Antonio Conte to leave Inter and linked with Real Madrid

Both Italian outlets Gazzetta and Corriere dello Sport have reported that the Inter coach is to stand down and swap Milan for the Spanish capital.

Inter Milan and Antonio Conte are set to go their separate ways. The Italian coach has shunned speaking to the media after the scudetto win and the worst fears of the nerazzurri fans are about to materialise as both La Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport claim that the coach is to leave his position.

Inter's owners Suning are carrying out a serious of cost cutting exercises and have called upon all first team players to take a 20% drop and at the same time are looking for more finance to bolster the side for the 2021/22 season.

The Milanese giants are set to make official the decision in the next 48 hours and are poised to ask Max Allegri to take over on the Inter bench with the likes of Maurizio Sarri and Sinisa Mihajlovic on a reserve list. Conte currently earns over 12 million euro per season and his departure may impact on the future of the likes of Achraf, Lautaro and Lukaku who are close to the head coach.

Bernabéu bound?

With this latest development, once again Conte's name is inevitably linked with the Santiago Bernabéu bench as a question mark hangs over Zinedine Zidane's future at Madrid. Speaking to the media after Inter's Champions League game at Valdebebas last November, Conte admitted that he was close to joining Real Madrid 'on a number of occasions' in the past. If Zizou does decide to call time at the club, Conte will be the leading candidate to fill the Frenchman's boots.