Conte reason for rejecting Spurs 'nonsense', says Jordan, who disputes Levy description

This may just be the motto of the Tottenham boardroom after the club finally appointed Antonio Conte as their new manager.

Spurs tried to hire the former Chelsea boss last summer as their lengthy search for a permanent successor to Jose Mourinho made them a laughing stock.

Conte became available having suddenly left Inter Milan shortly after guiding them to the Serie A title.

An agreement with the Italian could not be reached, though, with Conte now saying the deal collapsed due to his belief the new job offer came too soon following his Inter exit.

After completing his move to Spurs, Conte said: "Last summer our union did not happen because the end of my relationship with Inter was still too recent and emotionally too involved with the end of the season, so I felt that it wasn't yet the right time to return to coaching."

Conte reunites with Spurs' managing director of football Fabio Paratici, who he worked alongside at Juventus.

However, Conte shed light on the role Spurs chairman Daniel Levy played in getting him on board too, as he praised the chief who is unpopular with fans.

He added: "The contagious enthusiasm and determination of Daniel Levy in wanting to entrust me with this task had already hit the mark. Now that the opportunity has returned, I have chosen to take it with great conviction."

However, talkSPORT's Simon Jordan is far from convinced by Conte's reasoning for initially turning Spurs down.

The former Crystal Palace owner reacted live on air after Tottenham's new appointment was announced during the White and Jordan show on Tuesday.

And he wasn't having Conte's explanation at all.

"Conte says he didn't join Tottenham because he had a difficult time leaving Inter Milan - nonsense," said the talkSPORT pundit.

"The deal wasn't right for him, the finances weren't right, the bending over opportunity that Daniel Levy will now give him - in terms of Daniel is going to let him have what he wants - is probably more to do with it.

"I've never heard anyone describe Daniel in all my experiences with him as 'having contagious enthusiasm and determination', apart from determination to keep the balance sheet working well."