Inter Milan coach Antonio Conte has terminated his contract one year early just days after leading them to their first Serie A title in 11 years, the club said yesterday. Conte, who joined Inter in May 2019, agreed to depart after Italian media reported he had been left unhappy with plans to reduce investment and cut costs due to the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“FC Internazionale Milano can confirm that an agreement has been reached with Antonio Conte for the termination of his contract by mutual consent,” read a club statement. “The club would like to thank Antonio for the extraordinary work that he has done, culminating in Inter’s 19th top-flight title. Antonio Conte will forever remain a part of our club’s history.”
The 51-year-old’s ambitions to improve his squad were at odds with the club’s financial situation, with Inter reportedly looking to slash the wage bill by 15-20% and make 70-100mn euros from player sales before next season.
Sky Italia reported that Conte was not convinced by the plans, which include the possible sale of a key player, and that Inter will hand the coach a severance payment of around 7mn euros ($8.53mn). Former Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri and current Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi have been named in Italian media as potential successors.
Inter made the high-profile signings of players like Romelu Lukaku, Christian Eriksen and Achraf Hakimi during Conte’s tenure and their arrivals spurred the club to great success. Conte masterminded a superb domestic campaign for Inter, wrapping up the Serie A title with four games to spare and accumulating 91 points, the second-highest total in the club’s history after the 97 they amassed in 2006-07.
Inter finished no higher than fourth for eight years before Conte’s arrival. He made an immediate impact by leading them to the runners-up spot in Serie A and the Europa League in his debut season. They went one better in 2020-21 as Conte’s side blew away the competition domestically to end Juventus’ nine-year stranglehold on the league crown.
But there was indication that his tenure would end after Conte’s assistant Cristian Stellini said after the 5-1 win over Udinese: “We are enthusiastic about continuing but when you have a top coach, he requires a top project too. The sale of top players could change things but it’s up to the club to make clear what the situation is.”
Stellini’s comments struck at the heart of the issue: Conte would like to stay and Inter would like to keep him, but his ambitions are at odds with the club’s financial situation. Speculation around the manager’s future has been rife for months, to the extent that he stopped attending news conferences towards the end of the season to avoid fielding awkward questions.
However, Inter are now looking to cut costs after taking a big financial hit during the coronavirus pandemic. Club president Steven Zhang made a plea to players and staff to give up two months’ wages this month but it was rejected.
Inter have since secured 275mn euros ($336.35mn) from Oaktree Capital Management to help stabilise the situation but cuts will continue.