Antonio Conte will leave Inter after being told he would lose at least one of three stars in the summer, according to a report in Italy today.
Corriere dello Sport’s print edition said Conte could not tolerate the idea of his squad becoming less competitive after winning the Serie A title.
Conte expected Inter to raise the bar after securing the Scudetto, perhaps by signing a back-up for Samir Handanovic, an experienced left wing-back and either Rodrigo de Paul or Ngolo Kante in midfield.
Instead, he was informed that Lautaro Martinez, Alessandro Bastoni and Achraf Hakimi were all at risk of being sold, and this means Inter’s project is no longer a winning one.
Conte would want to give up less essential players or at least have the certainty of replacing Lautaro, maybe with Fiorentina’s Dusan Vlahovic of whom he is a big admirer.
Nothing of the sort has been promised though, leaving Conte to tell those closest to him that he has felt ‘abandoned’ by Steven Zhang throughout this season.
Conte doesn’t want to go through another season like this because he thinks he has already performed a miracle to win the title this season.
Inter and Conte are now negotiating a mutual termination agreement, which Conte values at around €7 million.
The club want to try and recover the situation but it seems it is already beyond repair.
