Conte in hospital, operated on the gallbladder

From our correspondent Davide Chinellato

February 1st
– London

“Get well soon, Antonio”. Tottenham have announced in a statement that Antonio Conte must stop, forced to undergo a surgical operation that will keep him away from the field for an as yet undetermined period of time.

The press release

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“Antonio recently felt ill, accusing severe abdominal pains – Tottenham announced in a statement released shortly after 11am Italian time -. Following a diagnosis of cholecystitis, he will undergo surgery today to have his gallbladder removed. He will return after a recovery period. Everyone at the club wishes him a speedy recovery.”

The stop

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Conte was a regular on the bench on Saturday in Tottenham’s FA Cup win at Preston North End, but he had left it to his deputy Cristian Stellini to talk to reporters before and after the match. He looked like the usual Conte, so agitated on the sidelines that Spurs invented the Conte Cam, a camera that follows the coach throughout the game whose videos have become very popular on social media. Conte stops as soon as the transfer market is completed, which brought him the important additions of Danjuma and Pedro Porro, and a few days before the resumption of the Premier League and Manchester City’s arrival at the Tottenham Stadium on Sunday. On the horizon there is also the match against Milan on 14 February, in the first leg of the round of 16 of that Champions League in which the Londoners hope to make headway. Antonio has said several times that he lives for work, for the goal of gradually transforming Spurs into a competitive team for the highest goals that he has been working towards for more than a year. During this period of forced rest, Tottenham will have to show him that they have learned how to win. Even without his advice on the bench.