Mauricio Pochettino could replace Antonio Conte. (Photo by Michael Steele/International Champions Cup/International Champions Cup via Getty Images)

Antonio Conte is fighting for his future at Tottenham with several first-team players and staff members privately pleading with Mauricio Pochettino to return to the club.

Spurs crashed out of the Champions League in demoralising fashion on Wednesday with a 1-0 aggregate defeat to AC Milan.

The 0-0 draw in the second leg was met with widespread boos from the home faithful, who saw the side knocked out by Sheffield United in the FA Cup last week.

Conte is out of contract at the end of the season and there appears little appetite for either side to extend his deal, with the Italian keen to return to his homeland.

Spurs must now decide whether to stick with Conte for the remainder of the season or to pull the trigger now in the hope that the club’s top four hopes can be salvaged.

Conte’s time at Spurs is coming to an end. (Photo by Francesco Scaccianoce/Getty Images)

Either way, it appears likely that Conte is coming to the end of his time at Spurs and the players are already thinking about the future.

According to Sky Sports, Spurs players have contacted Pochettino to ask for him to come back to the club.

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Pochettino was sacked in 2019, just months after guiding Spurs to the Champions League final.

Spurs have gone through Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Conte since but none of those have come close to playing the free-flowing football that made Pochettino so popular.

Tottenham remain in fourth but Liverpool are three points behind, with a game in hand and much momentum.

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