In a recent report, it was claimed that ex-Chelsea boss Antonio Conte had rejected a lucrative deal to sign for Real Madrid. He was recently sacked by Chelsea but there are a few unattached strings that are yet to be resolved. The Blues did not have a great season last term and finished in fifth place on the Premier League table. This meant that Chelsea will not be eligible to play in the Champions League next term as they did not manage a top 4 finish. The west London outfit had a rather disastrous campaign after struggling in the Champions League suffering a humiliating defeat to Barcelona in the Round of 16. Even local London rivals Arsenal dumped Chelsea out of the League Cup in the semi-finals of the tournament. But even after winning the FA Cup against Manchester United in the final, Chelsea decided to part ways with Conte who still had one more year left on his contract. A statement on Chelsea’s official website read, “Chelsea Football Club and Antonio Conte have parted company. We wish Antonio every success in his future career.”
Conte won the Premier League title with Chelsea in his debut season at the helm of the West London club after achieving success with Juventus in the Serie A. Conte won three consecutive Serie A titles with Juventus after implementing his 3-5-2 formation in Turin with the Old Lady. He brought a similar philosophy to England and won the Premiership with Chelsea and also won the FA Cup in his second spell but it wasn’t enough to keep hold of his job.
However, amid the summer break where there were plenty of reports that linked former Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri to take over as Conte’s successor. Conte was initially the chosen one to replace Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane at the Santiago Bernabeu but the 48-year-old refused the once in a lifetime opportunity. It was not all about the “good-man Conte” image, according to Daily Star; the Italian refused to take up the job at the Spanish capital at that point as he was still keen on taking over from Zidane later. He wanted to receive the £9m in compensation from the Londoners along with taking over the reins at Madrid.
