Former Chelsea Manager Antonio Conte has reportedly ‘ruled himself out’ of contention to become the new Real Madrid coach following the dismissal of Julen Lopetegui on Monday, a day after Los Blancos were humiliated 5-1 in El Clásico by Barcelona.
Conte had been the early favourite to succeed Lopetegui, but Real instead chose to appoint Santiago Solari as a short-term interim option after seemingly failing to reach an agreement with the Italian.
Now, a report from Sky Sports claims that Conte has withdrawn from the running altogether.
Sky explains that Conte, who was sacked by Chelsea in July, feels the project on offer in Madrid is ‘not right’ for him and will, therefore, extend his ongoing break from football until the summer.
This update comes shortly after Belgium national team coach Roberto Martinez was installed as the new favourite to land the job instead after his stock has risen massively since 2016.
That same report on Martinez originating from the Daily Mail also alleges that misgivings about Conte from ‘key figures’ in the Real dressing room were part of the reason the ex-Juventus boss will not be getting the job in the Spanish capital.
Conte has enjoyed great success in his managerial career so far. After earning his stripes with Bari and Siena in Serie B, he guided Juventus to three successive Serie A titles. He was then appointed Italy coach, before leading Chelsea to the Premier League title in 2017.
A downturn and falling out with several players in his second season saw him sacked and replaced by Maurizio Sarri in the summer, despite delivering an FA Cup just two months earlier.
Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte, has claimed he took Eden Hazard off during their 2-1 defeat at Manchester United on Sunday, because “he was losing energy”.
Conte also told the club’s official website, that it was important for the team “to continue with the same performance level for 90 minutes”.
The Premier League champions took the lead after Willian exchanged passes with Hazard, before crashing the ball past David De Gea.
Lukaku equalized before the interval, finishing off a fine move that involved Alexis Sanchez and Anthony Martial.
The Belgium striker, who has been criticized roundly for not having an impact in big games, then crossed for substitute Jesse Lingard to head in the winner.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has felt the brunt of one of Jose Mourinho’s epic clapbacks as both managers spar ahead of the commencement of the 2017/18 Premier League campaign.
Conte was rather uncharitable towards the United boss and his predecessor at Stamford Bridge as his side starts the defence of their title by warning the players to avoid a season similar to their disastrous title defence the last time Mou was at the helm.
The Blues finished 10th on the log after the intervention of Guus Hiddink with Mourinho getting the boot midway through the season following a succession of disastrous results.
In his response on Sunday after United’s 3-0 friendly win over Valerenga, Mourinho refrained from getting tangled in the subject directly, but directed his jibe at the Italian’s elaborately restored hairline, Goal writes.
“I don’t know,” he said.
“I could answer in many different ways but I’m not going to lose my hair to speak about Antonio Conte.”
Unlike Chelsea, United continued their largely impressive pre-season form, bouncing back from an International Champions Cup loss to Barcelona with victory Sunday courtesy of strikes from Marouane Fellaini, Romelu Lukaku and Scott McTominay.
And Mou is upbeat ahead of their showpiece UEFA Super Cup clash against Real Madrid next week.
“It was good for us because of the good pitch, the opponent was very well organised, trying to play from the back,” he said.
“Until now, no injuries, so let’s see if we can start the season in this positive situation.”
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