spurs to an impressive fourth place finish after taking over midway through last season, but Eccleshare reckons the Italian will be desperate to close the gap on the top two in 2022-2023.

What’s the latest news involving Tottenham?

Stark contrast to this time 12 months ago when Harry Kane wanted to leave, Tottenham were preparing for the Europa Conference League and Nuno Espirito Santo was in charge, there’s a great deal of expectation in north London ahead of the new campaign.

That’s mainly because they have Conte in in the dugout, although also down to their highly impressive transfer window, which has seen the likes of Ivan Perisic, Yves Bissouma and Richarlison all arrive.

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As a result, some believe they could emerge as City and Liverpool’s closest challengers, with ex-England defender Joleon Lescott confident that Conte’s side could put pressure on the top two.

What did Eccleshare say about Tottenham?

When asked whether he thinks Conte is confident of a title charge, he told GIVEMESPORT: “I pushed him on it in Korea, saying the title is there and he downplayed it.

“I said but you did it with Inter when Juventus had been dominant, but he said ‘yes but we have two generational teams in Manchester City and Liverpool,’ although I wouldn’t necessarily take his word there.

“I don’t think he expects to win the league or thinks they will win the league, but he definitely wants to be pushing them.”

Can Tottenham challenge for the title?

Despite their improvements in the off-season, which has seen their squad improve significantly, talk of a push towards the title looks to be too much too soon for Spurs.

Ultimately, Spurs might look a different team under Conte’s guidance, but they still ended up finishing 22 points behind champions Manchester City, which is an incredible deficit to make up.

Even if Conte was in charge from the beginning of last season, Tottenham would have most likely still finished around 15 points off the top, which highlights the gap between themselves and City and Liverpool.

Therefore, heading into the new campaign, solidifying their place in the top four should be their main target, with anything beyond that surely a bonus.