Antonio Conte has warned Tottenham Hotspur that he could quit if he no longer enjoys the challenge of trying to turn the club into serious challengers for major trophies.

Conte has won the title for his home league with Inter Milan, Chelsea, and Juventus.

Last season, Spurs finished in fourth place in the Premier League, which the 53-year-old manager called a “miracle” since he took over when the club was in trouble in late 2021.

But Conte has said many times that people need to be patient while he tries to set up a club that hasn’t won a trophy since 2008 for long-term success.

The inconsistent play of Tottenham this season has made people worry that the Italian might not stay if he doesn’t get the help he wants from chairman Daniel Levy to improve his team through transfers.

Before Tottenham’s trip to Crystal Palace on Wednesday, Conte, whose contract ends at the end of the season, made it clear that he knows how hard his job will be.

“Here, I understood that my task is different. My task here is to help the club, to build a solid foundation, to create a base and then to try to improve,” he said.

“If you ask me: ‘The challenge for you is to win the Premier League, to win the Champions League’, this is not the task here in this moment.

“The task for me is to help the club I found. I signed a contract in November 2021 when I found the club in a difficult position for many reasons.

“Now my task, I understood it very well, is to try to help the club go in the right direction.

“Now this is my big challenge here. Now if I want to stay here, then I have to accept this. Otherwise, if I don’t want to accept this then I have to go.”

When asked how long he would stick with the Tottenham project, Conte said he might want to leave north London at some point.

“At the start for me it wasn’t easy. This is an important experience. I accepted to do this because I found a great club, a modern club and for this reason I’m happy to work here,” Conte said.

“My big challenge is this. To continue to work so strong with my staff and the players, to improve the club, to create a solid foundation.

“If I am satisfied to continue to do this work and to one day see the result I will continue to stay, if I’m not convinced 100 per cent then I can leave my work here.”