Chelsea managerial target Antonio Conte confirms Italy exit plan
Tuesday 15 March 2016 21:19, UK
Chelsea managerial target Antonio Conte has confirmed he will step down as Italy head coach after Euro 2016.
Sky in Italy reported in February that Conte is expected to sign a three-year deal to take over at Stamford Bridge and that his representatives have begun negotiations with Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia.
Sources in Italy also suggest that Chelsea hope to confirm a new manager by the end of this month.
The announcement that he will not renew his Italy contract was made earlier on Tuesday morning by Carlo Tavecchio, the president of the Italian FA, and has now been confirmed by Conte himself.
"At the moment, my focus is on the Euros, where we'll try with hard work and sacrifice to do our best at the tournament," said Conte.
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"Anyone who knows me, knows I will give my total commitment to this. I feel I should go back to being a club manager, to have the chance to train with players every day.
"I want to thank the president and everyone at the federation who has followed me in this wonderful adventure."
Tavecchio said of Conte: "He misses the training pitch and working with players every day. That's understandable."
I feel I should go back to being a club manager, to have the chance to train with players every day.
Initial talks were reported to have been positive, with Conte potentially talking about a long-term deal to come to England as a replacement for interim boss Guus Hiddink.
Hiddink, who replaced Jose Mourinho on an interim basis in December, has already stated his intention to retire from management at the end of the season, ruling himself out of taking the role permanently.
Conte, 46, took over the Italian national side in August 2014 and secured their qualification for the European Championship in France. He won three Serie A titles with Juventus, predominantly favouring a system employing three central defenders.
Conte has been caught up in controversy too. In 2012 he served a four-month ban while Juventus manager after he was implicated in a match-fixing scandal.
He is due to stand trial next month in one of Italy's biggest corruption investigations. It is alleged he knew a game had been fixed in Serie B while he was manager of Siena but did not report it. He denies the allegations.
