Antonio Conte joins Chelsea: Club confirm appointment after Euro 2016

Italian arrives on three-year deal

Monday 04 April 2016 13:05 BST

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Chelsea have confirmed that Antonio Conte will join the club after Euro 2016.

The Italian, 46, will sign a three-year deal at Stamford Bridge having long been the favourite to take over from Jose Mourinho, who was sacked in December six months after lifting Chelsea's first Premier League title in five years. Guus Hiddink has taken charge of the club in the interim period and will continue to do so until the end of the season.

The former Juventus boss won three successive Serie A titles before joining the Italy national team after the 2014 World Cup.

11 facts about Antonio Conte

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1/1111 facts about Antonio Conte

11 facts about Antonio Conte

FACT ONE

Conte has managed Arezzo, Bari, Atalanta, Siena, Juventus and the Italian national team

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11 facts about Antonio Conte

FACT TWO

In his first job at Arezzo he was sacked over poor results, reinstated later in the same season, but oversaw relegation to Serie C.

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11 facts about Antonio Conte

FACT THREE

Conte impressed in his early managerial jobs at Bari and Siena, getting both sides promoted to Serie A during his spell in charge.

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11 facts about Antonio Conte

FACT FOUR

That earned him the job at Juventus where he won three Seria A titles in the three years he was in charge. He also won two Supercoppa titles and was named Serie A coach of the year in all three of his seasons in Turin.

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11 facts about Antonio Conte

FACT FIVE

In 2012 Conte was suspended for 10 months, later reduced to four, for his alleged failure to report two incidents of match-fixing while in charge of Siena.

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11 facts about Antonio Conte

FACT SIX

Midfield legend Andrea Pirlo said of Conte: "I am extremely lucky I met Antonio Conte, I had so many coaches to compare him too, and he is the one who surprised me the most. I was expecting a good coach, but not that good."

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11 facts about Antonio Conte

FACT SEVEN

Conte started his playing career at Lecce but it was with Juventus that he made his name. With over 300 appearances he won five Serie A titles, a Champions League medal in 1996 as well as numerous other cups.

11 facts about Antonio Conte

FACT EIGHT

On the international stage, he was a part of the Italian teams that reached the finals of the 1994 World Cup and Euro 2000.

11 facts about Antonio Conte

FACT NINE

Italy and Juventus legend Gianluigi Buffon said of Conte: "The secret of our success is the ambition our coach has. Conte has brought a new mentality to the club. He has pushed us to sweat, to find strength and to undergo hard work in order to cancel out the last two disappointing campaigns."

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11 facts about Antonio Conte

FACT 10

Conte was appointed as Italy manager following a poor showing from the Azzurri at the 2014 World Cup. So far, so good, with Italy topping their Euro 2016 qualification group ahead of Croatia, Norway, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan and Malta with a record of seven wins and three draws. At this summer's tournament in France they have been grouped together with Belgium, Republic of Ireland and Sweden.

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11 facts about Antonio Conte

FACT 11

Conte is not afraid to go toe-to-toe with fellow managers. In a row with former Chelsea interim-boss Rafa Benitez, the pair became involved in a war of words over whether Juventus or Napoli had spent more on players. This is what Conte said: "We have invested 25 million euros in our team, they have spent more than 100. They have spent in one year what we have spent in three, but they are 17 points behind us and out of Europe. People need to get their facts right and not spread misleading messages. I hope Benitez will check his calculations."

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"I am very excited about the prospect of working at Chelsea Football Club. 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," he said in a statement on the club website.

"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."

Who is Antonio Conte?

Conte is the fifth Italian to take charge at Stamford Bridge, following Gianluca Vialli, Claudio Ranieri, Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Di Matteo.

"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," said club director Marina Granovskaia. "This aids our future planning."

Conte is expected to bring a number of close allies to the club to form his backroom staff, although their appointments are yet to be confirmed by the Blues.

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