Antonio Conte’s end-of-season summit with Inter will be a repeat of last summer’s crunch talks, according to a report in the Italian media today.
Tuttosport’s print edition said Conte would again meet Steven Zhang and club directors Beppe Marotta and Piero Ausilio to discuss his future, in what was described as a ‘Villa Bellini sequel’.
Inter’s imminent summit will be just as important as the one they held 12 months ago, when Conte seemed likely to leave the club before agreeing to remain for a second season.
The one big difference between then and now, according to the Turin-based paper, is that Conte intends to stay at Inter if the conditions are right.
Unlike last summer, when Conte criticised Inter in public after their 2-0 win at Atalanta, he arrives at the meeting off the back of a triumphant campaign in Serie A and has the club’s supporters on his side.
Conte also has the full backing of Marotta and Ausilio, who will be by his side when they meet Zhang and seek reassurance about Suning’s plans for Inter.
Inter’s head coach wants to stay but there is no guarantee he would accept a third season with reduced ambitions, the report warned.
The atmosphere around the club is far better than it was last summer at Villa Bellini, though, not least because Conte has forged a very close relationship with Inter’s players.