JUVENTUS and Italy legend Alessandro Del Piero believes his former team-mate Antonio Conte can lead Chelsea to the Premier League title this season.
Conte will start life at Stamford Bridge next week after a brilliant Euro 2016 campaign with an unheralded Azzurri squad.
The 46-year-old takes over at Stamford Bridge after the worst season in the Roman Abramovich era – Chlesea finished 10th after sacking Jose Mourinho, who had won the title just six months earlier, in December following an awful start to the season.
The Blues have already signed £33million striker Michy Batshuayi from Marseille, but more transfers are expected, especially if Conte is to play the 3-5-2 formation he has perfected with Juventus and the national team.
But Del Piero is confident he can make it work in a new environment.
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He told Sky Sports: “He’s a good guy, he loves to work a lot.
“If he has a chance to talk to players in the right way, and if they understand what he wants, Chelsea can have a very good season and probably win the title.
“It’s not easy, the Premier League is amazing this year in terms of players and coaches, but he has a chance.”
Del Piero is Juventus’ all-time record appearance maker with 705 matches played and the top scorer with 290.
He won six Serie A titles with the club, the Coppa Italia once as well as the Champions League.
Conte was a stalwart in midfield alongside Del Piero, winning five Serie A titles and the same Champions League.
Conte was then manager of Del Piero for his final title in 2011-12, his final season in Turin.
That championship was the first of three successive Scudetto’s for Conte before he surprisingly quit on the eve of the 2014-15 season.
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