Kevin Whitcher
One interesting piece of information I have heard – which won’t come as too much of a surprise to anyone – is that this this is definitely Antonio Conte’s last season at Chelsea. It’s been well reported that the Italian is very unhappy about what went on at the club last summer.
But what is less well known is that Arsenal sounded out the then Juventus manager in 2014, when Arsene Wenger’s last but one contract was winding down. There is a belief that the manager would have called it a day if Arsenal had lost the FA Cup final to Hull, and certainly if they had failed to progess against Wigan in a semi-final that required a penalty shoot-out to progress. Fans will remember clearly Wenger’s anxious body language on the touchline that day, and the crowd’s reaction when, at 1-0 down, he subbed Lukas Podolski for Yaya Sanogo. However, Arsenal managed to claw themselves back from losing positions in both matches, giving rise to hopes that the team, with a trophy finally under their belt for the first time in nine years, could finally progress. According to Sportingbet spokesman John Green, the results of recent matches have influenced the odds of that happening.
Amidst the euphoria of the final win, Wenger signed up for three more years, and Conte took the Italian national job for two seasons, before joining Chelsea after the 2016 Euros, and landing the Premier League in his debut campaign.
Still, a channel of communication was established with Conte’s people and the Italian has expressed an interest in remaining in London after the end of the season. There has been contact with Arsenal in recent weeks and he would still be open to take on the rebuilding job to return the club to the top table.
His other (and most likely) destination is Milan to take the job at Inter. And the reason Conte is more likely to return to Italy is not that his family is based there (an arrangement that works for them, regardless of where Conte is working), but simply the unlikelihood of Arsene Wenger stepping down next summer before his contract has been fulfilled.
Still, a glimmer of hope. The club are looking to the future by sounding out candidates for what won’t be called a ‘director of football’ to spare making the manager look compromised, but in effect will be in charge of the club’s recruitment strategy, and be given more authority than Dick Law was allowed to conclude deals. So who knows? Perhaps, if Arsene Wenger failed to return the club to the Champions League, he might fall on his sword and allow the club to move on.
