Antonio Conte looked set for a return to the Premier League, after his representatives spoke to Tottenham Hotspur to replace Jose Mourinho.

Conte only spent two seasons in England as manager of London rivals Spurs Chelsea and has enjoyed great success.

His first campaign in charge saw Chelsea win the Premier League title in style, their 3-4-3 formation taking the division by storm.

But despite winning the FA Cup and reaching the EFL Cup final the following season, Conte was sacked after Chelsea finished outside the top four.

His departure from the club was acrimonious to say the least and saw him rack up an incredible amount in the form of severance pay.

Football Mirror examined Conte’s departure from Chelsea and what that would potentially have meant for his relationship with Tottenham president Daniel Levy.

Perhaps it is better that the discussions between the two parties have been broken off …

Transfer arguments

Conte is known to have disagreements with his employers over transfers, and at Chelsea it was no different.

First of all, the Italian manager wanted Romelu Lukaku to be signed from Everton as a matter of urgency.

However, the Blues were reluctant to respond to the Toffees’ demands and instead he signed for Manchester United in a deal worth £ 75million.

Conte remained furious after the failed move and had to scramble to find a replacement.

Alvaro Morata was signed for £ 60million, but he didn’t have much of an impact and only scored 11 goals in 31 Premier League games in his debut season.

That lack of firepower up front helped knock Chelsea down to the wayside and finish outside the top four, which ultimately cost Conte his job.

Abramovich is fighting

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Antonio Conte would he be a success at Tottenham? Give us your opinion in the comments section.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is said to have had a good relationship with Conte when things were going well, but things quickly took a turn for the worse when the results worsened.

The Blues ended the season outside of the Champions League spots, and an FA Cup win was not enough to convince the owner to keep Conte in his role.

However, as the preseason approached, Conte was still in his role and there was no update on his dismissal.

It was widely assumed that Maurizio Sarri was lined up to replace the Italian, but there was still no official word from the club until June.

And reports suggested at the time that the reason for Chelsea’s failure to sack Conte was that Abramovich wanted him to take another job instead of being sacked.

This is because Conte was one of the highest paid coaches in the world at the time and had to pay an incredible amount if Chelsea sacked him rather than playing a different role.

£ 26million in prize money

Chelsea did not finally sack Conte until July, with Sarri arriving two days later and only having one month to prepare his side before the Premier League campaign arrived.

Conte’s decision not to take another job meant Chelsea were in a corner, and Abramovich was forced to fire the Italian or support him in another transfer market and the final year of his contract.

Such was his impressive salary, Conte owed £ 9million by the club but that ignored the rest of his behind-the-scenes staff, who also had to be sacked.

Chelsea’s financial accounts showed they had paid Conte and his staff behind the scenes £ 26.6million.

This money was compensation after Conte launched a legal battle against the club over an unfair dismissal.