Following last night’s dismissal of their coach Stefano Pioli after six months in charge, Inter released a statement saying “the club will begin planning now for the next season”. Plan A seems to revolve around persuading Antonio Conte to leave Stamford Bridge for the San Siro, and the Mirror report that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich will deal with the problem as he always does – by hosing money at it.
With his wife and daughter still residing in their native Italy, Conte is reported to be amenable to a move back home and Inter will offer him a £10m salary to make it even more tempting. But Chelsea are prepared to top any offer Inter might make, and to allow Conte to appoint his own assistant and do everything in their power to land transfer targets such as Arsenal playmaker Alexis Sánchez, Everton striker Romelu Lukaku, Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata, Monaco midfielder Tiemoué Bakayoko and Southampton central defender Virgil van Dijk, all in the hope of keeping their manager sweet. With just a win over West Brom on Friday night required to wrap up the Premier League in his first season working in England, one suspects the Italian can name his price.
Should Chelsea attempt to re-sign Lukaku from Everton, Manchester United may try to torpedo the deal by making an £85m bid for the Belgian, say the Daily Star, who also remind us of José Mourinho’s well-documented interest in Atlético Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann.
Elsewhere, reports suggest that Mourinho will try to convince Tottenham to send midfielder Eric Dier to Old Trafford in exchange for £40m in used tenners. As part of what promises to be a massive summer rebuild, Mourinho will also ramp up his efforts to bring Monaco striker Kylian Mbappé and Bordeaux’s Brazilian striker Malcolm on board.
Meanwhile on Merseyside, Everton boss Ronaldo Koeman is ready to make Malaga striker Sandro and Ajax midfielder Davy Klaassen offers they can’t refuse, while his Liverpool counterpart Jürgen Klopp wants to sign Roma’s Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah.
