Chelsea have sacked their Italian manager Antonio Conte on Thursday which could pave the way for Maurizio Sarri’s appointment as the new head coach at Stamford Bridge. According to recent reports, the Blues have parted ways with their Italian boss after their owner Roman Abramovich has risked paying Conte his full £9m compensation package. It is believed that the Chelsea owner was waiting to see whether a job became available for the Italian this summer which would have saved the club from having to pay him off.
However, with Conte’s reluctance to leave his post, it has forced the West London club to take action despite the fact that the former Juventus manager returned to take part in the club’s pre-season training on Monday. Some sources are now claiming that Chelsea will have to pay off the wages of his final year of contract at Stamford Bridge. The 48-year-old won the English top-flight title with the Blues in his first season and then went on to lift the FA Cup last season.
It has also been suggested that the Italian coach lost the Chelsea dressing room which ultimately led to his departure. Recent reports are now stating that Sarri will be named as the new head coach of the West London club after they finally made a breakthrough during negotiations with Napoli over his release.
Here is how some of the fans’ reacted on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/FatmaCFC28/status/1017409588667170818
Just wanted to say… Although we had a bad season last year… Antonio Conte will always be one of my favourite managers and will always be blue… Thank you for the good memories you gave us Chelsea fans #ANTONIO #KTBFFH
— Alfie Chapman (@alfiie_chapman) July 12, 2018
Thank you for everything Antonio, these last 2 season had been awesome and I’m so sad that the end is like this.
Finally a Premier League and a FA is more than enough thanks and good luck in the future.#Antonio #Conte #Grazie #ThankYou— The Chelsea Polls (@PollsChelsea) July 11, 2018
🇮🇹Antonio #Conte at #Chelsea FC
🏆1 Premier League
🥇1 FA Cup
🏅Manager of the Season 16/17
🎖Manager of the Month x3🏁106 matches
✅69 wins
⛔️17 draws
❌20 lossesYour passion and desire to change our club was unmatched.
Tactical Genius.Grazie, #Antonio 👑 pic.twitter.com/Eiu3U7G65W
— Chelsea Fans Worldwide (@ChelseaFansWor1) July 11, 2018
https://twitter.com/kevido760/status/1017415728981594112
“I will always love this colour, the fans and this club.” Antonio Conte
Arrivederci Antonio, grazie di tutto. pic.twitter.com/u6XfMZgxet
— Mark Worrall (@gate17marco) July 12, 2018
https://twitter.com/MaurizioIogy/status/1017411341798146049
Conte had a productive two-year spell at Chelsea and has won the Premier League and the FA Cup to show for his efforts. However, discontentment over transfers as well as some Chelsea players turning against him sealed the fate of the Italian manager.
He took charge at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2016 and has gone on to manage 106 matches for the Blues, winning 70, drawing 15 and losing 21 of those matches with a healthy Points Per Game (PPG) average of 2.12 (Stats from Transfermarkt). It is clearly evident from his record of how effective and influential Conte’s reign in West London has been over the past few seasons.
Most of the Blues support are thankful about Conte’s contributions and wishes the 48-year-old manager the very best going into the future. However, the arrival of Sarri could give their club a huge lift as they look to get some deals done under the Napoli boss in the last few weeks of this ongoing transfer window. It remains to be seen what lies ahead in the future of Conte and whether Chelsea’s decision to sack him turns out to be the correct call.
