By Wayne Veysey

2nd Dec, 2021 | 8:30am

Sources: Major update on Hitchen's future at Tottenham as Conte fumes

Antonio Conte wants to take full control of the Tottenham recruitment process in January in tandem with managing director Fabio Paratici, Football Insider understands.

Longstanding members of the Spurs recruitment team are fighting for their futures as Conte becomes the latest manager to point the finger at those behind the scenes for unsuccessful signings in recent years.

A Tottenham source has told Football Insider that technical director Steve Hitchen is likely to keep his job in any potential cull as he is close to chairman Daniel Levy.

But Hitchen, 44, faces being sidelined by Conte and and his Italian countryman going into the January window.

The recently-appointed manager has dropped public hints that he is not too happy with the squad he has inherited at Spurs.

Behind the scenes, the title winner at Chelsea, Inter Milan and Juventus is said to have been very critical to the club hierarchy of the signings made in recent years.

Notably, those recruited in the summer of 2019 and in January 2020 for combined fees of more than £150million – Tanguy Ndombele, Steven Bergwijn, Ryan Sessegnon, Giovani Lo Celso and Jack Clarke – are not regular members of the starting XI.

Hitchen was the most senior member of the recruitment team at that time, heading a network of global scouts and talent spotters.

He has reported to Paratici since the Italian arrived in the summer to head up the club’s entire football operation.

Both were regularly seen in the dugout earlier in the season sat alongside one another.

Paratici was mainly responsible for hiring Conte and the new manager wants to take full control of bringing in the players in January.

He is said to trust his former Juventus ally Paratici but does not have the same faith in longstanding members of the recruitment team.

In other news, Tottenham are “expected” to “sign off” on eight transfers by “1 January”.