Antonio Conte is edging closer to agreeing a new, record-breaking contract with Chelsea after recently holding discussions with the club’s hierarchy
According to Sky, Chelsea are willing to making the Italian the highest paid manager in the history of the club by offering him a contract which will see him earn around £10 million a year. The 47-year-old is close to agreeing to a new and improved deal after holding discussions with the club.
The talks were said to be positive and the Blues want to show him their appreciation for winning the Premier League title in his very first season with the club. The former Juventus boss will also be joined by his family in London, who will move from Italy to be with him.
Earlier this year, Inter Milan were heavily linked with Conte and were plotting a summer move for him. The Nerazzuri were willing to offer him as much as £13-million-a-year to lure him away from the Bridge, but they have since then gone on to hire Luciano Spalletti.
Barcelona were another club who were said to be considering him for the managerial role in their hunt for a replacement for Luis Enrique. But they too have gone on to hire Ernesto Valverde as their new manager on the 29th of May, putting an end to speculation.
There were rumours of Conte being frustrated with Chelsea’s lack of transfer activity, especially when they need to begin strengthening their squad for a return to the Champions League next season and their rivals had already begun signing top players.
The Italian will no doubt be looking to avoid a repeat of summer, where they missed out on a number of their targets and ultimately had to sign defenders David Luiz and Marcos Alonso from Paris Saint-Germain and ACF Fiorentina on the final days of the transfer window.
While the duo ultimately proved to be crucial part for Conte’s 3-4-3 season and helped turn it around for them in October, Conte will no doubt want business done as soon as possible so that he may get to spend adequate time with the players during pre-season.
They have been rumours that he would be handed a massive war chest to acquire the players of his choice, but he will no doubt want assurances over his signings. Chelsea have so far been linked with AS Monaco’s Tiemoué Bakayoko, Juventus’ Alex Sandro, Manchester City’s Willy Caballero and Everton’s Romelu Lukaku. But so far, deals haven’t been finalised with any of them – something Conte certainly won’t approve of.
