Conte’s Short Era Over at Chelsea?
With two games remaining this season, Chelsea look set to miss out on Champions League football next season, which is a huge blow to the club. With the FA Cup final still to come, there is a chance to win silverware but when the dust settles on this season for Chelsea, it will be one of disappointment.
Conte Success and Failure
When Antoni Conte arrived at Stamford Bridge following the 2016 European Championships, nobody knew quite what to expect from the Italian. However, it did not take long for him to settle into life in the Premier League and he led Chelsea to the Premier League title.
The last time Chelsea won the league was in 2014/15 and the following season, Jose Mourinho struggled to get the best out of his players. With Chelsea languishing in the bottom half of the table, Mourinho was dismissed.
Having won the Premier League last season, Conte was under pressure to make sure a similar thing did not happen in this campaign but the former Juventus manager has struggled. Despite spending plenty of money in the transfer market bringing in Alvaro Morata, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Danny Drinkwater, Antonio Rudiger, Davide Zappacosta, Emerson, Olivier Giroud and Ross Barkley, Chelsea have not made an impression in the Premier League or Champions League.
Conte has spent over £200 million on new players for the 2017/18 season and not one of them has stamped their authority on the team and improved them from last season.
Both Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic, players who were an important part of the team last season have left and if reports are to be believed, Conte could be the next man to follow them out of the door at Stamford Bridge. Many of Conte’s interviews this season have been less than positive and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he left the job, regardless of the result in the FA Cup final.
So, if Conte was to leave Chelsea, who could come in and improve the team?
A Poisoned Chalice
Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri is one of the favourites to land the job and Conte’s fellow Italian has been winning many plaudits for his Napoli team this season. Its looks as though they are going to come up short in the Serie A title race to Juventus but with the resources at his disposal, Sarri has done a fantastic job in Naples.
Sarri is currently just 2/1 with Betway to become the new Chelsea boss in the summer but will have a tough job on his hands if he was to accept the position. Europa League football will be less of a draw for big name transfer targets and Cesc Fabregas, Pedro, David Luiz, Olivier Giroud and Gary Cahill are all in their 30’s.
The current Chelsea squad is not one which is full of youthful talent and there will be a battle in the summer to retain players such as Eden Hazard, N’Golo Kante and Thibaut Courtois. If Conte was to leave this summer, the new man will need to think long and hard about taking the reins at Stamford Bridge.