Chelsea boss Antonio Conte makes Champions League claim as he closes in on new deal
CHELSEA manager Antonio Conte has revealed he would have taken simply qualifying for the Champions League at the beginning of this season.
Posted Saturday, May 27, 2017 by Express.co.uk
Now the Italian can't quite believe he is on the cusp of a Premier League and FA Cup double.
Conte is set to sign a new two-year deal worth around £9.6-a-million-year after tomorrow's Wembley final with Arsenal and said: “At the start, if you’d said we could qualify for the Champions League, I’d have signed.
"Then I found great players, and we were able to change our season.”
After the 3-0 defeat by Arsenal at the Emirates in September, things looked bleak for Conte. Instead, that turned out to be the game that changed their campaign as the manager switched their formation to 3-4-3 and never looked back, winning the Premier League by seven points.
Antonio Conte admits finishing in the top four would have been good enough for him
Chelsea are on course to secure a Premier League and FA Cup double this season
Conte said: “It was very difficult to think about winning the League after that – that we’d be celebrating at the end. We had a lot of problems.
"But I was lucky to have players who put themselves into my idea of football, and we secured a fantastic title.
"I don’t like speaking about winning the Double before we win. If you win, then speak about it. It won’t be easy.”
And now Chelsea are ready to hand him a lucrative contract to keep him out of the clutches of Inter Milan.
The Italian side are keen on bringing Conte back home amid suggestions of homesick.
But Conte has finally confirmed he’s ready to sign a new contract and would like to stay in London for the long haul.
He said: "If the club give me the possibility to stay here and to extend my contract, for sure I am available to do this," Conte said."But we have the same idea about the future. The way we have to do things together, to improve the squad and the team.
"But, I repeat, I'm happy for this season and am happy to stay here. I hope to stay here for many years."
Gianluca Vialli said this week he wants to see Antonio Conte stay at Chelsea for a long time
Former Chelsea star Gianluca Vialli this week called on Conte to emulate Sir Alex Ferguson's lengthy tenure at Manchester United and the Blues boss said he was keen to build for the long-term.
And Conte seems up for the challenge.
"It would be great to do this," Conte said. "For a coach, that's the best solution - to stay for a long time at the same club and build, with the club, something important.
"But you know very well that modern football is dangerous. Our job depends a lot on the results.
"I think the only way that I know, to convince the club I should stay a long time, is to work very hard with my players. For sure, that is my hope."
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