Chelsea Football Club on Monday announced that the current manager of the Italian national team, Antonio Conte, will be the club's new head coach from the next season. The 46-year-old has signed a three-year contract at the London-based club, a statement released by CFC said. He will begin working at the club following this summer’s Euro 2016 tournament, the statement added. Conte said, "I am very excited about the prospect of working at Chelsea Football Club. I am proud to be the coach of the national team of my country and only a role as attractive as manager of Chelsea could follow that."

Conte's appointment at Chelea has been the subject of speculation for a while, after Portuguese Jose Mourinho was sacked by the club in December following a miserable run of form that took the defending champions to the 16th spot in the table. The club is currently being managed by Dutchman Guus Hiddink on an interim basis. "I am happy we have made the announcement now so everything is clear and we can end the speculation," Conte said. "I will continue to focus on my job with the Italian national team and will reserve speaking about Chelsea again until after the Euros," he added.

Conte will be the fifth Italian to manage Chelsea, after Gianluca Vialli, Claudio Ranieri, Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Di Matteo. He has played for and managed 31-time Italian champions Juventus.