How Conte rejected Real Madrid so Chelsea could pay him £9million

Antonio Conte turned down the chance to become Real Madrid manager so he can receive a big pay-off from Chelsea.


Conte was eventually sacked as the Blues manager on Thursday.

He took training at Cobham for the final time in the morning, before saying his goodbyes to players and staff.

Conte is due up to £9million and wants it in one lump sum, but Chelsea’s policy is to continue paying sacked managers’ salary for up to a year until they find another job.

Either way, the former Juventus and Italy boss knew he would be in the money, if the former Premier League champions axed him.

Had he quit and taken another gig, it would have eased the cost of Chelsea’s latest managerial change.

Conte was one of the managers on Madrid’s shortlist, after Zinedine Zidane’s departure following their European Cup final win over Liverpool in May.

But when they made their approach, he refused, deciding that waiting for his Chelsea pay-off was a better option than receiving nothing from them.