Show me the money Conte wants a big pay rise if Chelsea land the title tonight
Italian demands raise on £6.5m annual salary Chelsea can clinch title tonight with Albion win
Antonio Conte has put the ball in Chelsea’s court regarding his future by making it clear that owner Roman Abramovich will have to pay him what he is worth if he secures the Premier League title.
Chelsea will become champions with a victory against West Bromwich Albion tonight and Conte’s incredible first season in charge at Stamford Bridge, which could end in a league and FA Cup double, has alerted the interest of Inter Milan.
Conte’s family are yet to move to England, although it is understood that he and his wife, Elisabetta, have been looking at schools in London for their daughter, Vittoria.
Chelsea are confident of keeping the head coach and agreeing a new contract, but Inter are ready to offer him £12.5million a year to take him back to Italy.
Conte’s Chelsea deal is worth £6.5 million a year, which is less than Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Arsène Wenger and Jürgen Klopp earn. Of his Premier League rivals, only Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino is lower down the pay scale.
But, having outperformed his rivals, and standing on the brink of a fourth successive league title in club management – the last three of which were with Juventus – Conte believes Abramovich has the perfect chance to prove just how highly he and Chelsea rate him.
It is likely to be an expensive summer for Abramovich, who will also have to promise significant transfer funds to keep Conte and offer Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois lucrative contracts to ignore interest from Real Madrid.
“The money is important only at this level to give the real value of a player or the coach,” said Conte, 47. “If you show you deserve it, you have earned the money. I think this. When you stay at this level, the money only explains to you your value. It tells you your value. Money is not the most important thing, but money is important to understand the real value of a person.
“I have a contract for another two years with Chelsea. It is logical when you start the work in a new club, the will is to continue to work for many years. For sure, this is my will. But, also, I like to repeat in this moment, for me and my players, the important thing is to be focused on the moment.
“The moment is very important.
‘Money tells you your value. If you show you deserve it, then you have earned the money’
It’s not important for the single person – me, or the future for the players. Now we must be focused on the next few games and try to reach this fantastic target.
“It’s normal to have a lot of speculation around my players and the coaches, different coaches, so it’s important not to lose the concentration and be focused. The moment is fantastic for us and I want to transfer this message.”
At this moment, Conte’s stock could not be higher. He has won 110 of his past 149 league games in club management and has inspired the remarkable turnaround that has enabled Chelsea to rise from last season’s chaotic 10th place to the verge of securing the title.
He knows that with success comes money and is clear that winning must always be the priority for him and his players.
“For me, the most important thing now is to win,” said Conte. “It’s the most important thing for
me and the players, to write the history of this club. Then the future is important.”
Conte’s players will testify to the fact that they have been made to suffer on their run towards the title and the Italian has warned that the hard work on the training ground will not stop next season.
Asked if it would be possible to win the title without suffering, Conte replied: “No. It’s impossible. When you work very hard, it’s normal to suffer. I’ve never seen a player who, during hard work, doesn’t suffer. I think that when you suffer, you become stronger and then you are ready to face every situation, above all problematic situations during games.
“Next season will be different because we have to play in another competition [the Champions League]. But it doesn’t matter because you must find, always, the right time to work. Because if someone thinks that we have to play every three days next season and we don’t have to work, then it’s a great mistake.”
Should Chelsea win at the Hawthorns, then attention will quickly turn to whether Conte can repeat his success at Chelsea – assuming Abramovich pays up and keeps him.
“It’s very difficult to say,” said Conte. “First of all, I want to win the first one. I want to repeat this because if the trophy is not in the hands of our captain, I don’t want to say something that has yet to happen. But, for sure, we started a great job this season. If you ask me, honestly, do you believe you’d fight to win the title in the first season, it’s very difficult to answer because we are building.
“We are building good foundations for this team, for the club and, I like to repeat, there is a moment for the club, a transitional moment, because when you lose players who wrote the history of this club... Ivanovic, Mikel, John Terry, also Oscar, and didn’t replace them, it means we must build good foundations. To do this, you need time.”
Meanwhile, Klopp said that Chelsea deserved to be Premier League champions, but insisted the gap to his Liverpool side – 14 points – was not as great as the league table suggested.
“They are experienced, cold as ice and they get the points. Now they are in a good run again and difficult to stop but we will all have a different season next year,” said Klopp. “They had most luck with injuries.”
‘I have a contract for another two years. The will is to continue to work for many years’