Gary Neville Backs Antonio Conte To Leave Chelsea During The Summer

Manchester United legend Gary Neville believes Antonio Conte won’t remain in-charge at Stamford Bridge next season. The Italian’s future at Chelsea has come under question through the season, and the 3-1 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday is likely to have ended his chances of staying put at the west London club.

Speaking on his very own podcast on Sky Sports, Neville said:"I don't think he's going to be here next season. We've thought it for six or seven months. And that's not because we don't want him here, or we don't think he's done a great job, it's just the nature of the job here. It ends up becoming a bit messy, press conferences become the boardroom versus manager, it's happened here many, many times. In terms of the outcome, you can't complain about what they've done here. But the managers who come here know they've got a short period of time."

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has made it a trend to change managers when they fail to meet the club’s expectations, and this has proved a success model over the past decade with the Blues managing to build their reputation at the domestic stage as well as Europe. Conte does have the chance to guide the Blues to an FA Cup triumph next month, but the club’s failure to finish in the top four is expected to spell an end to his managerial reign.

Reports from the English press suggest that Luis Enrique has been earmarked as the ideal successor to Conte during the summer, but any move for the Spaniard may witness the Blues pay a huge compensation package for their manager, who has no plans to hand in a resignation - prior to the expiry of his contract in 2019. Chelsea is currently fifth in the Premier League standings with 56 points, eight behind Tottenham Hotspur, who occupy the final Champions League position.