Tottenham duo ‘were preparing transfer ultimatum’ had Conte stayed

Tottenham duo Cristian Romero and Richarlison were set to tell the club they would be considering their futures at the end of the season had Antonio Conte remained in charge, according to reports in South America. The developments have shone new light on last weekend’s dismissal of the Italian, who was seemingly unpopular amongst his players by the end of his rollercoaster tenure.

Three days on from Conte’s sacking, no Spurs player is yet to wish their former boss well on social media following his highly-anticipated departure.

It’s understood a number of Tottenham’s players were fully onboard with the decision to sack the Italian after he heavily criticised the mentality of his players following the 3-3 draw at Southampton.

According to TyC Sports reporter Gaston Edul, both Romero and Richarlison had grown frustrated with the former Tottenham manager during the final months of his stay.

In fact, Edul claims both players were prepared to hand the club ultimatums at the end of the season in a bid to force Conte out of the door.

It’s claimed both Romero and Richarlison were prepared to consider their futures at the end of the campaign if Conte was to extend his contract in north London.

While Romero has been a mainstay under the Italian, Richarlison has largely struggled having failed to find the net in the Premier League for Spurs following his £60million transfer from Everton.

The Brazilian came to blows with Conte earlier this month when he bad-mouthed his former manager for starting him on the bench against AC Milan.

While the incident was quickly squashed by the pair, Richarlison raised his frustrations with the way Conte dropped him to the bench despite wins over West Ham and Chelsea.

“That’s what I didn’t understand. It was going well in a good sequence with two wins against West Ham and Chelsea,” Richarlison told TNT Sports after the 0-0 draw with AC Milan.

“Suddenly, he put me on the bench against Wolverhampton and put me on for five minutes. I asked why? They didn’t tell me anything.

“They then asked me to take a test at the gym and that if I was good I would go to the game and they then left me on the bench. These are things that it is not possible to understand.

“Let’s see what he [Conte] will say, but there are no fools here either, I’m a professional, I work every day and I want to play. There are minutes left, time left.”

Conte’s response was that he agreed with Richarlison that his season had been “s***” – citing the fact he had failed to score in the Premier League.

Although the pair seemed to put their difference aside for the 3-1 Premier League win over Nottingham Forest, the damage was seemingly beyond repair.

Richarlison is still facing a fight to turn his Tottenham career around as when everyone is fit and firing, he finds himself being Son Heung-min, Harry Kane and Dejan Kulusevski in the attacking pecking order.

The 25-year-old Brazilian has mustered just two goals in 26 appearances for Spurs in all competitions this season despite shining at the World Cup in Qatar with Brazil.