Guardiola Welcomes Conte Back To EPL

After two years at Chelsea, Conte left England in the summer of 2018. He pipped Guardiola’s City to the premier league title in his first season at Stamford Bridge, before Guardiola’s side became the first team in English top-flight history to cross the 100-point barrier the following season.

Conte had a year off after leaving Chelsea, before joining Inter Milan in 2019, where he won Serie A last season before a high-profile summer departure.

Spurs had approached Conte in the summer, but he declined because he was still too absorbed by his exit from Inter. After Nuno Espirito Santo was fired, he signed a contract that will last until 2023, as THEWILL reported.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Guardiola lavished adulation on the Italian: “First of all, welcome back to England, to the Premier League,” Guardiola said. “His career speaks perfectly for itself. He has had success everywhere. An absolutely outstanding manager.”

Guardiola was joined by former Tottenham defender Kyle Walker for his pre-match news conference before City’s Champions League encounter against Club Brugge, and he, too, was appreciative of Tottenham’s new head coach.

“I think Conte is a great manager, obviously. Hopefully, it’s going to be a successful appointment for them,” Walker added. “Obviously it’s been a tough couple of years with managers coming and going. I wish him and the club all the best.”

Only a few teams have lost to Tottenham this season, and Guardiola’s City are one of them. Nuno’s first game in charge of Spurs ended in a 1-0 loss thanks to a Son Heung-min goal in north London.

In the summer, City tried to sign Tottenham striker Harry Kane, but were unable to complete a deal, and the England captain remained at Tottenham.