Between Chelsea and Antonio Conte

DBasia.news – The relationship between Chelsea and Antonio Conte ended in court, then in the end the Blues had to pay £26.6 million (around Rp. 500 billion), and made this case the most expensive divorce case in football history.

When Chelsea sacked the Italian manager in 2018, they argued he was not eligible for severance pay due to a perceived breach of contract during his second and final year in charge at Stamford Bridge.

But the judge ruled Conte to be the winner, and he split the severance pay he received among his 11 coaching staff.

It’s a shame that Conte’s story in west London had to end in a showdown. Considering the story began so beautifully, it feels surprising too.

In his first year, Conte conjured a team that had previously finished 10th to become the Premier League champions.

The switch to a 3-4-3 formation, which was previously uncommon in England, was the start of a winning streak of 13 matches, and his team at that time made their way to the English league trophy.

The Blues also came close to a domestic double in 2017, but were knocked out in the FA Cup final by Arsenal.

However, they returned to Wembley the next year, and lifted the trophy after beating Manchester United 1-0.

Two major trophies in two seasons usually guarantees a third season for a manager, but Conte’s tenure was already in tatters before the end of the 2017/18 season.

The first sign of tension at Stamford Bridge emerged in the January 2017 transfer window, when Diego Costa pushed for a £25 million sale to Chinese Super League club, Tianjin Quanjian.

The Blues had to force the Brazilian-born Spanish striker to settle, and he played a key role in their Premier League triumph.

However, Conte then informed Costa that he would not be in his plans again via text message while the striker was on holiday.

Costa went on a rampage and has had several interviews claiming he was “treated like a dog”.

From within the club, many blamed Conte for handling the situation so insensitively and believed he should have let Marina Granovskaia, the Chelsea director, deal with Costa’s departure.

Apart from that, after becoming English champions, and qualifying for the European Champions League, Chelsea plans to polish their squad as Conte considers him not strong enough to compete for domestic and continental trophies simultaneously.

The Blues did bring in several players, but not Conte’s targeted players.

After being disappointed to see his main target, Virgil van Dijk, then-record transfer for a defender (£75 million) to Liverpool, Conte has been further frustrated that Chelsea failed to sign Leonardo Bonucci, who left Juventus for AC Milan in the summer of 2017.

Conte also wants Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Romelu Lukaku and Kyle Walker, while Milan turned down Chelsea’s offer for Alessio Romagnoli. They even targeted Bayern Munich bomber, Robert Lewandowski when the former Juve manager was still in west London

Instead, in the 2017/18 season, Chelsea signed Alvaro Morata, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Danny Drinkwater and Davide Zappacosta. A period of the transfer window that is considered the most crushed in their history.

The result? Predictable. Chelsea immediately struggled to catch Manchester City in the title race and, in November, the pivotal technical director Michael Emenalo left the Blues by mutual consent. This is a significant blow as there is no longer a mediator between Conte and Granovskaia.

But the club can not be entirely blamed. Chelsea are often reckless when it comes to transfers, but they have standards of their own that happen to be not to Conte’s wishes.

What happened after that felt inevitable. Conte’s press conference was filled with fierceness, he openly, in public, admitted that he was unhappy with Chelsea’s transfer strategy.

Until now, the Blues are still forced to pay for their negligence in the 2017/18 season. Olivier Giroud, Emerson Palmieri and Ross Barkley signed in January, bringing their total spending that season to £234 million.

Chelsea did win the FA Cup, but Conte could only finish fifth in the Premier League, and failed to qualify for the Champions League.

In the summer, Chelsea was unable to contain their intention to bring in Maurizio Sarri as the new manager. But Napoli forced them to buy Jorginho for £57 million, and the Partenopei were a huge hit.

However, Conte was forced to handle the first three training sessions of the 2018/19 season while waiting for his fate.

After reviewing everything, this isn’t a black and white case where one of them can be labeled a villain while the other is labeled a hero.

This is just one of the most dramatic episodes in the notoriously tumultuous world of Chelsea. Just imagine, they have poured around £100 million just to fire the manager since Roman Abramovich bought the Blues in 2003.

Conte has always been reluctant to reveal the true story behind his tenure at Chelsea by always giving safe, diplomatic answers.

“I spent two seasons in which I developed a great relationship with the players, staff and people who work at Chelsea,” said the man who now coaches Tottenham ahead of the first of three games for the Blues versus Spurs in January 2022.

“We did a great job and I don’t think, from my position, I have to prove anything to anyone.”

“I’m a manager who has the experience of doing important jobs at other clubs and I would love to be back at Stamford Bridge.”

Surprisingly (or maybe it’s understandable), so many Chelsea fans still idolize Conte.

When Chelsea won 3-0 on aggregate over Tottenham in the English League Cup semi-final, after making Spurs bow at home with a score of 1-0, the crowd of away fans instead cheered “Antonio, Antonio, Antonio!”

Just imagine: how can you applaud a former manager who once sabotaged your favorite club’s season, sued the club, and now joins one of your club’s city rivals.

But it must be admitted, he used to always be warm when he met fans in London, and he even fell in love with English football after having trouble pronouncing the language.

I don’t know if they intend to mock Conte and his new team by calling his name. But if not, it’s easy to show love to your opponent when you’re winning.

Maybe some Chelsea fans are suffering from Stockholm syndrome, or maybe they really appreciate Conte’s passion, work ethic and intensity.