Conte leaves Tottenham 'by mutual agreement'

Antonio Conte's volatile Tottenham reign came to an almost inevitable end on Sunday as the intense Italian parted ways with the club "by mutual agreement" after 16 months in charge.

Conte, 53, arrived to take charge of the under-achieving Premier League outfit in November 2021.

After spending much of his time making veiled complaints about chairperson Daniel Levy's failure to back him sufficiently in the transfer market, it already seemed certain Conte would depart when his contract expired at the end of this season.

But the Italian appeared to make his position less tenable with an astonishing rant at his players after Tottenham blew a two-goal lead in a damaging 3-3 draw at bottom club Southampton earlier this month.

Although they remained fourth in the Premier League after that debacle, Spurs are in serious danger of missing out on Champions League qualification - fifth-placed Newcastle are two points behind, with two games in hand.

Levy reportedly became concerned about Conte's mood swings this season. There were claims the squad were tired of their manager's acerbic tongue, while fans bemoaned his perceived negative tactics.

The chairman would surely have preferred to keep Conte to avoid the upheaval triggered by a coaching change at such a critical time of the season.

But the manager's stinging criticism of his underachieving stars made his relationship with Levy more tricky.

To some, it appeared Conte was so fed up with Tottenham's inconsistency that his remarkable rant was an act of self-immolation designed to force his exit.

The club were dumped out of both the FA Cup and Champions League earlier this month as Conte's problems spiralled.

He had only recently returned to the touchline after a spell back in Italy recovering