Big hint: Conte may have just made unexpected player U-turn at Tottenham - opinion

Antonio Conte praised Tottenham’s Joe Rodon following Spurs’ 5-1 victory in the Premier League on Sunday.

The north London outfit were in impressive form as they dismantled Newcastle United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Goals from Ben Davies, Matt Doherty, Son Heung-min, Emerson Royal and Steven Bergwijn made Fabian Schar’s opener for the visitors irrelevant, and the three points moved Spurs into the top four, albeit having played two games more than fifth-placed Arsenal.

Rodon only made the bench for the Toon game, but Conte lauded the Wales international during his post-match press conference. When discussing the improvement he has seen in his squad, he said (via football.london): “Don’t forget Joe Rodon improved a lot from November until now. Every single player improving a lot.”

What could this mean for Rodon’s future? Here’s what we think…

Since moving to Tottenham in 2020, Rodon has struggled to make much of an impact. Although he did make 12 Premier League appearances last term, he has featured just eight times in all competitions this time around, with half of those runouts coming during Spurs’ ill-fated Europa Conference League campaign.

Just last week, reporter Alasdair Gold revealed Rodon will likely leave the club this summer, though that could well be just on a temporary basis. Meanwhile, former Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson claimed recently that Antonio Conte has made his mind up on the defender and that he will allow the Welshman to leave this summer.

However, Conte appears to be making his thoughts on the 24-year-old known ahead of the next transfer window. These latest comments come after the Spurs boss lauded the central defender’s showing during Wales’ 2-1 win over Austria during the latest