24-year-old to become Antonio Conte’s first Spurs signing

Antonio Conte was appointed Tottenham Hotspur’s new manager just 24 hours after Nuno Espirito Santo was sacked.

The Italian, who won the Premier League and FA Cup in a two-year spell with Chelsea, returns to London on an 18-month deal and will aim to turn the fortunes of a side which has lost five of their last seven top-flight matches.

Spurs’ first match of the Conte era comes at home to Vitesse in the Europa Conference on Thursday before a trip to Everton on Sunday.

Conte returns to the Premier League over three years after being sacked by Chelsea.

But as well as matters on the pitch, it seems as though work is underway to provide the ex-Inter Milan boss with new additions to bolster his squad.

And, according to reports in Italy, it seems that AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie could become Conte’s first signing.

Calciomercato reporter Rudy Galetti claims that the North London club are “close” to an agreement with the Ivory Coast star.

🚨💣 Accordo vicino tra #Atangana e il #Tottenham per #Kessie 🇨🇮. Ingaggio da €10M a stagione per il centrocampista del #Milan 🔴⚫ e maxi commissione per l'agente. 🐓⚽ #THFC #Calciomercato #Transfers

— Rudy Galetti (@RudyGaletti) November 2, 2021

It’s believed that the deal is likely to be a pre-contract agreement as Kessie’s deal with Milan expires next summer, meaning Tottenham would not have to pay a transfer fee.

The 24-year-old, who has played 194 matches for Milan since arriving (initially on loan) in 2017, would reportedly earn £8.5million per season.