By Andrew Warshaw
April 4 – As widely anticipated, Italy’s Antonio Conte is the man chosen as Jose Mourinho’s permanent successor to revive the fortunes of Chelsea. Conte, currently head coach of Italy, will move to London after this summer’s Euros on a three-year contract following the departure of Mourinho in December, prompted by Chelsea’s worst start to a top-flight campaign for more than 30 years.
Experienced Dutchman Guus Hiddink has been in charge since then but his second stint as interim coach was always only going to last until the end of this season.
“I am very excited about the prospect of working at Chelsea. I am proud to be the coach of the national team of my country and only a role as attractive as manager of Chelsea could follow that,” Conte said in a statement on Chelsea’s website.
Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia was quoted as saying: “We are very pleased to have recruited one of the most highly regarded managers in world football and we are equally pleased to do so before the end of the current season. This aids our future planning.”
Although Chelsea’s fortunes have stabilised on and off the pitch under Hiddink and the club have gone 15 league games unbeaten since Mourinho left, they are set to miss out on Champions League football next season for the first time in 13 years.
Conte, whose record speaks for itself, played more than 400 games for Juventus and went on to manage the iconic Italian giants to three successive Serie A titles from 2012 to 2014.
One of his first tasks will be to decide the future of captain John Terry. In January the 35-year-old former England defender announced he would be leaving Chelsea at the end of this season but rumours persist that he may stay on.
Longer term, Conte, regarded as a strong disciplinarian, has a major rebuilding job on his hands both in terms of recruitment and squad mentality. “I am looking forward to meeting everyone at the club and the day-to-day challenge of competing in the Premier League,” he said.
“Chelsea and English football are watched wherever you go, the fans are passionate and my ambition is to have more success to follow the victories I enjoyed in Italy.”
Conte is the seventh permanent manager to be appointed by Roman Abramovich since the Russian bought the club in 2003. His past is not without blemish, however. He was banned for 10 months in September 2012 for failing to report attempted match-fixing during his time as coach of Siena. That was reduced to four months on appeal but Conte faces a trial this month as part of a wider criminal investigation which could last for more than a month.
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