Another key Tottenham man reacts to Antonio Conte tirade but still insists ‘I want to stay at Spurs’

Another Tottenham star has reacted to Antonio Conte’s weekend rant but insists the Italian’s future will have no bearing on whether he stays at the club or not.

It’s widely anticipated that the Italian will be sacked following crisis talks with Daniel Levy over the weekend after his now infamous rant following the draw at struggling Southampton on Saturday.

Sky Sports reports that a decision over Conte is imminent, with Ryan Mason set to be put in interim charge again.

One player who Conte was instrumental in bringing to the club is winger Dejan Kulusevski.

The Swede arrived with Rodrigo Bentancur in January 2022 but was only signed on an initial 18-month loan.

That deal will come to an end in the summer but Spurs have an obligation to buy if certain conditions over the deal are met.

And it appears that the attacker wants to stay put, even if Conte is no longer the man at the helm.

The 22-year-old, who is currently away on international duty, told reporters: “Conte’s situation will not affect the club’s buy option for me — absolutely not. I want to stay at Spurs, of course.”

Kulu has nothing but respect for Conte

Asked if he felt personally offended by his manager’s reaction after the game at St Mary’s, Kulusevski instead backed Conte. And he claims he has nothing but respect for the Italian, adding: “No, because I know what I bring to the team every day.

“I know I prepare myself to do as good as I can and that’s why I can always look at myself in the mirror,” Kulusevski told Sky Sports. “Sometimes I know I don’t play good enough and I can take responsibility for that.

“But what he said was for him, they were his words and I respect him a lot. He helped me a lot during my career and he’s still a very important man at the club and in my world.”

Spurs midfielder Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg was the first player to react to Conte’s rant and urged his boss to be ‘a little more precise’, if his players were to take the message on board.

However, Kulusevski insists he will not lose any sleep over the whole issue, adding: “He was very disappointed, as we were as players, and we have to accept that. We lost in the cups and went out of the Champions League, so I know we have to sometimes be sad and angry, and that’s how he took it.

“Somebody else would take it another way. We have to respect his words.”

Tottenham, almost certainly without Conte at the helm, will be back in action on April 3 when they head to Everton.

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