Change is a part of life, and it is also a vital part of the sport of soccer as well. Players and managers come and go, and life goes on. Sometimes, their departures are beautiful, but some are done to improve the club. Antonio Conte has seen a lot in his managerial career so far as well.
The Italian was most recently the manager of Tottenham Hotspurs in the Premier League, but was sacked last season. Despite the start of a new season, he has not joined a team. And now, he is being rumored to join a historic club back in Italy.
Antonio Conte reportedly agrees to Milan managerial job
Antonio Conte has reportedly been offered to become the new manager of AC Milan next season. He will not be appointed this season, as the board wants Stefano Pioli to finish the current season. This is after the club came to the decision that they needed a new direction, as Pioli has seen the club perform poorly in the last two seasons. They are already out of the title race, with rivals Inter Milan and Juventus miles away. Furthermore, they were knocked out of the UCL group stages and the Coppa Italia as well.
Pioli has a contract until June 2025, and the club is going to try to convince him to step down at the end of the season. He had won them the Serie A title in 2022 after a decade and took them to the UCL semi-finals last season.
🚨 Antonio Conte has agreed a deal to become the new AC Milan coach next season.
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) January 30, 2024
(Source: Telelombardia) pic.twitter.com/Yk0xRUCrDU
Conte has reportedly already agreed to join the club next season, after a brief period of being a free agent. Apparently, the decision by Conte was made after meeting up with AC Milan legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who joined the club as a senior advisor after his retirement. He held important talks with the Italian, and managed to convince him to join the club. This is after there were also reports that Napoli held meetings to bring him at the club’s helm.
Conte to become part of exclusive list of Italian legends
The decision by Antonio Conte comes as a big surprise to many, as he is known memorably for his time as manager for both Inter Milan and Juventus. He won a lot of trophies and success for both clubs, who are also fierce rivals of AC Milan. All three clubs are the biggest in the country and fiercely compete for all trophies.
While many fans would consider this a big betrayal from the manager, there is a strong precedent for players and managers to jump to rival clubs in Italy. Zlatan himself played for both Milan clubs and Juventus, as did Andrea Pirlo, while Ronaldo Nazario played for both San Siro sides as well.
Stefano #Pioli será o 8º técnico na história a dirigir os 2 rivais de Milão. Os outros 7 são Leonardo, Alberto Zaccheroni, Giovanni Trapattoni, Ilario Castagner, Luigi Radice, Giuseppe Bigogno e Jozsef Viola.#Milan #Inter pic.twitter.com/KX7EIlzcAg
— Mundo do Calcio (@mundo_calcio) October 9, 2019
There have been managers as well, and more specifically, two managers who have taken charge of all three Italian giants. Those two are Giovanni Trapattoni and Alberto Zaccheroni, two Italian managers who are considered legends of the country. These two managed all three clubs, and Antonio Conte will be the third manager to follow in their footsteps. He will also be the ninth manager to coach both sides of Milan.
AC Milan will now focus on their next game against Frosinone on Saturday, with Antonio Conte preparing himself to take over the club at the end of the season.
