Antonio Conte is reportedly set to sign a bumper new four-year deal at Chelsea that will make him the highest paid manager in the club’s history.
According to a report in the Daily Mirror, Antonio Conte is set to put pen to paper on a new four-year contract with Chelsea, in a deal that will see him pocket a staggering £40 million over its entire course.
Conte’s revolution at Chelsea is well documented. Coming off a successful campaign in Euro 2016 with Italy, the 47-year-old took over a side that had embarked on the then-worst Premier League title defence in the competition’s history in 2015/16.
However, in what turned out to be a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for the West London club, they took the English top flight by storm to reclaim the Premier League title once again this season by a comfortable seven-point margin over Tottenham Hotspur.
In the process, the Blues also set the record for most wins in a single Premier League season – 30, which broke the record of 29 win that they had set themselves on two occasions previously. Chelsea now have a chance to clinch a double in Conte’s first season in charge when they take on Arsenal in the FA Cup final on Saturday.
With or without a cup triumph on the day, though, Chelsea fans are rightly hopeful of a bright future under the Italian manager. However, Inter Milan are reportedly keen to play spoilsport by offering Conte the vacant manager’s job at San Siro next season.
The Nerazzurri are eager to herald a new era under the ownership of the Suning Group, who are willing to invest heavily to oversee a return to the top of Italian and European football. However, if the report by Mirror is anything to go by, Conte will snub the opportunity to manage the Italian giants to continue his project at Chelsea.
In fact, the tactician will go a step further by signing a bumper new £9.6 million-a-year deal that will run till 2021. The aforementioned contract will not only be a sign of Conte’s commitment to his project at Stamford Bridge but will also make him the highest-paid manager in the Chelsea’s history, as some reports had previously suggested.
The Blues are also set to back Conte in the transfer market with a war chest in order to ensure that the Italian gets the players he wants in the summer transfer window who not only help the club mount a successful Premier League title defence but also challenge for the Champions League next season.
Chelsea expect Conte to sign the new four-year deal when he returns from his end-of-season break following the FA Cup final. For now, though, Conte and his men have their sights firmly focused on winning the cup competition to add to the Premier League title they won last week.
