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Chelsea have confirmed this Afternoon that Antonio Conte will be new Manager for the start of the 2016/17 season. The Italian has signed a 3 year deal and at the press conference said “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”
Last month the ex- Juventus Manager announced that he was stepping down from coaching the Italian National side after this Summer’s EURO 2016 tournament. That for most was the clear intention that he was all set to become the new Chelsea boss and today has been confirmation of what most of us already knew.
Conte will take over from Guus Hiddink who is currently in this second spell as Interim Manager after the sacking of Jose Mourinho earlier in the season. With Chelsea out of all cup competitions these last few games are being treated with an air of development and one eye on the new man taking over.
With Hiddink using more younger players than any other former incumbent has seemingly done could this policy of youth mean that Conte will reap the rewards of younger and arguably hungrier players being blooded at the club
The obvious assumption will be that a new Manager of Chelsea comes in with a blank cheque and is free to buy who they want. The question now will be two fold in that a) will Roman Abramovich agree to an all out assault in the Summer Transfer Window and b) will the fact that they aren’t going to be in European Football of any kind next season lessen their transfer prospects
You would imagine that the answer to both those questions will probably be yes. Abramovich certainly won’t want to see his beloved Chelsea outside of Europe’s top tier for no more than a season but also they aren’t going to be the most attractive destination to a player this Summer.
That’s not to say they are going to struggle to sign players because the Premier League, bright lights of London and a bumper pay packet will still be enough to turn most heads even if it means a season away from the Champions League.
Will Antonio Conte have to worry more about a talent exodus than opposed to bringing targets, it won’t be outside the realm of possibility to have any combination of Eden Hazard, Diego Costa or Thibaut Courtois leave this Summer. So there could be more of a rebuilding job than initially anticipated
The next few weeks players will now be playing for their Stamford Bridge careers as Antonio Conte will no doubt have his thoughts as to who goes and who stays. How much dialogue he will have in these last 6 weeks remains to be seen. Will their be liasion with Guus Hiddink as to how they are set out until the end of the season or will the Dutchman finish the job unabated.
What we do know is that it’s now Antonio Conte and Pep Guardiola joining the managerial ranks of the Premier League for next season. Is there going to be room for Jose Mourinho to join the party as it stands and if Manchester United can snatch the last Champions League place then he could very well be the odd man out.
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