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The 51-year-old Conte was at the helm of Inter for two seasons and had one year remaining on his contract. Despite the on-field success this season, rumors had surfaced that he did not share the same vision with club ownership, including the level of investment that would be made moving forward.
Inter are owned by Suning Holdings Group and chairman Steven Zhang, who is reportedly preparing for significant budget cuts next year due to shortfalls brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The club recently secured a $336 million loan from U.S. investment firm Oaktree Capital.
According to La Gazzetta Dello Sport, they’ll be paying Conte half of the 13 million euros he was due to receive next year.
What now for Conte?
Conte is highly regarded in European soccer. Before arriving in Milan, he won league titles with Juventus in Italy and with Chelsea in England.
It’s unclear whether the arrangement with Inter will allow him to join a new team for the coming season, but that won’t stop his name from being immediately linked to all the high-profile vacancies in England, Italy and Spain. If there’s a deal to be done, it will be.
All eyes will also be on the star players that Conte had at Inter Milan and whether the likes of Lautaro Martinez, Romelu Lukaku and Alessandro Bastoni will stay.
Who will be Inter’s new manager?
Reports in Italy suggest that Inter might have Conte’s successor in place by the weekend. Lazio’s Simone Inzaghi has surfaced as a potential candidate.
Inzaghi has led Lazio for five seasons, never finishing lower than eighth place in Serie A. They also won two Italian Super Cups and one Coppa Italia.
The other names floated in the Itailan media include two former Juventus managers, Maximiliano Allegri and Maurizio Sarri, and former Inter man Sinisa Mihajlovic.
