Italy coach Antonio Conte is to
become Chelsea coach from July, the London club said Monday.
Conte, who is set to leave the Azzurri bench after Euro
2016, has signed a three-year contract, Chelsea said.
The news was official confirmation of reports that have
been coming out for weeks about the former Juventus coach's
desire to return to club football and his links to Chelsea.
A statement from Chelsea said "Chelsea Football Club is
delighted to announce the appointment of Antonio Conte as First
Team Head Coach."
It quoted the 46-year-old Conte as saying: "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."
On his Facebook page Conte said "I am thrilled at the idea
of working for such an important team. I want to meet the new
club and measure myself with the daily challenges of the Premier
league...my ambition is to win by bringing the experience I
gleaned in Italy.
"Now I am completely focused on my work as Italian national
coach and the one goal I have is to get to the European
championships in France in the best condition.
"I will speak about Chelsea again only at the end of the
Euros".
Conte will be the fifth Italian to manage Chelsea,
following on from Gianluca Vialli, Claudio Ranieri, Carlo
Ancelotti and Roberto Di Matteo. In common with the first three
of those names, he was formerly at Juventus, in his case as both
a player and a manager.
Having played more than 400 games for the Italian giants,
Conte's three years in charge of the team between 2011 and 2014
yielded three straight Serie A titles - Juventus's first league
championships in eight years and their first three-in-a-row
since the early 1930s. They had finished seventh the two seasons
prior to Conte.
The Bianconeri also won two Italian Super Cups with him in
charge. Andrea Pirlo, Paul Pogba, Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal
were among his signings during a spell so productive he was
named Serie A Coach of the Year in all three seasons there.
Chelsea Director Marina Granovskaia said: "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
(replacing Jose Mourinho)"
Chelsea Chairman Bruce Buck added: 'Antonio Conte has a
record of consistent success in his career as a manager and as a
player. We look forward to welcoming him to Stamford Bridge and
are confident he will find all he needs to maintain that high
standard of achievement."
Conte began his managerial career in the Italian lower
divisions at Arezzo and Bari, winning promotion to the top
flight with the latter, and was briefly employed by Atalanta
before he further enhanced his reputation by guiding Siena into
Serie A.
That was the cue for Juventus to come calling for their
former player, as did the Italy national team three years later
when they handed him control of the Azzurri in 2014. He had
played 20 times for his country including a semi-final
appearance in the 1994 World Cup and a quarter-final of Euro
2000.
Under Conte's management, Italy qualified for this summer's
Euro 2016 finals undefeated in their 10 games. They will play
Belgium, Republic of Ireland and Sweden in the group stage in
France.
Conte's coaching has been characterised by tactical
flexibility and he achieved the remarkable feat of an unbeaten
league season at Juventus, becoming only the third Serie A team
to do so. Impressively, that was in his first season in charge
(2011/12) and in 2013/14 the 'Old Lady' recorded an all-time
Serie A record of 102 points.
In the 2012/13 campaign, Conte's side played Chelsea in the
Champions League group stage, drawing 2-2 at Stamford Bridge and
winning 3-0 in Turin. They went on to the quarter-finals where
they lost to eventual winners Bayern Munich.
In his three years as manager, Juventus lost only two home
league games, contributing greatly to their new stadium being
considered such a success.
As a player, Conte was a versatile, energetic box-to-box
midfielder. He was a Champions League winner as part of the side
Vialli captained to a final win over Ajax in 1996. He played in
two other finals of that competition and in a convincing win
over Borussia Dortmund in the 1993 UEFA Cup final.
He was also a five-time Serie A winner in his 13 seasons as
an integral member of the Juve squad. He played for just two
clubs having begun his career with his home-town team Lecce in
southern Italy.
"We look forward to welcoming our new First Team Head Coach
to Stamford Bridge this summer," the statement ended.
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