ANTONIO CONTE has warned Roman Abramovich he could walk out of Chelsea and straight into another job if he gets the sack this summer.
Boss Conte is enjoying a turnaround in fortunes with two thumping wins in the Premier League and FA Cup, plus last night’s spirited 1-1 draw against Barcelona in the Champions League.
The Italian has just less than a year-and-a-half left on his £9million-per-year contract with the Premier League champions and insists he wants to see it through.
But he also says he is braced for the boot at any moment.
The Italian FA are ready and waiting to offer him his old job back as national team boss any time, and with Real Madrid and Paris St.Germain linked with him during a turbulent season in England there is a big call for his expertise as a coach.
Conte said: “In our line of work, we always have a bag packed.
“My intention is to remain here, but if something were to change, there would be several different scenarios opening up.
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“In 14 years, Chelsea have changed coach 10 times, so they do have a tendency to chop and change here.
“It’s no problem for me, in fact I really like pressure. I just hope it doesn’t affect the players.”
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Chelsea policy when they sack managers is to continue paying them until their contract expires – knowing full well that most of their ex-bosses are hot property and get back to work pretty soon.
Conte said: “I said very clearly, I have a contract to 2019. I intend to respect it. After that, anything can happen in football.
“I am happy at Chelsea, but both parties need to be happy.”
Conte has had ups and downs with his superiors at Chelsea – most notably over transfers and recently admitted he is a ‘disaster’ in the market and needs to be tougher with the
Chelsea top brass to get the players he really wants.
His wildcat behaviour in a text dispute with striker Diego Costa was also received badly by the board.
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