Italian Antonio Conte was handed the responsibility of reviving Chelsea’s fortunes and bringing the Premier League title back to Stamford Bridge when he was named as their new head coach on Monday.
Conte, 46, the head coach of Italy, will move to London on a three-year contract after the June 10 – July 10 European Championship in France.
Conte has long been touted as Chelsea’s first choice to succeed Jose Mourinho as their next permanent manager following the departure of the Portuguese in December after Chelsea made their worst start to a top flight campaign for more than 30 years.
Here’s all you need to know about him:
Born in Lecce, Italy, July 31, 1969
PLAYING CAREER
- Made his Serie A debut for his hometown team US Lecce against Pisa aged 16 years, eight months in 1985 as a central midfielder
- Played 89 matches for Lecce over six years, scoring one goal
- Moved to Juventus in 1991, where he played 418 games over 13 seasons, winning five Serie A titles, the Champions League, the UEFA Cup and the Italian Cup
- Represented Italy at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States and the 2000 European Championships in Belgium and Netherlands
- Retired from playing football at the end of the 2003-04 season
EARLY MANAGERIAL CAREER
- First managerial appointment was with Arezzo in the Italian Serie B in July 2006
- Appointed to manage Serie B side Bari in December 2007, leading them to promotion to the top-flight following the 2008-09 season
- Was in charge of Atalanta between September 2009 and January 2010 before joining Siena, who had recently been relegated
- Led Siena straight back into the top-flight after they finished runners up in Serie B
JUVENTUS
- Signed a two-year to manage Juventus in May 2011, winning the Serie A title for three seasons in a row and two Italian Super Cups
- Resigned as Juventus manager in July 2014
ITALY NATIONAL TEAM
- Named manager of the Italian national team from August 2014 until Euro 2016, replacing Cesare Prandelli
- Won his first game as Italy manager against the Netherlands 2-0
- Sealed Euro 2016 qualification for Italy in October 2015 with a 3-1 win over Azerbaijan
- Italian Football Federation confirmed on March 15, 2016 that Conte would step down as manager after the Euros
CHELSEA
Conte appointed Chelsea manager on Monday on a three-year deal.
(Feature image source: Reuters)