Tottenham Hotspur chief exec Daniel Levy has told club insiders he “crossed his fingers” during negotiations with prospective new manager Antonio Conte, it has emerged.
The 59-year-old Spurs supremo was gleeful this morning as reports circulated he’d somehow got the hot-headed Italian coach to drop down to Tottenham’s level and agree to take charge of the struggling North London side.
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“Daniel was over the moon.” one source confirmed. “He took out a block of especially pungent Danish Blue from the cheese room and pass it out among the staff to celebrate.
“They had to pay 50p if they wanted a cracker with it,” they said.
And while discussing his pitch to the former Chelsea gaffer, the famously steely negotiator revealed he’d crossed his fingers while telling him there’s money to spend on the team.
“We haven’t a pot to p*ss-in til we get yer da back in the ground watching Axl Rose jiggle his belly and paying £9 for plastic pints of Bud,” we were told.
“But that didn’t stop Daniel from promising Antonio a transfer spend this summer if he joins – it’ll just be on kids from the Southend reserves.”
Levy described how he’d deftly placed his left hand behind his back as the pair discussed a possible deal over lunch at a London restaurant.
“Oh yeah, I said there’d be money to spend and gestured for more wine to the waiter while crossing my fingers, so it doesn’t really count then. Clever, innit,” he’s reported to have said.
“And then I pretended to cough and said ‘if we get £180million for Harry Kane’ really fast.”
“I can’t believe he fell for it,” he went on before doubling-over in laughter.
And Levy confirmed the negotiations have gone more smoothly than expected, as Conte has agreed to only bring in just one assistant to keep costs down, a “fitness coach” from Juventus state-of-the-art laboratory in Turin, and the doctor who did his expert weave.
“Once he starts working with Daniel, Antonio will pluck out all those expertly arranged strands in no time, so Dr Amalfitano was really a must to have on staff.” a source close to the former Juventus player told us.
And, despite the reports of Spurs being broke, our source said that he would expect the volcanic manager to take the news in his stride.
“Antonio’s grown a lot in the last few years as a person. He’s far more chilled out now – at Inter, he only punched four large holes in the wall during his stay. Just four.
“He puts it down to meditation – he spends an hour a day contemplating Jose Mourinho’s recent struggles and an overwhelming sense of peace and well-being washes over him,” they said.
“In fact, he can’t stop laughing when he thinks about it.”
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