Antonio Conte wants Italian coach to replace Steve Holland, Chelsea not keen

Antonio Conte Chelsea 1
Antonio Conte Chelsea 1

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is looking to replace Steve Holland with an Italian coach of his choice this summer.

The Chelsea assistant is set to join the England setup this summer and Conte has already identified a replacement. However, the Blues are not keen on bringing another Italian into their backroom and will prefer an English replacement.

Apparently, Conte conducts a lot of his meetings and tactical sessions in his native language. He even uses local dialect with some of his assistants to maintain some level of secrecy about his plans.

According to Times, Chelsea want an English replacement in order to maintain the continuity in the event of future managerial changes. The likes of Steve Clarke, Ray Wilkins, Paul Clement, Eddie Newton and Holland have all worked as assistants to foreign managers over the years.

The report adds that Conte also wants greater control of transfers at Stamford Bridge and has already turned down Abramovich’s offer to move for Neymar.

It will be interesting to see whether both parties reach a compromise regarding the appointment of an assistant this summer. If the disagreements continue, it could be a concern for Chelsea in future. Conte has been linked with moves back to Italy and the Blues will not want to upset him at this stage.

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