Fabrizio Romano has clarified that Antonio Conte opted to walk away from Tottenham rather than the other way around after the two parties held talks about the vacant manager's position at the club last week.

It has been over 50 days since Tottenham sacked Jose Mourinho, and yet they have still not appointed his replacement.

Conte appeared to be the frontrunner to land the job last week as he held talks with the north London club, but on Friday it was confirmed that discussions had broken down, leaving Spurs still searching for Mourinho's successor.

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What did Romano say about Conte?

Romano has now revealed exactly what went on between Conte and Tottenham, and has claimed that it was Conte who decided that this was not the right move for him.

As detailed on The Here We Go Podcast, Romano said: "It’s been Antonio Conte to say no to Tottenham, and not Tottenham to say no to Antonio Conte. To clarify, because, of course, from different sides they are saying different things but Conte said ‘no’ just because his position was so clear.

"So, with Tottenham he was really tempted because winning at Tottenham would be something fantastic and incredible, in particular in this moment with many clubs ready to win like Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and many others.

"But, Antonio Conte during the negotiations had different problems, different issues with Tottenham. First of all – staff members. He wanted to bring more than four and Tottenham only allowed him to bring four staff members.

"Salary – €3m (£2.6m) difference between what Tottenham offered and what Conte asked for. Investment – so signing new players and the situation of Harry Kane so discussing about the budget, what kind of team they are doing, and also about the market because Antonio Conte wants to decide together with the club. Look at what he did at Chelsea, what he did at Inter also saying ‘I want Lukaku’ and they signed Lukaku.

"So, he wants to have this kind of impact in the club and at Tottenham it is not so easy."

What is Conte's pedigree?

The 51-year-old is a serial winner.

Over the past decade, he has won four Serie A titles with Juventus and Inter Milan, plus two Italian Super Cups with the former club.

He also achieved success during his previous spell in the Premier League at Chelsea, as he won the league championship in his first year in charge in 2016/17, and added the FA Cup to his trophy cabinet the following season.

Have Tottenham made a mistake in letting Conte slip through their fingers?

In terms of the impact that Conte could have had on the side on the pitch, it seems that they have made an error in letting him walk away from negotiations. Conte's track record speaks for itself - he has achieved success pretty much wherever he has been over the last 10 years.

On the flip side, Conte is a very demanding coach, as Romano alludes to on the podcast. He wants a large coaching staff, a heft salary and lots of money to spend in the transfer market. Furthermore, if he does not get these things, he is not afraid to move on, as he did with Inter recently.

He has never managed at a club for more than three seasons, indicating that if he had joined Spurs, it would have just been a quick fix rather than a long-term solution to the club's problems.

Tottenham have to work within their means, and if they simply could not afford to bow down to all of Conte's demands, then perhaps it is for the best that the Italian manager will not be their next coach as this could have badly hurt the club financially moving forwards.