Antonio Conte will finally hold his crunch talks with Inter president Steven Zhang today, according to a report in the Italian media.
Gazzetta dello Sport’s print edition said Conte would use the meeting to work out whether Inter’s sporting project was still appealing to him, following this season’s Serie A title.
It is impossible to predict which way Conte will decide, the report admitted, and the only real clue came from his assistant Cristian Stellini yesterday.
Stellini told reporters after Inter’s 5-1 win over Udinese: “We need to restart from two years ago, when Conte began this project.
“It was a three-year project which should continue, but it’s a response the club must provide to us.
“We’re enthusiastic to keep going, but when you have a top coach you must have top ambitions as well.”
Conte wants to keep winning in Serie A while trying to make progress in the UEFA Champions League after three straight group stage exits for Inter, the report added.
In order to do this, the Nerazzurri must reinforce their squad and keep Conte’s seven ‘untouchables’ in the summer: Milan Skriniar, Stefan de Vrij, Alessandro Bastoni, Achraf Hakimi, Nicolo Barella, Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez.
Zhang will be able to guarantee that Inter keep hold of their star players, but signing reinforcements will be a difficult challenge in a moment like this with Inter’s financial problems.
