ANTONIO CONTE is set to holds showdown talks with Inter Milan chiefs on Tuesday – with his future to be decided after the Europa League campaign.
The Italian boss, 51, tore into club chiefs after steering his side to second place in Serie A in 2019-20.
Antonio Conte will hold showdown talks with Inter chiefs after lashing out at the boardCredit: Reuters
Conte claimed his side weren’t given any recognition or protection in a “tough year”.
Rumours in Italy later claimed he had enquired as to the future of Juventus boss Maurizio Sarri – which Conte strongly denied.
Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano confirmed Conte would hold showdown talks with club chiefs, with his future at the club on the line.
Romano tweeted: “[There will be a] phone call today between Antonio Conte and Inter president Steven Zhang.
“No decision has been made about his future as Inter manager.
“The club and Conte will decide at the end of the Europa League if it’s time to separate or continue together.”
Meanwhile, Conte told Italian publication Ansa he would sue newspaper Repubblica for suggesting he had conferred with Juventus over a move back to Turin.
LEGAL ACTION?
Conte said: “Seeing the article in Repubblica today I want to clearly deny having talked to Juventus players and directors asking if Sarri will be sacked.
“I will sue the person who wrote the article and the responsible publishing director of the newspaper.
“I started a three-year project at Inter.
“As I’ve always done in my life, I’ll work hard and give all I’ve got to make this project a winning one.”
Antonio Conte wants to meet president Steven Zhang after his ‘tough’ yearCredit: Getty – Contributor
After the final game of the Serie A season, Conte took aim at the Inter board.
He said: “It has been a tough year on a personal level, very tough.
“I don’t think the players saw their work recognised and I don’t think I saw my work recognised.
“We all received very little protection from the club.
“We have to grow and improve in all areas, including off the field, and a big club should protect its players more.
“We’ll discuss it all at the end of the season. I have to meet the president (Steven Zhang) and he’s in China right now.”
Conte continued: “It was very, very intense this year, difficult, and the lads did well to isolate ourselves and create unity within us, despite the difficulties.
“I don’t like people who get on the bandwagon and I saw a lot of that with Inter this year.
“We had to take all the poop for months and got zero protection.
“My problem is that I have a vision, I see the path we have to take and I know what we need to do.
“I can be a lightning rod for the first year, but if you don’t learn and keep making the same mistakes, then that’s just crazy.
“If you want to reduce the gap with Juventus you have to be strong on the pitch but above all off it.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
