Antonio Conte is reportedly not interested in leaving the helm at Chelsea any time soon amid rumours linking him with a summer move to Inter Milan.
Spanish outlet Sport have reported that Antonio Conte is set to remain at Chelsea amid rumours linking the Italian with a return to Italy, albeit with Inter Milan. With Conte only in his first season at Stamford Bridge he is not interested in leaving his Blues project midway to move back to Italy.
Conte has taken the Premier League by storm, having taken over the reigns at last season’s fallen champions. He arrived in England with a burgeoning reputation after his success with the Italian national team at the European Championships in 2016, but still had a massive task at his hand.
While he was joining one of the biggest clubs in Europe, he had the job of resurrecting a side bereft of confidence after the disastrous 2015/16 season. And boy has he taken to it with aplomb. The start was jittery and after consecutive losses to Liverpool and Arsenal in September, many were predicting a repeat of last season’s failures.
However, 21 games and a change in system to the more pragmatic, counter-attacking based 3-4-3 later, and things have changed drastically. Conte has well and truly turned things around at Stamford Bridge, so much so, that Chelsea are now the odd-on favourites to lift the Premier League trophy come May.
It goes without saying that among the many success stories at Chelsea this term, Conte’s has been the biggest. However, with the success he has also caught the attention – and rightly so – with reports last month claiming that Inter Milan were starting to circle around for the Chelsea manager.
The reports claimed that the Nerazzurri’s new owners, the Suning Group, were preparing to offer Conte a bumper £13 million-a-year package alongside an eye watering £350 million transfer war-chest for the summer, as they aim to take the club back to the upper echelons of Italian football.
The Italian heavyweights are already lining up big money moves to rebuild the squad into a competitive unit, and had identified Conte as the right manager to lead them to unparalleled success next season.
However, despite the riches on offer, the report from Sport states that Conte’s head hasn’t been turned. The Italian tactician has a two-year contract, with an option to add a third year, at Stamford Bridge and he not only intends to honour that deal, but also help the Blues win the Champions League again.
It is also believed that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is a big fan of what Conte has done with his club in such a short span of time, and Conte’s commitment to the project will come as music to his ears as he prepares to hand him all the money he needs to build a formidable squad for next season.
