Antonio Conte is being heavily linked with taking the Inter job this summer, and he could help out former club Chelsea on the transfer market in one of his first acts.
The Italian tactician left Stamford Bridge last summer despite delivering a Premier League title and FA Cup in his two-year stint with the Blues.
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While he has been locked in a legal battle with the Premier League giants since, he has yet to confirm his next job, but as noted by Calciomercato, it seems as though Inter is becoming a very likely destination for him.
Luciano Spalletti has seen his side crash out of the Champions League and Europa League this season, while they haven’t kicked on and competed for the Scudetto as many expected had them to.
In turn, the pressure is building, especially with Conte’s shadow hanging over him, with Calciomercato adding that the former Juventus boss has already given the green light for talisman Mauro Icardi to be sold this summer.
The Argentine international was stripped of the captaincy last month and was absent for a string of games due to injury, with question marks being raised over his future with no progress being made on a contract renewal.
With that in mind, it seems as though Conte has perhaps made up his mind on the 26-year-old already despite the fact that Icardi has emerged as one of the most prolific forwards in Europe.
It’s added in the report that Inter will not sell him for less than his €110m release clause, unless a swap deal is proposed, and the knock-on effect of that is Conte could do his old club Chelsea a favour as The Sun note that the Blues have been linked with a swoop for Icardi along with Manchester United.
In turn, should Conte get the job, he could hand Chelsea a major boost by giving them a chance to snap up a clinical forward, although they will have to successfully appeal against their transfer ban first to have any hope of bringing in new signings this summer.
Maurizio Sarri has already raised doubts over the possibility of signing Gonzalo Higuain outright, as noted by the Guardian, but if he leaves and the ban is reversed, they will surely now try to move for Icardi to fill that void.
