Inter Milan and Antonio Conte part ways after a successful season by mutual termination of contract


Inter Milan and Antonio Conte part ways after a successful season by mutual termination of contract

Inter Milan and Antonio Conte part ways after a successful season by mutual termination of contract

Antonio Conte has left his role as Inter Milan manager only three weeks after leading the club to a first Serie A title in 11 years, ending Juventus’ long lasting dominance in the league.

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Antonio Conte joined Inter in the summer of 2019 signing a three year contract with the club, leading the Nerazzurri to a second place in the Serie A and the final of the Europa League in his first season in charge of the club. Antonio Conte has now quit as Inter Milan boss just weeks after masterminding their first Serie A title win in eleven years with the Italian said to have grown frustrated with the club’s lack of financial resources.

Antonio Conte quits as Inter Milan manager with the Italian furious over financial restrictions at the club

Antonio Conte has left his role as Inter Milan manager only three weeks after leading the club to a first Serie A title in 11 years
Antonio Conte has left his role as Inter Milan manager only three weeks after leading the club to a first Serie A title in 11 years

Inter Milan announced on Wednesday that the club is parting ways with coach Antonio Conte with immediate effect after a season where the Italian guided Inter to their first Serie A title in over a decade. Conte has been at loggerheads with the club’s Chinese owners Suning over their plans of cost cutting, which will prevent him from building a team that he wants in order to challenge at home and Europe next season.

The move comes three weeks after Conte led the club to the Serie A title. The Italian spent two years in charge of Inter and had one year remaining on his contract with a salary of €13m. After talks on Wednesday the former Chelsea manager and the club agreed to part ways, with the 51-year-old receiving a payout of €7m (£6m).

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Conte has enjoyed a superb two seasons with the the Inter, culminating in their winning of the Scudetto this campaign, thereby ending Juventus’ eleven-year dominance of Italian football. He was reportedly hoping to spend big this summer in a bid to ensure the club retain their grip on the Scudetto, but the Inter are feeling the effects of the Covid pandemic and are being forced to cash in on a number of players.

However Inter registered losses of 100 million euros ($122 million) last season mainly due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Suning Group shut down their Chinese club Jiangsu FC in February months after it won the Chinese Super League title. In this context, Suning wants to save as much as possible both on the purchase of new players and salaries, and possibly selling those with the highest value, an approach that Conte believes incompatible with the club’s desire to play at the highest level in Europe.

Inter need to bring their wage budget down by 20 per cent with the club needing to sell a host of players, generating around £86.5m – in order to stay afloat, something that infuriated Conte after meeting chief Steven Zhang.

“FC Internazionale Milano can confirm that an agreement has been reached with Antonio Conte for the termination of his contract by mutual consent. The club would like to thank Antonio for the extraordinary work that he has done, culminating in Inter’s 19th top-flight title. Antonio Conte will forever remain a part of our Club’s history,” Inter Milan said in its official statement.

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Simone Inzaghi and Massimiliano Allegri are just some of the names mooted as Conte’s potential replacement, but with Euro 2020 likely to dominate the off-season for several key players, the club may choose to wait before appointing a successor. Inzaghi has been tipped to leave Lazio and make the move to Milan, while the latter has been out of management since he stood down at Juventus and is in contention too.

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