Antonio Conte could leave Inter in next 48 hours
By Max Cooper
Antonio Conte could leave Serie A champions Inter in the next 48 hours, with the coach unwilling to accept the club's plans of slashing the wage bill by 20% and selling a big star to financially survive the summer.
I Nerazzurri's owner Steven Zhang has made it clear Inter will have to undergo a major downsizing in the summer, and he hopes to generate around €100m in player sales. Conte, on the other hand, foresaw another bold transfer window to cement his side's place at Serie A's summit.
This difference of opinion could spell the end of their two-year adventure together. According to La Gazzetta, Conte is ready to walk away from San Siro in the next 48 hours, given he and the owners have very different ideas for the future of the club.
Conte met with the owners prior to Saturday's final-day victory over Udinese, and the Inter boss said his piece on his vision for the future. He also made it clear that if the financial crisis meant the undoing of the past two years of hard work, then he would not be at the helm to witness it.
It would come as a major blow to Nerazzurri supporters, who had hoped this partnership would be the start of a new era of dominance in Italy. The Italian coach helped to end Inter's decade-long drought without a scudetto this season, and he has built a squad very much in his image over the past 24 months.
Zhang has felt the effects of the economic crisis, sparked by the global pandemic, and he has even had to take out a €275m loan to keep him afloat. To make the club sustainable under his watch however, they will need to raise €100m in player sales, and slash the wage bill by 15 to 20%.
That would result in at least one major player leaving the team, as well as removing all the depth from the squad, which Conte used so effectively last season.
There will not be another major meeting between the club's board and Conte in the next two days, as the pair know where the other stands. The Inter boss could meet with chairman Zhang, but if so, it will most likely be to say his farewells.
Conte will leave the club with no hard feelings, and Zhang is accepting of the manager's stance. But both will be filled with regret of what might have been.