Chelsea have announced that Italy coach Antonio Conte will take over the management at the end of his contract with the national side this summer.
Conte will replace Guus Hiddink, who took charge of the club after José Mourinho’s sacking in December – providing a reawakening in the team spirit and rising up the table after a horrendous start to the season under the Portuguese.
The Azzurri head coach told the club’s official website that he’s glad to be returning to club football with a move to Stamford Bridge:
I am very excited about the prospect of working at Chelsea Football Club. 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.
I am looking forward to meeting everyone at the club and the day-to-day challenge of competing in the Premier League.
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.
I am happy we have made the announcement now so everything is clear and we can end the speculation. I will continue to focus on my job with the Italian national team and will reserve speaking about Chelsea again until after the Euros.
Having played more than 400 games for Juventus as a player, Conte’s three years in charge of the team between 2011 and 2014 won the Italian giants three straight Serie A titles – Juventus’s first league trophies in eight years and their first three-in-a-row since the early 1930s.
Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia also showed his delight after finally clinching the deal with the former Juventus boss.
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.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Guus Hiddink, who has done a great job since he joined us in December.
