Antonio Conte is aware that his role at Tottenham is “different” from his usual roles, but will only stay here if he is 100 percent convinced of the club’s project.
The Italian has long been associated with winning trophies and enjoyed success during spells with Inter Milan, Chelsea and Juventus.
When he was appointed by the Spurs at the end of 2021, there was an expectation that the 53-year-old could help the club take the final step towards becoming true title contenders, but despite an impressive fourth place finish last season, this current campaign has been filled with inconsistent footage.
Conte has spoken many times about patience and the foundations that need to be built.
Ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Crystal Palace, he said: “I realized that my mission here is different.
“My job here is to help the club, build a solid foundation, build a foundation and then try to improve. That’s my mission here, that’s my challenge here.
“If you ask me and for you the real challenge is to win the Premier League, the Champions League, that’s not the task right now.
“My mission is to help the club I found. I signed a contract in November 2021 when I found the club in a difficult situation for many reasons.
“My task now, which I understand very well, is to try to help the club go or turn in the right direction when it comes to choosing, training, organizing and laying a foundation for the players.
“Now that is my biggest problem here. If I want to stay here now, I have to accept it. Otherwise, if I don’t want to accept it, I have to go.”
Pressured on how much time to give the current project before deciding to continue, Conte admitted it wouldn’t stay forever.
“It was not easy for me in the beginning. This is an important experience. I agreed to do it because I found a great club, a modern club and therefore I am happy to work here,” Conte insisted.
“This is my biggest problem. To continue to work very strongly with my team and players, to develop the club, to build a solid foundation.
“If I am happy to continue doing this work and one day I want to see the result, I will stay, if I am not 100 percent convinced then I can quit my job here.
“It’s a great job we’re doing together. I know very well what it is and how important it is.”
Given the progress Arsenal have made this season and Newcastle’s strong performance in the first half of the season, Conte stressed the importance of knowing when to step up the project.
“The most important thing for now is that the process has started. This is really important.
“Then you can speed up the process or go step-by-step. It also depends on a lot of situations.”