Chelsea begin £9m pay-off battle with Antonio Conte

21 mar 2019

The legal battle between Antonio Conte and Chelsea will move one step ahead on Thursday, The Daily Mail reports. The Italian manager believes he is entitled to the final £ 9 million of his contract. The Premier League club, however, claims the manager shouldn't get his pay off because of his behavior his final year at the Stamford Bridge. Chelsea believes Conte was the main responsible for Diego Costa's departure.

The Atletico Madrid star accused the Italian manager of kicking him out of Chelsea with a text message. Chelsea had to sell Diego Costa in January 2019 and was unable to find another top striker since given that both Gonzalo Higuain and Alvaro Morata has been failing to impress at Stamford Bridge.

Conte is also accusing Chelsea of taking too long to sack him last summer and that prevented him from finding a new club.

Conte has been unemployed since Maurizio Sarri replaced him on Chelsea's bench last summer. He has been linked with a move to Inter and Juventus although both Serie A clubs have yet to take a final decision on the future of their managers.

Meantime the legal battle between Conte and Chelsea has begun.