Former Inter striker Alessandro Altobelli remains optimistic that coach Antonio Conte will remain at the club next season, despite doubts surrounding his future.
The former Juventus and Chelsea tactician led Inter to a first Scudetto since 2010, but his future at the club remains far from certain as he awaits guarantees from owners Suning, with President Steven Zhang looking to cut costs.
Appearing as a guest on Italian television channel Rai yesterday, Altobelli felt that Inter’s success this season and strength of their squad would be enough to convince Conte to see out the final year of his contract.
“Conte still has a year of contract with Inter, and we know at what salary. I think he will stay at Inter, because he has a good squad. They will remain competitive even with a few tweaks,” he claimed.
Inter fell to a 3-2 defeat to Altobelli’s former club Juventus in the Derby d’Italia on Saturday, with a number of controversial decisions by referee Gianpaolo Calvarese culminating in a late Bianconeri penalty to win the match.
The Italian World Cup-winning striker was critical of Calvarese’s display and felt that the referee had taken attention away from the game with his performance.
“The great protagonist was Gianpaolo Calvarese. Everything he did was wrong, he didn’t get anything right,” Altobelli argued.
Having joined Inter from Brescia in 1977, Altobelli scored 128 goals in 317 appearances and won the Serie A title with the Nerazzurri, before spending a season with Juventus in 1988-89.
