Inter to Decide on Antonio Conte's Future After Europa League Campaign Concludes
By George Cannon
Inter will wait to make a decision on the future of head coach Antonio Conte until the conclusion of their Europa League campaign.
The former Chelsea and Juventus coach plunged his future with the Italian giants into doubt at the weekend after launching into an unexpected rant aimed at the club's board and owners.
Conte guided Inter to a second place finish in his first season in charge at San Siro, ending up just one point behind Maurizio Sarri's Old Lady - but was unhappy with the perceived lack of support he and his players received when results weren't going their way.
#Inter situation. Phone call today between Antonio Conte and Inter president Steven Zhang. No decision has been made about his future as Inter manager. The club and Conte will decide at the end of the Europa League if it's time to separate or continue together. ⚫️? @SkySport
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 3, 2020
Prominent Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has now revealed that a phone call between club president Steven Zhang and Conte has taken place, and it was agreed that a decision over the 51-year-old's future going forward would be halted until their European endeavours draw to a conclusion.
Conte has also denied rumours that he enquired about the future of Juventus boss Sarri, going as far to say that he'll seek legal advice against the responsible publication.
"Seeing the article in Repubblica today I want to clearly deny having talked to Juventus players and directors asking if Sarri will be sacked," Conte told Italian news agency ANSA.
"I will sue the person who wrote the article and the responsible publishing director of the newspaper.
I started a three-year project at Inter. As I've always done in my life, I'll work hard and give all I've got to make this project a winning one."
It was after the final game of the season, when Inter pulled off an impressive 2-0 win over high-flying Atalanta, that the former Italian national team coach took aim at the upper echelons of the club.
"It has been a tough year on a personal level, very tough.I don’t think the players saw their work recognised and I don’t think I saw my work recognised," Conte remarked, quoted by Sky Sport Italia.
"We all received very little protection from the club. We have to grow and improve in all areas, including off the field, and a big club should protect its players more."