Clubs, stats and controversies: Who is Chelsea’s manager in waiting Antonio Conte
Conte started his playing career with hometown club Lecce before making his Serie A debut in 1985. The central midfielder was signed by Juventus boss Giovanni Trapattoni in 1991 and went on to make more than 400 appearances for The Old Lady, winning five Serie A titles and the Champions League. He began his coaching career with Serie B outfit Arezzo, while spells at Bari, Atalanta and Siena followed. He was handed the managerial reins at former club Juve in May 2011.
Chelsea’s appointment of Conte was announced on the same day as a hearing in Cremona as part of the match-fixing trial in which he is accused of sports fraud while manager of Siena in 2010/11. The criminal trial is expected to be concluded next month. In August 2012, Conte was banned for 10 months for failing to report attempts at match-fixing involving Siena, a sanction that was reduced to a four-month touchline ban.
Conte’s win ratio while in charge of Juventus was 72.8 per cent, having won 83 of 114 league matches and losing only seven. During the 2013/14 campaign, Juventus won the Scudetto after winning 33 games and chalking up 102 points, which were both Serie A records. Only AC Milan with 58 matches can boast a longer unbeaten run than Juve’s 49-match streak – 48 were under Conte – between May 2011 and October 2012.
The 46-year-old is set to become the fifth Italian to manage Chelsea following Gianluca Vialli, Claudio Ranieri, Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto di Matteo. He competed against Chelsea while boss of Juventus. The Bianconeri drew 2-2 with the Blues at Stamford Bridge during the 2012 Champions League group stage before thrashing Di Matteo’s side 3-0 at the Stadio Juventus in Turin.