Chelsea manager Antionio Conte says he is looking forward to meeting Nigeria’s John Obi Mikel and other members of the Blues playing staff following his confirmation as the new man in charge at Stamford Bridge on Monday.
Chelsea on Monday officially announced the appointment of Conte as First Team Head Coach on a three-year contract, succeeding interim boss Guus Hiddink who will quit his post at the end of the season.
Conte, who is currently the manager of the Italy national side is expected to begin work in London after Italy’s participation in this summer’s Euro 2016 tournament and the former Juventus boss in an interview on the club’s official website says he is already excited about life at the Bridge.
“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 looking forward to meeting everyone at the club and the day-to-day challenge of competing in the Premier League. Chelsea and English football are watched wherever you go, the fans are passionate and my ambition is to have more success to follow the victories I enjoyed in Italy.”
“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.”
Conte will be the fifth Italian to manage Chelsea, following on from Gianluca Vialli, Claudio Ranieri, Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Di Matteo. In common with the first three of those names, he was formerly at Juventus, in his case as both a player and a manager.
