Why Antonio Conte's future may be uncertain at Chelsea

PHOTO:COURTESY

Chelsea fans could be staring at another task of holding on to their Head Coach Antonio Conte, whose services are now being sought by his country, Italy.

This is after squandered an opportunity to qualify for the World after they fell to Sweden in a 1-0 defeat at Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. Jakob Johansson sealed the victory for Sweden after the two sides had played a barren draw at San Siro in Italy, on the first leg tie, handing Sweden its qualification to the World 2018 in Russia since 2006.

Italy has now embarked on the process of rebuilding their squad after the historic failure to qualify for the World Cup competition since 1958. Former Torino boss Giampero Ventura was sacked by the Italian failure after the team failed to clinch the qualification.

Italian FA Chief Carlos Tavecchio is believed to have earmarked Chelsea manager Antonio Conte as the first choice candidate to take over the mantle from Ventura. Conte left Italian national team for Chelsea in 2016 after steering the team to the quarter finals of the Euro Cup competitions.

Conte has been rumoured to be somewhat unhappy especially with the way in which Chelsea board manages the transfer of players. This happened after he missed the signature of certain players such as Romelu Lukaku who instead signed for Manchester United.

Other Italian coaches such as Carlo Ancelotti, Roberto Mancini and Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri are also considered options.