Antonio Conte refuses the austerity cure: in disagreement with a decrease in the ambitions of Inter Milan, the hot coach agreed on Wednesday to terminate his contract with the club, fresh champion of Italy but now eager to reduce his lifestyle.

Arrived in 2019 on the Nerazzurro bench, Conte (51) will remain as the technician who broke the stranglehold of Juventus, nine-time defending champion, at the beginning of May, and guided Inter to their 19th scudetto, the first since 2010.

Inzaghi or Allegri to replace him?

But the rag had been burning with its leaders for several weeks and the former Italian coach (2014-2016), the club's biggest salary, ended up breaking his contract which ran until 2022, against a background of disagreement with the Chinese owner Suning . "Internazionale Milan announces having sealed the termination by mutual agreement of the contract of coach Antonio Conte," the club wrote in a sober statement. “Conte will forever be in the history of our club. "

By letting his technician leave, Inter will already make some savings: according to Sky Sport, Conte would have obtained 7 million euros in compensation for his last year of contract, while he was to receive an annual salary of 11 or 12 million euros.

Several possible names have been mentioned to take up the torch on the nerazzuro bench, starting with Simone Inzaghi (Lazio Rome) or Massimiliano Allegri, the former Juventus coach (2014-2019) also coveted by the leaders of Juventus in the event departure of Andrea Pirlo.

Strong tensions

Ultra-demanding coach with clear eyes and dark hair, Conte leaves Milan at the top of Serie A, after winning his fourth scudetto as a technician (after three coronations conquered on the bench of Juve, in addition to a league title of England at Chelsea, in particular).

Despite strong tensions with the internal leaders - he had already threatened to slam the door in the summer of 2020 - and the disappointments (2 eliminations in the group stage of the Champions League), the Conte transplant took in Milan.

But the serious financial difficulties of the club have called everything into question, and may lead to a great upheaval in the offseason.

Hardly acceptable for the fiery coach, who dreamed of maintaining the winning dynamic of the team.

Few buying and selling the best

Inter suffered losses of more than 100 million euros last season and Suning, the electronics distribution giant which has owned nearly 70% of the club's shares since 2016, is itself in turmoil, notably due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Suning has thus withdrawn from the Chinese club Jiangsu FC, recently champion, which had to go out of business at the end of February.

Five days ago, Inter Milan finalized an agreement with the American investment fund Oaktree Capital which will provide them with 275 million euros in the form of a loan.

According to the Italian press, the Suning group will have to repay the loan granted by Oaktree Capital over the next three years.

In this context, Suning wants to save both on the purchase of new players and on their salaries, while seeking capital gain by selling those with the highest value in the market.

An approach that Conte deemed incompatible with the desire to play at the highest level in Europe.

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