Antonio Conte leaves Inter Milan after ending club’s Serie A title drought

Antonio Conte has left his role as Inter Milan manager despite leading the club to the Serie A title this season.

The former Juventus, Chelsea and Italy boss ended Inter’s 10-year trophy drought by clinching the Scudetto ahead of city rivals AC Milan, but his exit comes amid reported disagreement with the club’s ownership over finances and the need to cut costs and sell players this summer.

A club statement read: “FC Internazionale Milano announces that it has reached an agreement for the consensual termination of the contract with the coach Antonio Conte.

“The whole club would like to thank Antonio for the extraordinary work he has done, which culminated in winning the nineteenth Scudetto. Antonio Conte will remain forever in the history of our club.”

Conte joined Inter in 2019 and guided the club to the Europa League final in his first season, where they were beaten by Sevilla.

This year Inter, with former Premier League stars Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez, Christian Eriksen and Ashley Young in their ranks, finished 12 points clear of AC Milan to end Juventus’ nine-year reign as Serie A champions.

Conte, who won the Premier League title and FA Cup with Chelsea, as well as three Serie A crowns with Juventus, is likely to be in high demand across Europe.

Tottenham have yet to replace Jose Mourinho after his sacking in April, while question marks remain over Zinedine Zidane’s future at Real Madrid and Andrea Pirlo’s position at Juve.

Lukaku paid tribute to Conte on Instagram, writing: “2014 we spoke for the first time and we have had a bond ever since. We had many moments to work together but only god knows why it never happened earlier.

“You came at the right time and basically changed me as a player and made me even stronger mentally and more importantly we won together!

“Winning is and it’s all that matters to you and I’m glad that I have had you as a coach. I will keep your principles for the rest of my career (physical preparation, mental and just the drive to win…) it was a pleasure to play for you!

“Thank you for all what you did. I owe you a lot..”

Former Chelsea captain John Terry replied to Lukaku, posting: “I loved him mate. Great manager and a great man.”