Chelsea have a tendency to go for Italian managers and Conte will be the fifth Italian to join the ranks. When asked about his appointment at the London Club, the 46-year-old had the following to say:
“I am very excited about the prospect of working at Chelsea Football Club. I am proud to be the coach of the national team of my country and only a role as attractive as manager of Chelsea could follow that. ‘I am happy we have made the announcement now so everything is clear and we can end the speculation. I will continue to focus on my job with the Italian national team and will reserve speaking about Chelsea again until after the Euros.”
As a manager Conte has a 55% win rate with his teams winning 177 matches out of the 320 played. His most successful team being Juventus (2011 – 2014) who won 102 games out of 151 played giving them a 67% win rate.
Even though the Italians record speaks for itself he does not come without controversy. Rumours of alleged match fixing and knowledge of match fixing have marred his reputation. Another more recent scandal was the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match were Conte called upon Brazilian-born Eder and Argentine-born Vaquez to play for the Italian team. Although both players held Italian citizenship and were eligible to play for Italy many people felt it was wrong.
Chelsea are pleased with their new appointment, Director Marina Granovskaia also thanked interim Coach Guus Hiddink:
“We are very pleased to have recruited one of the most highly regarded managers in world football and we are equally pleased to do so before the end of the current season. This aids our future planning. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Guus Hiddink, who has done a great job since he joined us in December.”