Antonio Conte could leave Inter in short order because of irreconcilable disagreements with Suning over the future of the team. Ownership is looking to make a profit in the upcoming transfer market window, while the coach would like to strengthen the squad to compete in Europe. Two completely opposite positions that are likely to lead to a divorce, La Gazzetta dello Sport and Gianluca Di Marzio report.
The club is not out of the woods financially speaking despite the sizeable loan recently granted by Oaktree. The brass is reportedly looking to earn €80/100M in the summer and cut the payroll by 15/20%. It would be tough to achieve those results without selling one of the best players. The manager instead wants quality reinforcements.
Conte was hoping that threatening to leave could change the plans of the Zhang family. At this stage, it would be surprising if either party reversed its stance. They are now set to move onto the negotiation to terminate his contract a year early. They plan to part ways on good terms, and the gaffer could receive his entire remaining salary as a severance package.
Despite the likely departure of the coach, the top executives Giuseppe Marotta and Piero Ausilio are poised to stay. They will abide by the requests of the ownership and try to maintain the squad on top through a careful balancing act between economic and technical needs. The early short-list of candidates to replace Conte includes Massimiliano Allegri, who is in high demand, Maurizio Sarri, Sinisa Mihajlovic, and Simone Inzaghi.