“If they don’t win the title it’s not a tragedy. “What are Tottenham’s expectations?” said Conte. The Brazilian had tried to force a move to China a few months earlier and used the text to effectively go on strike, leaving the Blues with little or no bargaining power over his sale to Atletico Madrid.Ĭonte had even seen a desperate move for Fernando Llorente fail at the hands of Tottenham, a club, back on that infamous pre-season tour of Singapore and China, he had described as being one where failure could be tolerated. Peace talks were hastily arranged and a new contract was eventually signed, but, tellingly, there was no extension and trust on both sides had been eradicated.Ĭonte also left Chelsea to pick up the pieces of his decision to inform Diego Costa that he would no longer be part of his plans by text message. Whatever the exact reasons behind it, Conte’s silence sent Chelsea into a state of panic and convinced them he wanted out. Some sources suspected Conte was considering an offer from Inter Milan, when he did not pick up the telephone, return messages or respond to emails as, one-by-one, he watched his main transfer targets join Chelsea’s rivals. The fact he was allowed to return for the start of pre-season training before being formally informed of his sacking three days later looked like the final act of revenge for the previous summer in which Chelsea believed Conte had done a disappearing act on them. But at the end of the following campaign, Willian, who made an 89th-minute appearance as a substitute in the final, used trophy emojis to cover up the Italian in a picture to celebrate winning the FA Cup.Ĭhelsea gave Conte the silent treatment following the Cup success during the summer in which they eventually sacked him, offering him no congratulations and leaving him in the dark over his future. That statement was not much shorter than the 61 words Chelsea had used to confirm Conte’s dismissal, without so much as a word of thanks for his Premier League title success and the FA Cup he delivered at the end of what proved to be his final stormy season in charge.Ĭonte was given his own personalised emoji by Chelsea for winning the title in his first season in charge, in which the Blues finished seven points ahead of Spurs. The club’s accounts, released in January two years ago for the year ending June 30, 2019, said: “Exceptional items in the current year of £26.6m relate to changes in respect of the men’s team management and coaching staff, together with associated legal costs.”
#Espresso shot full
So there will be a few awkward nods and glances when Conte makes his first return to Stamford Bridge as Tottenham head coach, in the first leg of the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, with Kane leading his attack.Ĭonte won two lawsuits against Chelsea, one for unfair dismissal and another for the wages he believed he was owed under the terms of his contract, with the full cost to the Blues made clear 18 months after his dismissal in July 2018. In the end, the divorce was so bitter it resulted in a legal battle that cost Chelsea more than £26m. It was in the same summer that Conte had also wanted to sign Romelu Lukaku ahead of Morata and defender Virgil van Dijk rather than Antonio Rudiger, with the Belgian ending up at Manchester United and the Dutchman moving to Liverpool, along with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who picked Anfield ahead of west London. It was inside the luxury Ritz-Carlton Millenia hotel in Singapore on Chelsea’s pre-season tour that Antonio Conte, fuelled by two shots of super-strength espresso, made the cracks between himself and the club public one year ahead of what became the most expensive sacking in English football history.Ĭonte had not wanted to give up an hour of work with his squad to toe the party line with the group of English journalists who had made the long journey to cover the preparations for Chelsea’s Premier League title defence in the summer of 2017.īut finally convinced there was no getting out of his media duties, Conte checked on the quality of the coffee, downed his espressos and let rip - revealing he had wanted to sign Kyle Walker from Tottenham Hotspur before the right-back’s £50 million move to Manchester City and making clear his admiration for Harry Kane just a few days after Chelsea had broken their club record to sign a different striker, Alvaro Morata. There will be a few awkward nods and glances when Conte makes his first return to Stamford Bridge as Tottenham head coach Espresso shots, Kyle Walker and a £26m divorce - the inside story of Antonio Conte's split from Chelsea
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