Conte Named Chelsea’s New Manager

The 42-year old will become the next permanent Chelsea manager after Euro 2016, when his contract expires, the club have confirmed.

The deal is worth about £15m, and the Italian will succeed Jose Mourinho, who was sacked in December following a disastrous campaign in the English Premier League title defence.

“I am very excited about the prospect of working at Chelsea Football Club,” Conte told Chelsea’s official website.

.@ChelseaFC is delighted to announce the appointment of Antonio Conte… https://t.co/prZqPkLaNE pic.twitter.com/hUu7iHVVRm

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 4, 2016

“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,” he said.

The Stamford Bridge Club also permitted the former Juventus manager to bring his long-term assistants, Angelo Alessio and Massimo Carrera, with him to London.

The 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.”

The 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, led Juventus to three successive titles from 2011 up to 2014, the Italian replaced Cesare Prandelli on a two-year deal after Italy’s shock group-stage exit at the 2014 World Cup.

He becomes the fifth Manager to manage Chelsea, after Gianluca Vialli, Claudio Ranieri, Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Di Matteo.